Give Kids the World (Or At Least $5,000)

December 24, 1997

It's not often in Orlando that three nationally-known bands and performers gather for a concert.

But in the name of charity (the concert benefited Give Kids the World) and a good time, SHE 100.3 brought Sarah McLachlan, Barenaked Ladies, and the Freddy Jones Band to the UCF arena last Monday evening.

SHE's afternoon DJ, Shark, introduced the first act: The Freddy Jones Band. Think Dave Mathews Band, and you've got the idea. But that's the problem: they seem all-too-familiar. Their latest hit, "Wonder," is a deep, toe-tapping tune (off their new CD Lucid), and most of their music was well-performed. But it has been done before, and done well. They've got an uphill battle to fight similar sounds from more visible bands, but they've also got the ability. Freddy Jones is a great band that, to their misfortune, had better acts following it.

Next were the Barenaked Ladies, who, to say the least, rocked the arena with their hour plus performance. With songs on the radio like "Brian Wilson" and "If I had a $1,000,000," the Ladies did a lot more than play music from their five CD's (including their first, independently-released EP and their latest, "Rock Spectacle," - a live compilation of their best and most popular songs). They danced. They made jokes. They improvised songs - including one about the UCF Golden Knights, and another about the "people in the back" of the arena, many of whom held Canadian flags in honor of the Toronto-based band's homeland. They mocked the artist they were opening for. And they dodged boxes of Kraft Dinner (Macaroni and Cheese, as us Americans call it) that fans tossed on-stage during a line in "$1,000,000." The entire audience was on their feet by the end; even those who had never before heard of the Barenaked Ladies were jumping and dancing and singing along. Their energy was contagious; their performance, simply awesome.

Sarah McLachlan met that tough-to-follow act with an equally strong but incomparable performance. She was mesmerizing. Her voice filled the arena like no other's could. Her songs are moving on the radio; in person, that effect is tripled. Every note of each song sends shivers: you feel her pain or appreciate her happiness. Her latest CD, "Surfacing," is different than Sarah's previous and stronger "Fumbling Towards Ecstasy," but the songs are no less powerful than the ones that brought her national attention and exposure (like Fumbling's "Possession.") As the organizer of this past summer's extremely successful Lilith Fair (named for the Biblical Eve's predecessor and featuring big-name and little-known female artists in a unique three-stage format), McLachlan is on music's cutting edge.

There were a few scratches, though, with McLachlan. Foremost to the thousands of ticket-holding fans was her extraordinarily short set. After just over 30 minutes, to the audience's collective shock, she said the next song would be the last. After thunderous applause, she returned with her drummer/husband and a guitar player for an encore song; the entire band returned for her final final song, "Sweet Surrender." Also, she forgot the name of the station that brought her to Orlando. (During her brief performance, she pointed out that this was her first visit to Florida in five years, which she attributed to the lack of stations playing her music. That, in turn, may explain SHE's recent attention to Sarah's music.)

Three great bands. One terrific night. Something that definitely needs to happen more often in Orlando.

Andy Dehnart
I spend much of my time deconstructing my surroundings by writing. Other diversions: crossing the line, sucking down caffeine-laced carbonated beverages, pen fighting with the staff of the paper I edit, listening intensely to SHE 100.3, and analyzing my world with an overuse of superlatives. Also find me here.