Constantly craving a k.d. lang Canadian tour? Long wait is finally over
Torch and twang singer’s Ingénue Redux Canadian Tour hitting Vancouver this week
k.d. lang laughs when you ask her about touring Canada in winter.
“Oh my God, yes. I was in a van, we took out the back seat and put some foam down so people could sleep,” said lang about the early days when she was just a 23-yearold cow punk. “We went across Canada. I don’t know if it was the first time, but one of the times we were in Sudbury (Ont.) and there was an ice storm and we parked to get gas. The grade of the gas station and the icy road was so that the van started sliding towards the pump. I was like, ‘Oh Lord, we’re going to be toast.’ I thought there was going to be a huge explosion.”
Sure, now the famous singer who calls both Calgary and Portland, Ore., home these days can see the humour in thousands of bumpy kilometres holed up in a crummy, cold van. Time indeed heals all wounds and offers, if you’re lucky, some perspective.
“I was ready to deal with whatever came my way after that — including trying to eat vegetarian back in the early ‘80s in winter in Canada. It was a lot of peanuts and bananas. Yup, that’s what I got,” said lang over the phone from her Portland home.
Talk of touring Canada is front and centre with the Grammy Award-winning singer as she is on the eve of her first tour of her homeland in 13 years. The Ingénue Redux Canadian Tour began in Victoria on Saturday and hits Vancouver’s Orpheum Theatre for two nights on Wednesday and Thursday. It then makes its way across the country before wrapping in Hamilton, Ont., on Sept. 19.
“It’s been a long time since I have gone coast-to-coast, which I am super-excited about,” said lang. “I can’t think of a better place to tour at this time in the world. I called my manager and said: ‘I really want to tour this year, but I only want to tour Australia and Canada.’ “
Those choices have a lot to do with the state of the world these days. She lives half of her life in the U.S. and says her friends and acquaintances are fearful that their rights are in danger as a Trump government has threatened huge rollbacks in LGBTQ rights.
“It’s a very chaotic, confusing time for people,” said lang.
So that Trumpian reality has really readied lang for a good dose of Canada.
“To me, I think there is an openness here both geographically and morally, and heart (wise) and emotionally,” said lang, who is a member of the Order of Canada. “I think we are a pretty open people, even though we tend to be kind of self-effacing and insular ... To me it’s really great for an entire culture to have that sort of essence. It is astonishing.”
Aside from the obvious logistical merits, starting a cross-Canada tour in B.C. makes even more sense for the Consort, Alta., native as Vancouver, in particular, was a catalyst in her career trajectory.
“My goodness, between the Savoy and the Railway, wow,” said lang, when asked about the Railway Club back in the day. “The Railway, that was really such a launching pad for me. That really was such a great club. I was there maybe for a week at a time, so it really allowed me to get in there and really work out with the band and try different things. I can remember hanging off that crazy plastic horse and trying different styles from punk to country and, of course, Janet Forsyth, who ran both of the clubs, became one of my best friends to this day, so it has a great amount of memory and such a high place in my heart.”
Speaking of memories, what about a lang memoir? All the cool pop stars are doing them these days.
“They asked me to, but, nah, somebody can do it posthumously. My life is not that interesting,” said lang.
The new tour is designed around the 25th anniversary of lang’s huge second solo album, Ingénue. The multi-platinum 1992 album included the massive hits Constant Cravings and Miss Chatelaine. The album was remastered and reissued on vinyl and in a box set in July.
“My mom always says to me, ‘It goes faster as you get older,’ and it seems to be true,” said lang. “Yeah 25 years. It’s going to be interesting. We are going to do the record in its entirety in sequence at the beginning of the show. I don’t know what to expect from myself. I don’t know if I am going to feel transported back to the emotions of those songs or if I’m going to have a new relationship or a little bit of both.
“I’m really excited and I think and I’m hoping that some of the audience will have a relationship with that record. From what I hear from people they do. It’s a marker in their lives as well. I hope it’s enjoyable for everyone.”
While Ingénue is the centrepiece of the show, lang fans will get other favourites as well. One of those songs is Leonard Cohen’s Hallelujah. That song and lang became synonymous after lang delivered an awe-inspiring version of it live at the Juno Awards at Winnipeg in 2005. Cohen died in November 2016 and lang has only sung the song once since his passing.
“It’s certainly going to be different in Canada to sing that song now,” said lang. “I think everyone who has sung it and I think Leonard, from what I understood from what he said over the years, felt the song really had transcended anyone’s involvement. It really belongs to the pop cultural consciousness of the last 20 years and it’s not Leonard’s song, it’s not my song. It belongs to all of us. So that makes it easier because it belongs to everybody.”
With over three decades in the business behind her and numerous awards collected and some controversies managed, does the singer look back often or spend time thinking about the what ifs in life?
“I’m definitely happy with my choices. I have no regrets,” said lang. “I was living my life and giving it my everything. You can’t really complain about that.”
In fact, lang doesn’t have any complaints right now. She says her voice is strong and ready and she’s going to have a great time coming home for the summer. She’s seen this Canadian road movie before and knows what to expect and how to navigate the journey.