At a sold-out show on June 14 at Riverbend, Canadian singer-songwriters Feist (aka Leslie Feist) and Sarah McLachlan converged (separately) on stage to share their intimate songs and musings with the crowd. The purpose of the tour is to celebrate the 30 th anniversary of McLachlan’s breakthrough global album Fumbling Towards Ecstasy , which sold 2.5 million copies in the U.S. The Grammy-nominated Feist meant a lot to those who came of age in the mid-2000s, while the Grammy-winning McLachlan — who founded Lilith Fair in the late ‘90s as a way to highlight women musicians — meant a lot to GenXers, who grew up listening to her candid tunes about stalking, drug addiction and loss. In 2024, it’s still rare to see two women share the same bill, which is one reason why McLachlan started Lilith Fair.
“She changed the course of women in North America,” Feist said to the audience about the headliner. McLachlan runs the non-profit Sarah McLachlan School of Music in Vancouver; ticket sales go toward funding the school, which is free. Canada — land of free healthcare and education.
Both women still mean a lot to me, too, but in different ways. I saw Feist perform with Broken Social Scene, but this was the first time I’d seen her solo. McLachlan’s Surfacing and Fumbling Towards Ecstasy became soundtracks to my teen angst and still resonate with me decades later. Feist’s “1234” soundtracked an Apple ad, making her the weird, cool kid compared to McLachlan, who was always more mainstream. But seeing them on the same night surfaced a lot of nostalgia for the mostly female audience.
Feist, who wore a white dress, opened with the jovial and glock-powered “Mushaboom,” a song from her 20-year-old album Let It Die . Throughout her 12-song set, she performed songs from 2007’s The Reminder , which catapulted her into a household name. She covered Ron Sexsmith’s “Secret Heart,” and played “In Lightning” from last year’s record Multitudes . She gave a shout-out to “hometown heroes” the National and Homecoming Fest. When she arrived at her penultimate song, “ I Feel It All ,” she told a story about how she was friends with the Rozzi Fireworks family and filmed the music video at Perfect North, replete with Rozzi fireworks going off. Fifteen years ago, Feist was everywhere. But I think it says something that she had a new album come out last year without much fanfare.
After a short break, the blonde McLachlan appeared on stage, also wearing a white dress, and began with “Sweet Surrender” and “Building a Mystery” from Surfacing , an album that sold 8 million copies in the U.S. I got chills hearing those songs for the first time live. She stated she “wanted to build up anticipation” for Fumbling , which was why she began with Surfacing songs. Though McLachlan hasn’t released a new record since 2016, she’s been touring on and off for the past few years.
As fireflies flickered in the dusk, the hits continued with her alternating between playing the guitar and the piano. She performed the bittersweet ballad “I Will Remember You,” and the emotional “Song For My Father,” apropos because Father’s Day was coming up. “Music was the one thing that kept me going,” she said. I read a recent interview with her that said she used to not speak much during her shows. But tonight, she was verbose with personal anecdotes about her daughters and past relationships. She said “Adia” was a song about her falling in love with her best friend’s ex, who became McLachlan’s husband. However, she and her friend were “long divorced,” and eventually reconciled their friendship. “Thank you for not judging me too harshly,” she said. The set ended on the soulful and rockin’ “Witness.” She and her five-piece band didn’t just perform the songs the way they sound on the recordings; they mixed up the arrangements and extracted kick drums and electric guitars.
Finally, it was time for Fumbling . McLachlan did a quick wardrobe change and now wore leather pants and a lacey camisole. She joked one of her daughters talked her into the wardrobe change. “I’m not Taylor Swift,” McLachlan quipped to her daughter. She said Fumbling was her favorite record because when she recorded it, she was single and didn’t have kids yet. It allowed her a certain amount of freedom.
For the next hour, she played each track in order, including “Possession,” “Plenty,” the “sisterhood” song “Good Enough,” and “Elsewhere.” McLachlan said it’s a song about “being who you are and finding your path and letting your freak flag fly. Happy Pride, everyone!” The upbeat “Ice Cream” featured joyful images on screen of people singing the song and/or eating ice cream.
She gushed to the crowd how she appreciated them wanting to support her after 36 years. She also mentioned she’d been struggling with vocal issues yet managed to hit high notes on “Fear,” which rocked so hard that the audience gave her a standing ovation. She ended the set on the bookend titular track. Hearing “All the fear has left me now / I’m not frightened anymore…I won’t fear love” was the best coda to the rollercoaster ride that Fumbling was and still is. At 19, I didn’t know how to process those emotions. But later in life, maybe you learn to let go and be yourself.
After two hours of playing, McLachlan wasn’t done yet. She walked offstage for a minute and reappeared (no wardrobe change) and sat at the piano for two encores: new song “Gravity” and Surfacing ’s “Angel,” which has unfortunately become synonymous with that animal cruelty commercial. “May you find comfort here,” McLachlan sang. The audience gave her and her band a standing ovation. “Have an incredible summer,” she said. I then realized she and her music will always be here for us, like a best friend.
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