"It's good to be back," McLachlan told an audience of thousands gathered at the Halifax Metro Centre. "It's been a long, long time. You're looking good."
The Halifax-born singer moved to the West Coast in her late teens to pursue a career in music. She's returned only a few times, leading many to believe she was snubbing her hometown. However, McLachlan blamed her absence on the logistics of touring and her launch in the U.S., which her record label has made a priority.
"Life intervened ... I had a kid, made records and went where they told me to go," she said at a news conference before the evening's concert. "I know it's a bad excuse, but I'm here now. It's been too long."
Sarah McLachlan in Halifax, Wednesday.
Throughout the concert, she told stories about revisiting significant Halifax sites from her youth, including the house where she grew up and the graveyard "where I got drunk for the first time." The audience gave McLachlan standing ovations for some of her most popular hits.
Earlier in the day, McLachlan gave a short performance at an East Coast Music Association luncheon and was presented with the association's highest honour, the Director's Special Achievement Award, for "an exceptional contribution to the music industry on a national or international level." The award has only been presented twice previously – to CBC broadcaster Peter Gzowski in 1997 and to singer Anne Murray in 2001.
McLachlan said she was honoured to be recognized by her home community, but played down the importance of awards.
"I'm a musician," she said. "I feel so lucky that I get to make a living doing something that I love and I don't often think much past that."
The association also launched its ECMA Sarah McLachlan Scholarship Fund, to be presented each year to "a promising, deserving and eligible young musician from an under-served community in Atlantic Canada."
Earlier this week, it was announced that McLachlan would play for Bob Geldof's five-concert Live 8 anti-poverty charity benefit. She will perform at the July 2 show in Philadelphia.
