Vancouver, B.C.
Sunday night’s Alanis Morissette concert celebrates ground-breaking ‘Jagged Little Pill’ success
Mildred German
Vancouver, BC – On July 31, 2022, Alanis Morissette performed at Rogers Arena. It was part of the world tour celebrating the 25th anniversary of the groundbreaking 1995 album ‘Jagged Little Pill’.
Born and raised in Ottawa, American-Canadian singer Alanis Morissette became an icon of the ‘90s grunge rock scene with hits topping the charts globally. In early 2020, the Alanis Morissette world tour started marking and celebrating the commercial success of Jagged Little Pill released 25 years ago and made the then-21-year old Morissette a global phenomenon. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the tour was cut short and had its many shows postponed. In 2022, as concert venues reopened, Vancouver was one of Morissette’s stops. The ‘90s band Garbage opened for Morissette.
THE ‘90s GRUNGE ERA AND ICON
With 33 million copies sold, the album Jagged Little Pill has made its way as one of the best-selling albums of all time and is indeed worth celebrating. Morissette opened with the song All I Really Want. The crowd, with many still adorned with Pride colours from the city’s Pride weekend celebrations, cheered and sang along. The song is remarkably one of the anthems of the ‘90s angst, heartaches, and nostalgia. With straight-forward intentions, demands, and wants, crowds of all ages to date still sing-along to this song. Montage of Morissette’s growing years, dance art video clips, and digital visuals play in the background as Morissette and her five-person band rocked the stage. Her iconic voice remained powerful as she sang the songs of Jagged Little Pill album in its entirety, plus some newer songs from her latest and seventh studio album, Such Pretty Forks In The Road.
THANK U: A SONG OF GRATITUDE
Watching Alanis Morissette perform live was a phenomenal experience. As she sang the song Uninvited, it was very theatrical and emotional. For me, Uninvited, is very diasporic. This song was featured in the film ‘City of Angels’ (1998) and was the first single released by Morissette after the Jagged Little Pill album’s success. Eventually, not all of Morissette’s postponed shows are going to happen to the desire of her fans all over the world.
In the Philippines, Morissette’s November 18 and 19, 2022 Manila concerts were canceled. Initially, shows have been postponed thrice the time already due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Morissette did not state the reason for the cancellation and fans were offered ticket refunds. The last time Morissette performed in Manila was in 1996. Thus, with Morissette’s performance of Thank U (from her 1998 and fourth studio album, Supposed Former Infatuation Junkie), I was feeling grateful the whole time. Grateful for the grand concert venue, the bold sounds, the stage lights, and the wonderful opportunity to witness a phenomenal concert with a grunge-loving and Pride-friendly crowd.
Jagged Little Pill’s 25th year anniversary concert in Vancouver testified to Alanis Morissette’s destiny as a true rock icon and superstar who dared to sing and inspire generations with her unapologetic ‘angry-woman’ voice and lyrics. “You know how us Catholic girls can be,” as she sang the song, Forgiven.
I wish I had bought the t-shirt, but the price was a bit high.