I’ll do this week’s Monday Music Mambo first:

To get us warmed up, a little bit of "I say..... You think...." (music style).

1. Freedom: Wham! and George Michael come to mind
2. Anthem: National
3. Stars: Simply Red
4. Sea: of love
5. Country: Big
6. Save: a prayer
7. War: Culture Club
8. Glory: of love

Have you warmed up now? Ok then, let's get our Mambo going on.

1. Do you like your country's national anthem? If not, what song do you think it should be?
   Sure do like the Canadian national anthem. I find the French version of it more moving than the English one, and I happily sing along to them at sporting events these days.

2. Are there any patriotic pop songs that you enjoy? What are they?
   Jann Arden’s “Waiting in Canada” is special to me.

3. Holiday weekends are a time for picnics...what kind of music do you like at your picnics?
   I haven’t been to a picnic in a long time. It depends on who supplies the music, I suppose. Mindless, upbeat dance music is fun. Most of the time, rock music is played. I don’t mind it at all.

4. A lot of music has a message about how the world should be, what song best expresses your world views?
   I think Sarah McLachlan’s “World on fire” sums up how I feel sometimes about things that are happening in the world. It’s definitely more than I can handle, at times.

Okay, I’ll continue with my night seeing Sarah McLachlan at Winnipeg Arena. We got there last night at around 19:15 and found our seats. We had floor seats. I felt like I was at the Bowie concert again, except I was a few rows further back and the jumbo screens were set up the same way.

Promptly at 19:30, Butterfly Boucher (rhymes with voucher, as she pointed out... after having studied French, I thought it rhymed with touchez) came on stage with her guitar. She’s from Australia. Her face reminded me of Molly Ringwald, except that the former’s hair was dark brown. I don’t really know how to describe her music. It’s a harder version of Sarah McLachlan and Emm Gryner, I suppose.

She was great. Her chattiness got better as she played more songs. She commented on her large yellow brooch that her sister had suggested that she wear. It was later on the shirt of Sarah’s keyboardist. By the way, I’ll just refer to Sarah McLachlan and Sarah here. It’s shorter to type. It’s not that I know her personally, although that would be nice if I did. Anyway, Butterfly Boucher was promoting her new CD in section 30 of the arena.

It was by far an older mix of folks there. I didn’t mind it at all. I had great folks in my row.

I’d say at around 20:45, Sarah hit the stage, belting out “Fallen” and a number of great ballads. She did her rendition of “You are my sunshine” that lead up to “Hold on”. It was a sweet touch.

Apparently, she hadn’t played in Winnipeg for a decade until last night. She looked around and said, “You look great.“ She talked about how sweet her husband has been while she was in grouchy mode after her pregnancy. She talked about breast-feeding and how her daughter seemed to be sucking her brains out that way. It was funny.

She wrote “Push,” a love song for her husband (drummer in her band) and joked that it was actually a happy love song for a change. She admitted that songwriting doesn’t come easily to her. Her honesty was refreshing.

Sarah’s voice packs so much emotion in whatever she sings. When she hits the higher notes, it adds a haunting layer to her music. She emotes well a few octaves lower, too. There’s lots of power in her voice, and shows vulnerability when she sings softly. She’s great. I appreciate her music a lot more after seeing her in concert.

The set was nice. There was a huge tree behind the band. Two big screens blended into the leaves of the tree. Lots of bright lights when they were needed. It was a fun night out, listening to great music.

I’m guessing at the setlist here. I think this is how it went:

Setlist

Fallen
World on fire
Adia
Hold on
Perfect girl
Drifting
Push
I will remember you
Ice
Wait
Witness
Elsewhere
Answer
Angel
Fear
Train wreck
Building a mystery
Sweet surrender
Possession

Encore
Blackbird (Beatles' cover)
Ice cream
Stupid
Fumbling towards ecstasy

Second encore:
Dirty little secret

Perhaps I don’t go to concerts often, even though it seems like I go to one each month these days. I’ve never been to one with two encores. Another first for me.

It’s sunny out today. I have missed sunny days like the ones you only get in Winnipeg when the sunshine seems endless. I’m off to have a bit of brunch. I’ll probably visit the Forks. It’s been quite some time since I was last there. If not, you’ll find me at the airport, playing a couple of games of Pacman, like I used to here.

Update - 16:00: I forgot to mention that I did my ritual of buying a t-shirt after every major concert. I got a greenish t-shirt and a Sarah tour book. I'm happy about it.

|

Song that's stuck in my head: Sarah McLachlan's "Answer"
Yummy food eaten today: Peanuts
What I crave: Brunch

Recent thoughts:
Readings, lights, and random thoughts - 2009-03-15
Thoughts about work, school, and peeps - 2009-03-09
Working from home and a mini life update - 2008-12-19
The weekend is here! - 2008-01-06
A new year - 2008-01-01