Sarah McLachlan played the first Canadian date of her Afterglow tour in Montreal last night. Kung fu Wifey and I had so-so seats. We weren’t in the nosebleeds, but we weren’t in the pit, either. We thoroughly enjoyed the opening act, Butterfly Boucher, who is from Australia, and is awesome. We had a clear view of her bouncing around and jumping with her guitar, but not much more than that.
There was an intermission after her act, while Butterfly went out into the corridor behind us and signed copies of her CD. Amber and I snuggled down together in anticipation of a great show, which we expected to mostly watch on the screens.
But it was not to be.
A young guy with big hands, frosted tips and a black Hurley hoodie approached our seats and politely introduced himself as someone who worked for Sarah. Sure enough, there was a green and orange pass hanging around his neck. He asked us if we were big Sarah fans. Uh, only since junior high! He asked us the titles of her new album and single. Good thing Amber answered correctly, because I was stunned by the whole thing and also high on cold medicine.
Hurley escorted us to the front row, centre, explaining that these seats are always reserved for “Really big fans” and that we looked the part. When we were all settled in, he withdrew and we didn’t see him again, but I wish we had, because I would have wanted to thank him.
Amber and I almost exploded waiting for the show to start. When Sarah came out, we were staring right at her. She smiled at us when I put my head on Amber’s shoulder, and she made eye contact with me while I was shaking my booty during “World On Fire”. Ash smiled at us a few times when he came out from behind his drum kit to sing backup.
I flirted with the adorable second guitarist because he wasn’t getting as much attention as the lead guitarist. I blew him kisses and winked at him. It paid off in the end because when I wanted to dance and Amber was too shy and was resisting my efforts to pull her up, he saw and motioned for her to get up! That convinced her.
I never wanted to leave. I wanted Sarah to play every single one of her songs. Amber and I are framing our “Invitation Only” tickets, so that we never forget that sometimes, when you’re resigned to what you have, something better just might come along.
