Mclachlan, Loeb Show Worth Every Penny
Sarah McLachlan and Lisa Loeb, Thursday, March 5, Opera House
If you paid the $30 to $40 it cost to see Sarah McLachlan in concert Thursday night, you walked away at the end of the evening with one of the best concert deals to come our way in some time. No one can say Sarah doesn’t give her fans their money’s worth.
During a three-hour show that included a set by Lisa Loeb and two encores by McLachlan, the Canadian songstress dazzled a full house at the Spokane Opera House with a show as powerful as it was elegant.
With a voice as big as any man’s and twice as beautiful, the ever-gracious McLachlan lit on the guitar, then piano, to perform songs from not only her latest album “Surfacing,” but also from albums dating back to her first, “Touch.”
Thursday night’s show was the first stop on McLachlan’s spring tour with singer/guitarist Loeb.
Loeb opened the evening with a willowy girl-voice and acoustic guitar laying down tales of heartbreak and relationships gone bad, largely from her latest album “Firecracker.”
When she broke into “Truthfully” she deadpanned, “It’s a positive song about falling in love. It’s good to have variety.”
McLachlan began her set with “Building A Mystery,” a song for which she was awarded a Grammy for best female pop vocal performance.
The 30-year-old singer founded the groundbreaking Lilith Fair, an all-woman music festival that kicked off its summer tour last year at The Gorge.
But while McLachlan’s performance at the Lilith Fair seemed swallowed by the enormity of the amphitheater as well as the enormity of the daylong event itself, her show Thursday night was vibrant and luscious.
The Opera House - far more intimate than The Gorge - seemed the perfect home for McLachlan’s stunning voice and intricate songwriting.
Awash in gorgeous lighting and handsome celestial-themed backdrops, McLachlan was joined on stage by her drummer/husband Ashwin Sood, as well as a backup vocalist, a keyboardist, two guitarists and a bassist.
From the delicate musings of “Do What You Have to Do” to the more upbeat rock of “Sweet Surrender” her sinuous voice peaked and dived, becoming its most lovely at the breaking points in between.
McLachlan stumbled and lost her place during the delicate piano number “Angel.” But who could blame her? It was 11 p.m., after all, and she’d been singing non-stop for two hours. The audience merely cheered her on.
Indeed, it’s hard to criticize an artist for giving her fans too much, but as the night wore on, McLachlan’s set leaned toward indulgent. About three-quarters of the way through, my attention began to wander as she crooned tune after tune - each beautiful for sure, but the sheer number somewhat diminishing the whole.
But if that’s the biggest criticism I can think of, then you know it was a superb concert.
, DataTimes