The Starlight in Kansas City had a bit of a Canadian invasion over the weekend when Sarah McLachlan and Feist both stopped by to grace fans with their songwriting prowess.
This was heaven on Earth for us 90’s gals. It felt like every cool and established lesbian in Lawrence was at the show, swapping Lilith Fair war stories and reminiscing about the woman-led music movement decades ago. This was a tour celebrating the 30th (30th!!) anniversary of McLachlan’s Fumbling Towards Ecstasy, a triumph of an album for its unapologetically feminine dominance of the airwaves at a time when bands like Guns N’ Roses (ewwwww) and Mötley Crüe (EEWWWWWW!!!) were the big names in music.
This was a beautifully authentic night. More than half the women in the crowd were dressed like Greek Goddesses, and then Sarah came out also dressed like a Greek Goddess. You could feel the pressure lighten as the masculinity got sucked into space, never to return for the remainder of the evening.
Though this was a night to celebrate Fumbling Towards Ecstacy, Sarah spent the first half of the set playing some of her biggest hits to warm up the crowd, including “Building a Mystery” and “Adia.” A quick change into her sparkly grunge leather and sequined look halfway through, and it was Fumbling Towards Ecstacy time. The crowd was immediately on their feet for “Possession.”
You would have never guessed the tumultuous conditions for the tour so far, as the band had just wrapped up playing dates in hot deserts with dust blowing about, and even through a rain storm before hitting Kansas. But the weather was pristine and Sarah glided and twirled onstage while she sang, stopping to build conversation with the crowd and indulge in anecdotes and fun stories about her long and storied life and music career. There were themes of friendship, sex, loss, parenting, you name it. Women can do it all, and Sarah covered all that ground in her set.
Feist, another indie darling for this specific age group, opened the evening with some calm and soothing renditions of some of her biggest hits, including “Mushaboom” and “1234” (which the audience poorly sang along to– sorry, Feist!).
You can see photos from the night below.