B l u e P a r a d e - A S a r a h S l e a n F a n s i t e
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December 16, 2005
Sarah Slean: Please don't move to France. We know you're eager to seek out the artistic inspiration of Paris � following in the footsteps of Feist, the entire 1920s literary community and Joey Potter in the final episodes of Dawson's Creek � but you're needed here. I think I may be in love with you. Also: riots! France has scary riots!
Sadly, I suspect Slean will ditch us for more accent-egue'd shores anyway. But if she needed any encouragement to return soon, it came in the form of several hundred adoring fans who attended the second of two tour-capping shows in Toronto on Friday night.
Though the Harbourfront Centre's cool little balconied theatre was perfect for the intimate show � with Slean returning to her solo piano roots for half the night and bringing in a string quartet for the rest � the performer encouraged her audience to overcome the reserved nature of the setting. That was all it took for the polite applause to give way to a rowdier, more fun interaction � Beatle-esque screams when Slean opened up the "request line," the crowd filling in the trumpet solo in one song or supportively chanting the name of Bill, a tech guy brought onstage to fix a shaky viola mic.
Slean pulled material both from her adventurous pop-cabaret Warner albums as well as the more Tori-fied releases of her indie beginnings. One standout was "Weight," from 2002's Night Bugs, which was given a busy-bee strings remix. Slean also floored the crowd with her turn on "Pie Jesu," a 19th century operatic piece on which she displayed more vocal aptitude than you'll find in any Idol contest. And while she insisted it wasn't a Christmas show, Slean played Bing Crosby to several surprise visitors: Ron Sexsmith joined her for a Joni Mitchell cover and Pilate's Todd Clark came to the stage for "Vertigo."
Overall, the piano pixie was perfectly in tune with her fans, easily bantering back and forth from the stage and relating funny stories like her inadvertent flashing of a Halifax crowd. When she informed them "Bank Accounts" was about Paris Hilton, they responded with "That's hot!" When she stumbled mid-lyric on one requested song, they were there to prompt her next line. When they insistently requested Christmas music, she broke out a few bars of the Charlie Brown theme.
Slean said the tape was running in hopes of compiling a live album for release in the spring. We can only hope this happens, because it would be hard to imagine her having a better night onstage.
ChartAttack.com - December 19, 2005
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