I took two vacation days a couple of weeks ago to finally go and see Sarah McLachlan and it was well worth the wait. The last concert I'd been to was Iron Maiden and MegadetH and the line to get in was fucking massive 3 hours before the doors opened and there was nowhere to park within 6 blocks. So I thought I'd nip that shit in the bud this time and take a full day to grab a parking spot close and just wander 'round the city (Tulsa) which I'd never got to explore any when I was working there for a few weeks last summer. The architecture is astounding, but the people are rude and not so patient with tourists. At this point I'm confident in saying the whole state is like that.
There was a jazz museum about two blocks away from the venue which was awesome. It's not my favorite genre and I don't know who any jazz musicians are but I am a musician so it was still entertaining for me. I tried to get in on a live book reading (no idea who the author was. I just wanted to check one out) that was going on but tickets were almost as much as my Sarah ticket set me back. I don't give a shit who you are or what book you wrote, you reading it aloud is not worth more than $10 to see. Tops.
After that it was just walking around for about two hours, wandering in to various themed bars and checking them out. There was one called "The Max" which is an homage to the 80's, and pretty fun. Didn't have any beer, but there was good food and music.
Wandered down to the venue about 3 hours before the doors opened expecting the same mind numbing line I'd experienced at Maiden and MegadetH and it was vacant. For two hours I was the only person there waiting and twice I was asked to leave because venue security thought I was a scalper. And when people did show up it was quite a change. Suits everywhere, lovely smelling pretty ladies, and the most respectful crowd I've ever been in. Everyone was polite. And mostly everyone I talked to ended up also being a musician. So for the first time in my life I was able to talk about the musicianship side of Sarah's music with people that got it. It was wonderful.
The show itself was stellar. When the lights went down there was no intro tape. She just walked out, said: "Hi, I'm Sarah and we're gonna play some music for you tonight." and immediately went into the first song. The setlist was very heavy on 'Shine On', 'Surfacing', and 'Fumbling Towards Ecstasy'. There was no material from 'Laws Of Illusion' which I found surprising. It's a great record. But I'm not going to lie, I didn't like 'Shine On' until I heard well over half of those songs live. It's one of my favorites from her now. She didn't play "Ice" or "Black & White" though, which was pretty disappointing. But it was still a great show and she and her backing band sounded spectacular. Everyone should see her live at least once. It was one of the best nights of my life, and I could go on and on about it. I really hope she does a live record from this tour. She's due for another one of those.
And then the next day was spent recovering from being up until after midnight which I'd not done in a long time.
I'm going home next weekend, which as always I'm looking forward to immensely. I miss my dog and I could use a break. I get 4 days this time which isn't helping me with trying to keep my mind down here and on my job this week.
A couple of Sarah photos. I only took 3 of the actual show as it just didn't feel right interrupting that show with a flash...
The couch on the far left is where she let's 4 fans sit for a little bit during each show. She picks them out of the audience and brings them onstage and spends about 10-15 minutes answering questions and taking photos with them. Very cool of her to do. And she'll answer any question. And when she talks to them, she talks "normal" to them, not down to them or "I'm just talking to you because I have to". No attitude at all. A very personal person. Again, very cool. And she said "Fuck" 7 times which was also cool. She's only said that once that I'd heard before and that was in the lyrics to "Building A Mystery". It seemed so unusual to some people (myself included) to hear her say it a woman sitting two seats down from me actually gasped each time she said it. I found it comforting to know she's normal and doesn't think of or present herself as otherwise.
And three more since I'm in a photo mood. Here's my dog with his best friend at the dogsitter's house. Don't tell the other dogs...
Some wall art in the streets of Tulsa...
And a new personal best which I achieved a couple of months ago. (I'm getting to another "Ashes & Ghosts" type entry soon, I promise)...
