Sarah Slean Hamilton show
Well the Sarah Slean concert last night was fabulous (was there ever any doubt?) It had been so long since the last Slean concert that I'd forgotten how her shows just make me feel so happy. I totally would run off to the one in Peterborough tonight if I had any way to do so. But alas I don't so I'll have to wait for the Hfront shows where happy becomes a bit more complicated. But none of that now, last night was amazing, setlist and such is behind the cut.
Andrea and I met up after I was done work and took the GO to Hamilton. It was a bit slower than usual but not horrifically bad so all was well and we arrived in time to meet up with Cam and Freddy (I so hope I have that name right) and then head out for dinner where Neal randomly found us :)
The venue was really nice. Our table put us second row, just about dead on with Sarah and right behind miltongirl from the boards :) The opening act was this kid named Pat Robitaille who you can find here: www.patrobitaille.com/ and you should look him up because he was amazing. He looks so young but has this huge voice. Sort of like the leadsinger from Lighthouse... not the same voice but that same effect. Anyways he was really good, totally worth seeing live if you can. It looks like he's opening for Sarah again tonight in Pbo so if you're going then be sure to be on time for the opener.
Then of course was the always delightful Sarah Slean! She did the whole show solo on the piano which so far is still my favourite way to see her play live. I love the strings and had fun at shows where she had a band but the best ones are her and a piano.
Setlist:
Drive
This is a really nice cover. I tend to enjoy a lot of cover songs and this definitely makes my short list of great ones.
Looking For Someone
This one is a lovely song, she's played it a lot since she first debuted it so I'm hoping it's on the new album. It's just beautiful.
Lucky Me
The Hamilton audience was sort of quiet but we got an alright "declined" there :)
California
Sara was thinking of what to play next and someone from the audience called out "why not California" and Sarah replied "why not" and went with it :) I like this song a lot when it's solo on the piano like this.
Eliot
A classic, and for good reason. This is the perfect time of year for this song.
Liars and Cowards?
Not sure what the title of this song is so I made my own. It's good no matter what it's called. This was written about a man Sarah was dating who it turned out had a girlfriend on the side. This story was told with adorable piano playing to "speak" their conversation.
Notes from the Underground
Another new one! This one came with the title so I know it's right. I really liked this one and hope it gets played again at Harbourfront (hey I just found something else to look forward to at the Hfront shows!)
Sunny Side of the Street
I remember seeing this get covered at the White Ribbon Benefit concert but it had been so long since then I'd almost forgotten how good it was. This number in particular I thought Sarah just had the sound of a vinal record. How one manages to get that sound live I do not know but it was fantastic!
Weight
Always a really strong number. Nothing new to add to the multiple times I've talked about this one before...
Out in the Park
I keep forgetting how much I like this song. When I got Day One it was my favourite song on the album and now it keeps slipping my mind and then I hear it live and have a moment of "hey I love this song!" everytime.
Sweet Ones
Some pretty decent audience participation for this one but I like it when people are louder so I can sing more... I sing terribly so when there aren't a lot of voices surrounding me I just can't do it.
Lonely Side of the Moon
New, beautiful, apparently written 2 days before the Art of Time shows LOL being a procrastinator myself this amused me greatly.
Me & Jerome
I don't think I've heard this song since maybe the huge show at the Phoenix where all of us were there ages ago. Fun!
Paris Swan... probably actually called Sweet Virginia but 'til the album comes out I leave it as it is.
This is such a fun new song. I really really hope it's on the album as well even though that will prove to me that I have the wrong title entirely lol.
The Right Words
Another brand new one! We were so lucky last night! This is again beautiful (are any of her songs not beautiful?) it's that one sane part of your brainn telling the part that's freaking out that things will work out just fine. I think I actually need this song to be on an album.
*ENCORE*
St. Francis
Hee, thank you to the gentleman who requested this song, I really like this one. Why yes that is because of the line about New York ;)
Last Year's War
Always lovely.
Angel
This was requested a few times and Sarah asked the requester to help her out if she forgot the words, which happened and then the person who requested it couldn't help with lyrics. Oops. There's always someone at the Southern Ontario shows who requests this song... I keep wondering if it's the same person, it's hard to tell in a crowd.
Pilgrim
A very strong song to finish off the evening with. This is one that is good on an album but is damn fantastic when played live.
Somewhere in this set Sarah Started singing the "Someday my prince will come" from Sleeping Beauty... of course when it started I (and everyone at my table, and Neal as well so I'm not delusional) thought I was going to get to hear Sarah sing Over the Rainbow. Not so much, darn.
After the show we got to chat with Sarah for a bit in the lobby. The line to see her went much faster than the one when she played last year in London. The new album is officially being mixed in December so we'll have that and an art show and all kinds of things coming out in the next year. I'm going to be so broke!
We then headed back to find Cam's car which was a lot harder to do than it should have been. The mall where he parked had most of their entrances locked so we had to go through the hotel next door back to the mall then take a really roundabout way to the parking lot because the mall closes off some of their hallways. I'm SO glad Neal was with us as a guide or we'd have been so screwed.
Then when we finally got to the parking lot we had a Seinfeld moment of not being able to find the car. And when I say "moment" I really mean wandered around through random tunnels in the parking garage and were totally lost for quite some time ;) But we did find out way eventually thanks again to Neal as he found someone to ask directions of and we then made excellent time back to TO.
Now it would have been helpful if my body had decided that sleeping in was actually going to happen to day as I am going into work an hour late but no, I was up at 6. I'm going to be exhausted today! Still it was more than worth it :)
Andrea and I met up after I was done work and took the GO to Hamilton. It was a bit slower than usual but not horrifically bad so all was well and we arrived in time to meet up with Cam and Freddy (I so hope I have that name right) and then head out for dinner where Neal randomly found us :)
The venue was really nice. Our table put us second row, just about dead on with Sarah and right behind miltongirl from the boards :) The opening act was this kid named Pat Robitaille who you can find here: www.patrobitaille.com/ and you should look him up because he was amazing. He looks so young but has this huge voice. Sort of like the leadsinger from Lighthouse... not the same voice but that same effect. Anyways he was really good, totally worth seeing live if you can. It looks like he's opening for Sarah again tonight in Pbo so if you're going then be sure to be on time for the opener.
Then of course was the always delightful Sarah Slean! She did the whole show solo on the piano which so far is still my favourite way to see her play live. I love the strings and had fun at shows where she had a band but the best ones are her and a piano.
Setlist:
Drive
This is a really nice cover. I tend to enjoy a lot of cover songs and this definitely makes my short list of great ones.
Looking For Someone
This one is a lovely song, she's played it a lot since she first debuted it so I'm hoping it's on the new album. It's just beautiful.
Lucky Me
The Hamilton audience was sort of quiet but we got an alright "declined" there :)
California
Sara was thinking of what to play next and someone from the audience called out "why not California" and Sarah replied "why not" and went with it :) I like this song a lot when it's solo on the piano like this.
Eliot
A classic, and for good reason. This is the perfect time of year for this song.
Liars and Cowards?
Not sure what the title of this song is so I made my own. It's good no matter what it's called. This was written about a man Sarah was dating who it turned out had a girlfriend on the side. This story was told with adorable piano playing to "speak" their conversation.
Notes from the Underground
Another new one! This one came with the title so I know it's right. I really liked this one and hope it gets played again at Harbourfront (hey I just found something else to look forward to at the Hfront shows!)
Sunny Side of the Street
I remember seeing this get covered at the White Ribbon Benefit concert but it had been so long since then I'd almost forgotten how good it was. This number in particular I thought Sarah just had the sound of a vinal record. How one manages to get that sound live I do not know but it was fantastic!
Weight
Always a really strong number. Nothing new to add to the multiple times I've talked about this one before...
Out in the Park
I keep forgetting how much I like this song. When I got Day One it was my favourite song on the album and now it keeps slipping my mind and then I hear it live and have a moment of "hey I love this song!" everytime.
Sweet Ones
Some pretty decent audience participation for this one but I like it when people are louder so I can sing more... I sing terribly so when there aren't a lot of voices surrounding me I just can't do it.
Lonely Side of the Moon
New, beautiful, apparently written 2 days before the Art of Time shows LOL being a procrastinator myself this amused me greatly.
Me & Jerome
I don't think I've heard this song since maybe the huge show at the Phoenix where all of us were there ages ago. Fun!
Paris Swan... probably actually called Sweet Virginia but 'til the album comes out I leave it as it is.
This is such a fun new song. I really really hope it's on the album as well even though that will prove to me that I have the wrong title entirely lol.
The Right Words
Another brand new one! We were so lucky last night! This is again beautiful (are any of her songs not beautiful?) it's that one sane part of your brainn telling the part that's freaking out that things will work out just fine. I think I actually need this song to be on an album.
*ENCORE*
St. Francis
Hee, thank you to the gentleman who requested this song, I really like this one. Why yes that is because of the line about New York ;)
Last Year's War
Always lovely.
Angel
This was requested a few times and Sarah asked the requester to help her out if she forgot the words, which happened and then the person who requested it couldn't help with lyrics. Oops. There's always someone at the Southern Ontario shows who requests this song... I keep wondering if it's the same person, it's hard to tell in a crowd.
Pilgrim
A very strong song to finish off the evening with. This is one that is good on an album but is damn fantastic when played live.
Somewhere in this set Sarah Started singing the "Someday my prince will come" from Sleeping Beauty... of course when it started I (and everyone at my table, and Neal as well so I'm not delusional) thought I was going to get to hear Sarah sing Over the Rainbow. Not so much, darn.
After the show we got to chat with Sarah for a bit in the lobby. The line to see her went much faster than the one when she played last year in London. The new album is officially being mixed in December so we'll have that and an art show and all kinds of things coming out in the next year. I'm going to be so broke!
We then headed back to find Cam's car which was a lot harder to do than it should have been. The mall where he parked had most of their entrances locked so we had to go through the hotel next door back to the mall then take a really roundabout way to the parking lot because the mall closes off some of their hallways. I'm SO glad Neal was with us as a guide or we'd have been so screwed.
Then when we finally got to the parking lot we had a Seinfeld moment of not being able to find the car. And when I say "moment" I really mean wandered around through random tunnels in the parking garage and were totally lost for quite some time ;) But we did find out way eventually thanks again to Neal as he found someone to ask directions of and we then made excellent time back to TO.
Now it would have been helpful if my body had decided that sleeping in was actually going to happen to day as I am going into work an hour late but no, I was up at 6. I'm going to be exhausted today! Still it was more than worth it :)