~Lilith Fair 2010~

Lilith Fair, the all female musical tour created by Sarah McLachlan, Dan Fraser, Terry McBride and Marty Diamond and named for the biblical Adam's first wife according to Jewish folklore just rolled out of the DC area. The tour which was borne out of Sarah’s frustration at concert promoters who said an all female bill would never sell is a testament to the power of one person making a difference.
Lilith Fair Day Pictures.....






















The tour raised over $10 million for women charities from 97-99. The 2010 line up had an array of performers. The DC stop which was held at Merriweather Post Pavilion in Columbia, Maryland, which I attended, had Cat Power, Indigo girls, Court Yard Hounds (Emily Robison and Martie Maguire, the two sisters who make up 2/3rds of Dixie Chicks) Sara Barelles, Nneka, Missy Higgins, Beth Orton, Lissie and Marie Digby performing.

The girl power pride, sisterhood and camaraderie between the performers was obvious with Sarah coming out to perform with several of the acts including Court Yard Hounds and Indigo Girls before her own performance. She was very polite, courteous, graceful and down to earth with the audience. To highlight the plight of the independent artist during Court Yard Hound’s performance, Martie Maguire said when they play as the Dixie Chicks, they stay at the Ritz but when they play as Court Yard Hounds, they stay at Motel 6. We all know you pay to be in control as an indie artist, so she wasn’t telling us anything new.

Sarah McLachlan who had been away from performing for a while is glad to be back and she's back with a bang. She is an amazing vocalist with a hauntingly memorable voice. She also plays several musical instruments which adds to her versatility. It was very obvious that she has a very positive and kind spirit. She spoke very nurturing and affirming words to the predominantly female audience. She said to her, Lilith Fair is like church were we congregate with like minds to be part of something bigger than yourself. She stated that we all have amazing power to effect positive change in the world.

When her turn came to perform, she definitely didn't disappoint. She sang several songs from her new album, Laws of illusion, which she said is very close to her heart. She also sang some old favorites. This new album is after a seven year break during which she got married, had 2 children and got a divorce. She stated that the sadder the song, the more joy she gets out of singing it, maybe because she's not in that place any more.

Her song list included Angel, Building A Mystery, Loving You Is Easy, World on fire, Into The Fire, I Will Remember You (the song she wrote for a small independent movie titled The Brothers McMullen), Forgiveness, Sweet Surrender, Possession, Ice Cream, Adia, Out of Tune and Because the Night.

Female friendly vendors such as Women Empowered Against Violence (WEAVE), Show Me Love DC, Oxfam, Luna, Unilever makers of Degree products, McNeil-PPC Inc makers of Carefree, OB and Stayfree, Memento Mori, Crystal light, To-go Ware, I4C, Alter Eco, Better World Books, ABC, Nalgene, Nature Effects, Washington Mystics, Chevrolet, Hillberg & Berk, Reverb, 9.30 club, Rams Head Live and Clear were present.

The turn out was not as great as expected for a variety of reasons such as the economy, lack of continuity in the tours, the weekday date and early start time, which meant people had to leave work early to be on time and also the weather forecast predicting rain which turned out to be nothing but a few drops discouraged some people.

To ensure a better turn out, my suggestion is that all the issues I have mentioned above should be addressed, more diverse acts should be included and tickets should be more moderately priced. When Sarah said "Welcome to the very last Lilith, took a pause then said "of 2010" I was glad because this was my first time attending and I don’t want it to by my last. I commend Sarah on her work and for playing at each stop on the tour which is grueling. I’m already looking forward to the 2011 Lilith Fair.

Lilith Fair Night Pictures ......