Sarah McLachlan Celebrates ‘Fumbling Towards Ecstacy’ in Montreal [Photos]

An iconic voice inside an iconic building. That is what the fans of Montreal were treated to on Wednesday night. Sarah McLachlan was in town and performing at Salle Wilfred Pelletier, part of the Place des Arts complex. This tour is celebrating the 30th anniversary of her stellar Fumbling Towards Ecstasy album. The tour came to an abrupt halt last year due to a bout of laryngitis. In a sad case of history repeating itself, Sarah hit the Place des Arts stage amid news that she may be suffering from laryngitis.

She opened the concert with three of her classic tracks. As the sun behind her emerged from an eclipse, Sarah McLachlan arrived on stage, welcomed with a roar from the crowd. “Sweet Surrender” brought the crowd to their feet. They swayed, danced, and sang along. She thanked the crowd for singing along, saying their help would be needed on this evening. She was, in fact, dealing with a bout of laryngitis once again.

“Building A Mystery” followed as Sarah took up a guitar for the song. Sarah powered through the song before chatting with the crowd a little bit. She asked the crowd to forgive her for her “phone sex voice.” She may not have been feeling her best, but she was out there to give the crowd everything that she had.

After a quick sip to relieve her throat, Sarah sat behind the grand piano on stage for “I Will Remember You.” After a couple of tracks from her latest album, Better Broken, we got to “Possession.” Side one, track one of the album, everyone was there to celebrate.

Sarah McLachlan made it through the entire album with the entire Salle Wilfred Pelletier crowd willing her on. I heard long applause and shouts of encouragement through the evening. She also got some vocal help from the awesome Melissa McClelland. Joined by her husband, Luke Doucet on guitar, the duo made a formidable tag team to help back up our fighting singer.

Illness resulted in a shortened setlist on this night, but had it not been for Sarah mentioning her vocal issues, I may not have noticed. All things considered, her voice still sounded great. It was sadly announced that a planned second performance on Thursday night had to be cancelled. We certainly hope that Sarah will be back on her feet again soon.

“The Fumbling Towards Ecstacy Tour” was scheduled to continue into November. Hopefully, Sarah McLachlan will be able to make those dates and share her tremendous voice with her loyal, adoring fans.