Tuesday, May 6, 2008

Sarah Slean and the many ways I adore her

Sometimes you'll hear an artist and think they're pretty great, then you hear them live and the difference is incredible, turns out most of their greatness was effects and mixing from the producers.

Last night, her voice was so clear, we could have been listening to the album. The quality of the music was so amazing! The venue (Knox United Church) was so different. Sometimes there would be an extended note that was just Sarah, no accompaniment and the way it filled the room was beautiful, bouncing around that huge ceiling.

After the show we went up to look at how they mic'd the piano (Brad has to mic one this weekend) and the base player came on stage, gave us the set list and talked to us. Told us how often he's just in awe that he gets to be part of this. They'll get together to practice and even at 7:00 am she's just on. Really an original artist. Celebrities normally aren't really a big deal to me but I admit I felt a little start struck when I actually talked to her for a second.

Seriously one of the best concerts I've been to and I would go see her again in a heartbeat.


I love at concerts when the whole audience needs more, and you all join together and know that if you keep cheering they'll come back, they'll give you more. That was case last night and resulted in a second encore. She was so genuinely touched that we kept cheering and admitted that she had nothing prepared for a second encore. A few song titles were shouted out but she decided to go with something entirely different. Her Grandfather's favorite Hymn… an odd choice considering she's not religious but her version of Abide with Me was just beautiful (Video to follow).
A concert worth every penny.
L

6 comments:

ProdigyBoy said...

Hi Laura,
Came to your post via Jenny (Honeypie99) blog entry on the concert. I feel a bit silly for not be able to put together what BG and R stand for on the setlist. (Background? Bass/Guitar? R=Royal Wood?) Your photos were the first I have seen of this tour. Can you please drop me a line with the video? :) Thanks. So glad you enjoyed the show.

Laura said...

Don't feel dumb, I have no idea what the symbols mean either. I think you're right and the R is for Royal but I don't have a clue on the BG.
As for the videos, they were just taken with our camera so they're not the greatest quality and their size is huge so I'm waiting for my husband to shrink them down... it could take a while. Leave me your email address and I'll do my best to get them to you.

ProdigyBoy said...

Thanks Laura.

my email is: thedirtchamber(At)hotmail.com

You can use www.divshare.com to upload the large video and it will play in flash like youtube and let people save it at will.

ProdigyBoy said...

Hi Laura,
I Saw Sarah on Friday and got a closer look at a setlist. It had a legend on this one. R does stand for Royal Wood. My videos ended up recording the back of the seat ahead of me but the audio is okay. Things sounded identical to the album. Any luck uploading the clips you had?

Cameron
thedirtchamber(At)hotmail.com

Laura said...

The videos are posted in the next entry.

ProdigyBoy said...

Thanks Laura, I should have noticed that. Abide with me is so very lovely and looked to be a perfect fit there. I think it would be one of favorite songs she does live.