To see video from last night's show, click here.
GRAND PRAIRIE -- "I'm terribly sorry for not bringing Lilith Fair here this summer," said Sarah McLachlan, not long into Monday night's performance.
It was the most pointed mea culpa in an evening designed, in part, to soothe the fans who missed out earlier this summer when the revitalized Lilith Fair, which canceled a total of 10 dates, scratched its August appointment in Dallas. Beset by poor ticket sales and a sluggish concert climate, the rebooted Lilith Fair struggled valiantly to find its footing and never quite succeeded. But rather than stay home and mope, McLachlan rounded up a pair of promising talents -- burgeoning troubadours Melissa McClelland and Butterfly Boucher -- and hit the road for a nine-day excursion, which kicked off at the Verizon Theatre Monday.
A few thousand fans -- many of whom could hardly contain their exuberance between songs -- packed into the venue, even as the Texas Rangers were playing what would become the deciding game of the 2010 World Series just a few miles up Interstate 30. Not that McLachlan was going to indulge in any sports-related pandering: "Thank you for choosing me over the World Series," she purred as she took the stage. There were no audible boos -- only fervent applause, although it should be noted that, at least in the early going, there appeared to be much surreptitious checking of mobile devices for updated scores.
The set list, which was spread over more than two hours (bridged by a maddeningly unnecessary 20-minute intermission), leaned heavily on McLachlan's back catalog, reaching as far into the past as her 1991 sophomore album, Solace. She bent the very familiar -- such as Adia or Building a Mystery -- into slightly new shapes, while also taking a pass at material from her underwhelming new album, The Laws of Illusion. McLachlan structured the show in a way that allowed McClelland and Boucher, who served as part of her six-piece backing band, turns in the spotlight, playing their own works. Of the two, McClelland came closest to upstaging the headliner, delivering her folk-tinged tunes with a smoky, powerful voice that rattled the rafters.
As it was the tour's first night, there were a few hiccups, but nothing derailed the overall pleasant, genuine evening. One element of this brief tour is the inclusion of sporadic Q&A sessions, where McLachlan plucks audience-submitted queries from a top hat perched on a grand piano. Nearly every single question was utterly banal (sample: "What's the wildest after-concert party you remember?"), leaving a lot of dead air as the singer-songwriter pondered how to answer. My unsolicited advice? Skip it and keep the focus on the music (and eliminate the intermission as well; it's not as though McLachlan needed to change clothes or move set pieces). For as much fun as it might be for die-hard fans to watch McLachlan stare off into space, it stops the show dead in its tracks.
Given that McLachlan's career is wending its way through its second full decade, it's impressive that her voice has retained nearly all of its potency and range. Songs such as Good Enough or Possession, from earlier in her career, sound as vibrant as Loving You is Easy, from the just-released Illusion. Not that anyone in attendance held any grudges about Lilith Fair's implosion, but surely they knew they got a good deal: Monday was Lilith Fair in miniature, a brief taste of the larger endeavor. As apologies go, it felt more like a lovely gesture than a cynical attempt to cover one's bases.
Here's some video I shot last night of McLachlan performing.
