Better than Ice Cream
Sarah McLachlan brings angelic voice to Austin with 2020 concert date
The voice of an "Angel" is returning to the live stage and swinging through Texas. Sarah McLachlan, the award-winning Canadian singer-songwriter, and founder of beloved '90s concert festival Lilith Fair, will play in Austin amid four Texas dates in February 2020.
Billed as "An Evening with Sarah McLachlan," the three-time Grammy award-winner will perform at Bass Concert Hall on February 8. McLachlan will also perform at the Hobby Center for the Performing Arts in Houston on February 6, the McFarlin Auditorium in Dallas on February 7, and the Majestic Theatre in San Antonio on February 9. Tickets for the shows go on sale to the general public on Friday, November 22, at 10 am.
McLachlan has largely stayed out of the spotlight the last decade or so, her last album coming in the form of the holiday record, Wonderland, in 2016. But the Nova Scotia-raised singer was a dominant force in the '90s, first as a cult act and then as a multi-platinum star.
Her ethereal voice and innate ability to write a pop hook first gained international notice on her third album, 1993's Fumbling Towards Esctasy. While only a moderate success at the time, the album slowly found its way into the CD sleeves of music fans everywhere and set her up for her most successful album, 1997's Surfacing, featuring the hits "Building a Mystery," "Adia," "Sweet Surrender," and the pervasive "Angel," which has lived on in countless animal rescue commercials (McLachlan is an outspoken animal-rights advocate).
Her crowning achievement, however, came in the form of Lilith Fair, the nearly all-female touring festival that lasted three summers between 1997-1999, and helped elevate the careers of countless female performers at a time when few women were able to win playtime on the radio, which was dominated by male programmers. Lilith Fair featured dozens of female-led acts such as Jewel, Sheryl Crow, Tracy Chapman, Lisa Loeb, and Dido. Partial proceeds of the festival went to charities that assisted women, raising a total of $10 million.
Even if she never performed again, McLachlan would be a legend for her impact in shining the spotlight on female talent. It's easy to forget how difficult it was for women to break big in music on their own terms, especially since women now dominate the pop charts and performers like Beyoncé, Billie Eilish, Selena Gomez, Ariana Grande, and Kacey Musgraves sell out massive tours.
All that aside, McLachlan is a fantastic live performer and has plenty of songs to pull from in her catalog. Expect to hear the favorites and much more when she hits Texas stages where she hasn't performed since her Lilith Fair days.
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