Sarah McLachlan w/ Feist at Starlight Theatre, Kansas City MO (2024-06-09)

“It's a long way down to the place, where we started from….” – “Ice Cream”

What once was, was reborn again as Canadian songstress Sarah McLachlan made her long-awaited return to Kansas City to celebrate the 30^th Anniversary of her landmark third album, “Fumbling Towards Ecstasy” at Starlight Theatre.

The night began with a generous, near-hour-long opening set from fellow Canadian and 11-time Juno Award winner Feist, in support of her sixth album Multitudes (Interscope Records) which was released last year. The heartfelt and introspective record is centered around the themes of life and death: the sudden loss of her father and the birth of her adopted daughter.

Leslie and her four-piece band started with the strong and familiar- opening with radio hit, “Mushaboom” with the new “Hiding Out in the Open” played a few songs in; a track she mentioned as encapsulating the stories of people’s lives she heard from, finding their way back to normalcy following the period of global isolation.

The tour, which started in Seattle last month, had made its way through Colorado the previous couple nights and was where the band performed on a small radio show, covering Lucinda Williams’ 2003 deep cut, “Fruits of my Labor” which was stopped and re-started before it found its musical path live.

“In Lightning” from the newest record, featured Kate Bush-like tribal rhythms and lifting band harmonies and her counting hit, “1 2 3 4” (which she even once sang on ‘Sesame Street’) was a late set highlight, even separating the singing of two-part harmony of the song, cleverly between those crowd members from the Kansas side, and those from Missouri.

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After a set change and brief dramatic build-up with flourish, Sarah McLachlan marched out beaming, dressed in a flowing white strapless springtime dress to the introductory notes of 2006 hit, “Sweet Surrender” to begin her 125min. headlining set.

“It doesn’t mean much, it doesn’t mean anything…” she started singing, but to fans that hadn’t seen her on out on the road since 2016, it clearly meant everything. Older fans even wore their vintage Lilith Fair tour shirts from its three years in the late 1990’s (of which, we were at two of them, held across the metro at the other outdoor amphitheater) and its brief comeback in 2010.

1997’s “Building a Mystery” was next, another massive hit that especially had middle-aged couples holding on to each other and singing along to every lyric. McLachlan herself has kept in mostly great voice- the range and signature lilt of her delivery is as distinguishable as ever- despite saying she battled some laryngitis in rehearsals for this seven-week/30-date tour, and some dust and dirt likely inhaled during a swirling, windy performance at Red Rocks, just prior to the KC show.

McLachlan’s demeanor came across as genuine, happy, funny and honest as she shared a few stories in-between a bevy of mostly familiar hit songs. She normally works 2014’s “Song for my Father” into her setlists now, a tribute to the dad she lost to cancer, but sings the song with joy and remembrance, not in sorrow.

“World on Fire”, a twenty-year old song, is (unfortunately) more appropriate in current times, and after never revealing its meaning, she’s only in recent years disclosed that 1997 hit ballad, “Adia” was about falling for her drummer (and eventual husband), who happened to be her best friend’s ex. But the song is more about the aftermath of that fallout, and the two friends reconciling (both getting divorced as well).

McLachlan spoke cheekily of her two grown daughters (and their insistence she make at least one costume change during the show, a la Taylor Swift), dedicating “Beautiful Girl” to the bliss and the trials of parenting.

An extended instrumental outro on “Witness” allowed for some sharp guitar dueling and her band (which includes longtime touring husband and wife duo of Luc Doucet and Melissa McLelland, also of Whitehorse) and gave McLachlan a chance for that wardrobe change into something more comfortable- a patterned dark sleeveless blouse and leather leggings, to move forward with playing 1993 album, “Fumbling Towards Ecstasy” in its entirety.

Also being celebrated was her non-profit school of music, for which $1 per ticket will be donated to the School in her name, which provides high-quality music education and mentorship free to children and youth facing barriers to access. As well, it was guitarist Doucet’s birthday and while there was no cake rolled out, some kind words and a long hug were given.

1993’s “Fumbling” is an album that has aged better than most people think – its universal themes of life, love and death set to smart arrangements and unforgettable choruses, with even the few deep cuts that weren’t singles, still as standout as the hits were.

“Good Enough” remains as strong a take on self-worth and female empowerment as it was thirty years ago, and the ballad “Hold On” remains both heart-wrenching and inspirational as it reflected the times when HIV was still rampant and a health mystery.

The mood quickly brightened of course, with the gleeful hit, “Ice Cream” and home videos of fans singing along on the backdrop, as the live audience also sang along. The album’s closer, “Fear” about a final surrender to love, also gave the band another chance to shine as the song built into an impressive ending crescendo, to round out the main set.

The encore began with a new ballad, “Gravity” from a yet-to-be-released album, about the emotional struggles in raising her oldest daughter and the relief that came with family therapy and segued into perhaps her most famous ballad, “Angel” with her band rejoining on stage for the final song and subsequent bows and accolades.

With threats to women’s rights, the overturning of Roe v. Wade, and the ongoing struggle for an equal wage, it’s an ideal time for Sarah McLachlan to re-emerge on live stages and with forthcoming new record; but beyond that, it’s just plain musically empowering to have she and Feist together on the same bill, playing under the stars of a fine spring evening.

(Click on any image to enlarge and see in full)

SARAH MCLACHLAN at Starlight Theatre, Kansas City MO (2024-06-09)

SARAH MCLACHLAN at Starlight Theatre, Kansas City MO (2024-06-09)

FEIST at Starlight Theatre, Kansas City MO (2024-06-09)

FEIST at Starlight Theatre, Kansas City MO (2024-06-09)