July 30, 1998
Publication title: Canadian Press Newswire, vol. -, Iss. -, pg. –
Place: Toronto
Writer: Unknown
McLachlan brings Lilith Fair home triumphant and transformed
The Sarah McLachlan who brings her Lilith Fair tour back to Canada this summer is not the same woman who just wanted to get a few girls together to play some tunes a year ago.
Tougher, more at home in the spotlight, more comfortable at the helm of a massive undertaking, the new McLachlan is completely in command.
“For me it’s been kind of easier,” the Halifax-born musician said in a recent interview from Raleigh, N.C.
“It’s even better this year. I don’t have any of the same insecurities I did last year when I didn’t know any of these people.”
Despite Lilith’s roaring success, next year will be the last, McLachlan says, apologizing in case she might sound cranky suffering the blistering swelter of a southern U.S. heatwave in a bus with defunct air conditioning.
“We’re doing three years and that’s it,” she says.
“I say it every day but nobody wants to hear it. I’m sorry but it’s pretty selfish, I wanted to do this for me and I wanted to get to know these women.”
Lilith Fair has transformed McLachlan from soft-spoken folk-pop songstress to full-blown rock diva. Through Lilith, she has won global recognition as an artist and become a reluctant advocate for female musicians.
“I don’t consider myself a visionary,” she says.
“I just consider myself an individual doing the best I can with the tools I have and I’ve been given an amazing opportunity.”
When the touring all-woman festival surprised nay-sayers in the music industry by becoming the hottest musical ticket across North America last summer, McLachlan gained clout in a business that has traditionally treated female artists with ill-disguised contempt.
She spent months defending the tour against critics, who complained it was a showcase for left-leaning white suburban feminism, something that resonates in McLachlan’s sensitive “earth goddess” image.
“You have feminists telling us that we’re not feminist enough and the opposite end where if you dare to say you’re a feminist then you have to stand there and say no, you don’t hate men, for the next month,” she says.
“For me it’s a great learning experience in the power and the stupidity of the media. But you know, I feel that we’re doing it for the right reasons. We’re doing the best we can with it and you know what? If you think you can do better, feel free.”
Lilith has earned McLachlan accolades and fortune as well. Her album Surfacing has sold more than three million copies and her face has graced the cover of dozens of magazines.
Earlier this month, New York State Gov. George Pataki presented McLachlan with the first Elizabeth Cady Stanton Visionary Award, named after the woman who led the first U.S. women’s rights convention, for her work establishing the tour.
Lilith Fair plays to five Canadian cities. Opening Aug. 14 at Ottawa’s Lansdowne Park, it moves to two sold out shows Aug. 15 and 16 at Toronto’s Molson Amphitheatre, then to Calgary’s McMahon Stadium Aug. 28, Commonwealth Stadium in Edmonton Aug. 29 and winds up Aug. 31 in Vancouver’s Thunderbird Stadium.
The big ticket sellers have been headliners like Bonnie Raitt, Erykah Badu, Paula Cole, Shawn Colvin, Emmylou Harris and Queen Latifah. But Lilith Fair has had an undeniable impact on a generation of young unknowns – artists invited from local markets to perform on Lilith’s second and third stages.
The experience is invaluable, says Edmonton singer-songwriter Maren Ord, invited to join the tour for the first time when it hits her home town this summer.
“When I first heard the news, I was really very excited and I still am,” says Ord, 17, one of Canada’s promising up-and-comers in the pop business.
“The whole fact of playing in front of a big crowd is very overwhelming and just playing with all those other artists as well,” she says.
“(McLachlan) pretty much said to have fun out there, it’s like a big slumber party backstage and stuff like that. I’m excited for that.”
McLachlan says organizing the tour is too time consuming to go on forever. She has also repeatedly said she intends to have children when the Lilith cycle is over.
She doesn’t apologize for wanting to end things.
“People get so pissed off at me when they ask me why I write a song. They think I write it for them? No, I don’t write it for them – I write it for me. Selfish. Of course, I’m totally happy that they get enjoyment from it afterwards.”
Nor can she see the tour carrying on without herself and the management team at Nettwerk, her record label, behind the wheel.
“I’m not sure it could, not just because I’m not involved, but because you can only do something that’s fairly specific for so long before it gets stale.
“There’s a talent pool out there we have close to maxed already. As far as getting down to brass tacks, you need big names to draw money, to draw people who buy tickets so you don’t lose hundreds of thousands of dollars a day.”
Canadian lineups for the 1998 Lilith Fair:
Ottawa, Aug. 14: Main stage: Sarah McLachlan, Paula Cole, Emmylou Harris, Diana Krall, Liz Phair. Second stage: Wild Strawberries, Abra Moore, Eden A.K.A. Village stage: Melanie Doane, Lenni Jabour, Tammy Raybould.
Toronto, Aug. 15: Main stage: Sarah McLachlan, Natalie Merchant, Paula Cole, Emmylou Harris, Liz Phair. Second stage: Abra Moore, Eden A.K.A., Neko Case. Village stage: Melanie Doane, Lenni Jabour, Ali Eisner.
Toronto, Aug. 16: Main stage: Sarah McLachlan, Natalie Merchant, Paula Cole, Chantal Kreviazuk, Liz Phair. Second stage: Mary Lou Lord, Eden A.K.A., Neko Case. Village stage: Melanie Doane, Lenni Jabour, Swamperella.
Calgary, Aug. 28: Main stage: Sarah McLachlan, Paula Cole, Me’Shell Ndegeocello, Cowboy Junkies, Lisa Loeb. Second stage: Wild Strawberries, Dar Williams, Angelique Kidjo. Village stage: Mae Moore, Lin Elder, Cara Luft.
Edmonton, Aug. 29: Main stage: Sarah McLachlan, Paula Cole, Me’Shell Ndegeocello, Cowboy Junkies, Lisa Loeb. Second stage: Wild Strawberries, Dar Williams, Angelique Kidjo. Village stage: Mae Moore, Lin Elder, Maren Ord.
Vancouver, Aug. 31: Main stage: Sarah McLachlan, Paula Cole, Me’Shell Ndegeocello, Diana Krall, Lisa Loeb. Second stage: Wild Strawberries, Dar Williams, Angelique Kidjo. Village stage: Mae Moore, Yvette, Tammy Greer.
