Review - Sarah McLachlan w/Butterfly Boucher; The Palace of Auburn
Hills; Auburn Hills
Tue Aug 24th 2004

The seats were still mostly empty as Butterfly flitted un-shyly onto
stage. Often, I think to myself, "I need to remember to come late so
I can skip the opening act." Not so this time. 

I had not heard of Butterfly Boucher (rhymes with Voucher) although
she's doing well for herself. She's currently on tour with Sarah
McLachlan, has a track on the "Shrek II" album performing a duet
with David Bowie, and is doing theme music for ABC's "The Days."

Her music is raw and quirky, which gives it a sound that's
unmistakable and it's what mainstream music has been missing for me,
for quite a while. Her set ran a little bit longer than one half hour
and I wished it could be longer; she paused briefly to bring attention
to her new single, "Another White Dash," and after it was all
over I was out of my seat waiting in line to buy the CD. 

Of course, being slightly claustrophobic worked against me here; I
couldn't stand the line. I was lucky however, and found the album in
the iTunes music store upon returning home. 

After Butterfly's set, I was ready to go home; as far as I was
concerned I had already gotten the price of admission. 

And then Sarah McLachlan came on. 

This was my first time seeing McLachlan, although I've been a fan
for years. The whole house went dark and we became completely immersed
in the experience. 

The stage was setup with two jumbo screens fed by roving cameras, and a
large screen behind the band, which displayed various camera angles,
graphics, and other effects. This was particularly interesting to watch,
as the effects they used were stunning. 

Out of the darkness, McLachlan started with songs off the new album. A
beautiful rendition of "Afterglow" followed closely by
"World on Fire." At first, the set had me, and I'm sure
others, a little worried. "Oh no! She's going to just run down
the new album."

But Sarah didn't disappoint, she dug in and ranged all around, old
and new songs seemed to compliment each other. 

She even touched some old and obscure covers. "You are my
sunshine" jumped out of my 4th grade music class and into legitimate
theater. 

The highlight, for me, could have been the second encore, when she was
alone on stage with the Grand Piano. 
But I think more precisely it was when she broke into "Fear,"
the first McLachlan song I ever heard, and still my favorite. She even
hit the high notes. 

She took some time out to tell us about her baby girl, now "2 1/4
years old" and to thank Detroit, multiple times, for being patient
with her as she took her time coming back. 

I think that all of us there agree that it was worth the wait. 

Thank you for a wonderful show Sarah, please hurry back. 

By David Kerr 
DetroitBuzz Guest Reviewer