The Jagged Little Pill Celebration Tour finally comes to Toronto at the Ontario Place in Toronto after a 2 Year Delay.
Covid impacted so many parts of our lives. Businesses were shuttered for years, some never opened again. One of the industries hardest his was live music. Venues sat empty for over a year, artists unable to tour, and long awaited tours postponed. Such was the case with the 25 years of Jagged Little Pill tour that was to rock the world in 2020, delayed because of the Pandemic, the event celebrating the Morissette’s seminal 1995 album that propelled her to stardom was put on hold. Two years later the event was finally here and longtime touring partners Garbage were again The openers.
The ’90s post-grunge icons took to the stage with Front-woman Shirley Manson in a stunning white dress with a bold script print. The MTV have not lost a step, now touring to support their latests album No Gods No Masters. It was clearly a night for powerful women as Manson strutted through “Stupid Girl” and “Godhead,” that blending of tunes demonstrated Garbage’s versatility and her fierce vocals ignited the crowd. The band is always at their best when they place surprises in their set and it was nice to see the inclusion of “The Trick Is to Keep Breathing
“ off the album Version 2.0. I love that this band has a greater capacity to stretch in different directions than most other rock bands.
Band:
Shirley Manson (vocals)
Duke Erikson (guitar, bass, keyboards)
Steve Marker (guitar, keyboards),
Butch Vig (drums, production)
GARBAGE SETLIST
- Vow
- No Gods No Masters
- Stupid Girl
- Special
- Godhead
- The Trick Is to Keep Breathing
- The Men Who Rule the World
- I Think I’m Paranoid
- Wolves
- Only Happy When It Rains
- Push It
- You Look So Fine (with Fleetwood Mac’s “Dreams” outro)
It’s impossible to talk about the Alanis Morrisette‘s Jagged Little Pill show without addressing the importance of the album, not only to Alanis, but to the industry as a whole. She started in Canada as a Juno-winning pop star and released two pop albums Alanis (1991) and Now is the Time (1992). She was the Canadian “Debbie Gibson” and if she had continued with that pop career, things might have gone differently. Alanis moved from Toronto to Los Angeles and began collaborating with Glen Ballard and everything change. The two immediate clicked and began writing the album that would change the world. The songs were empathetic, powerful and had a bold message delivered with idiosyncratic vocals. New York Times critic Neil Strauss called Morissette, “as much a conscience for the introverted world of today’s rock audience as folk music was a voice for the extroverted world of the generation before.” She became the youngest artist to win a Grammy for Album of the year when Jagged Little Pill swept the 1996 Grammys taking 4 of the top awards.
And here we are, 27 years later. The Budweiser Stage venue was at capacity, and as I watched her performance, I also was watching the audience. They weren’t coming to see a show, they were coming to connect with an artist that had spoken to them, to someone who’s music had impacted them deeply. The show kicked off with a video retrospective of the power of Jagged Little Pill, showcasing clips of Alanis on shows and her quick rise to fame, and clips of other artists performers, comedians all performing her work. The audience saw themselves transported back to the days when “You Oughta Know” was everywhere in media. The lights dimmed and then the moment that everyone had waited 2 years for happened. Alanis Morissette took to the stage wearing a flowing silk outfit she launched into “All I Really Want”, and strutted the stage with the powerful stage presence she is legendary for. Not missing a step, even while playing her signature harmonica, blazing through her solo, it was as if she was on a mission to connect with every member of the audience. After launching with the opening track, the setlist didn’t follow the 13 song Jagged Little Pill album. Instead the evening was a deeper look into her career and those songs and artists who meant the most to her. Tears began flowing during “Ironic” as a tribute to the late Taylor Hawkins who was a member of Morissette’s band during the Jagged Little Pill tour. The two would continue to work together until 1997 when Hawkins left to join Foo Fighters. The visuals of their time together blended with the audience digging deep to sing a song that you could tell had impacted so many. Another wonderful tribute was done with “Everything” as Alanis honored Tim Thorney who passed on June 15. Thorney was a mentor and friend who she sought after the crushing success of Jagged Little Pill. He helped her find her balance and start working towards her new album Supposed Former Infatuation Junkie. The evening was filled with emotions, both on stage, and in the audience. It wasn’t just a concert, it was a cathartic experience of the soul. The sold out crowd left emotionally drained after the massive 27 song set.
ALANIS MORISSETTE SETLIST
1.) All I Really Want
2.) Hand in My Pocket
3.) Right Through You
4.) You Learn
5.) Hands Clean (partial)
6.) Forgiven
7.) Everything (partial; tribute to Tim Thorney)
8.) Mary Jane
9.) Diagnosis
10.) Reasons I Drink
11.) Head Over Feet
12.) So Unsexy (partial)
13.) Ablaze
14.) Nemesis (partial)
15.) Perfect
16.) Losing the Plot (partial)
17.) Wake Up
18.) Not the Doctor
19.) Ironic (tribute to Taylor Hawkins)
20.) Sympathetic Character (partial)
21.) Smiling
22.) I Remain (partial)
23.) You Oughta Know
ENCORE
24.) Too Hot (first time live since 2014)
25.) Your House (plugged version)
26.) Uninvited
27.) Thank U
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