Despite my best efforts, it was awfully hard to walk into Lilith Fair on Saturday with an open mind. I was initially jazzed for this summer’s return of the “celebration of women in music,” but then the underwhelming day-to-day lineups got announced and the show dates started to get cancelled and some big-ticket artists decided to drop out, and by the time Lilith rolled into Irvine, Calif.’s Verizon Wireless Amphitheater, it felt a little bit like attending the funeral of something that wasn’t quite dead. But festival co-founder Terry McBride asked us critics to check out Lilith for ourselves, and “then see if you want to criticize it afterwards.” So off to Irvine I went, through the Lilith looking glass on a beautiful, sunny, SoCal day. What did I find there, between sets from Sarah McLachlan, Miranda Lambert, local fave Jenni Rivera, Emmylou Harris, Brandi Carlile, and ever so many more? Hmm. You mean besides the free tampons?
Tag: Lilith Tour (1-6 of 6)
Lilith Fair co-founder Terry McBride on the tour's travails: 'No matter what the media says, there won't be any more cancellations'
Image Credit: David Bergman/Getty ImagesThe initially triumphant return of Lilith Fair has been hampered this summer by low ticket sales, cancelled shows — 10 cities were dropped yesterday — and headliners like Norah Jones and Kelly Clarkson pulling out of the fest. We spoke to Lilith co-founder Terry McBride today in hopes of figuring out what’s plaguing these ladies, if there’s more trouble yet to come, and whether it’s really as bad as it looks.
Entertainment Weekly: There had been some speculation that the shows you cancelled yesterday had been cancelled for a while, at least according to Norah Jones’ manager.
Terry McBride: No, see, this is where the press creates its own situation. Some of the media in Calgary said the Calgary show was cancelled, and then the media promptly got on Lilith because there was about an hour and a half line to get into the venue. The venue, having read the press, thought no one was going to show up, so they’d cut back on staff. So the media is sitting there criticizing Lilith for having long lines, that they themselves created. So I just sit there and go, Unless Lilith Fair says something is cancelled, it’s not cancelled. But if the media says it, it becomes truth.
Then what was the truth? When were those dates cancelled?
We had let certain camps know that we were looking at cancelling shows. Just as a heads up. It’s the professional, polite thing to do. Hey, you might want to look at other options. These shows are not cancelled yet, but we’re looking at them on a daily basis. So rather than just catching everyone by surprise, we were very professional about it. So then a journalist goes in there thinking she’s being an investigative reporter, and ultimately comes out and says these shows are cancelled, which they’re not. Probably the most bizarre thing for us is that some of those shows, the ticket sales were actually quite brisk. Then that news story gets picked up by the local media as truth, and ticket sales just stopped.
Go-Go's cancel summer tour after guitarist Jane Wiedlin suffers hiking fall
Image Credit: George Rose/Getty ImagesBad news for Go Go’s fans today: The new-wave girl group icons have been forced to cancel a summer-long reunion tour—including the July 7 Lilith Fair kick-off in San Diego—following rhythm guitarist Jane Wiedlin‘s 20-foot fall from a mountain near her home in Northern California. A scheduled ACL replacement surgery on her knee will take Wiedlin out of commission for up to a year, according to a statement posted on her website.
That means the group’s appearance on Good Morning America, scheduled for July 16 in Central Park, is off as well. Their formal statement: “The band is heartbroken and hopes their fans will send best wishes for Jane’s speedy recovery. In the meantime, tickets can be refunded at point of purchase.”
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Keith Richards: Music’s most influential character?
More Lilith Fair artists announced: Is this shaping up to be the best tour of the summer?
The initial round of female artists slated to join the relaunched Lilith Fair for Summer Oh-Ten was impressive enough — Sarah McLachlan, Miranda Lambert, Janelle Monae, Mary J. Blige, Emmylou Harris, and lots more comprised an eclectic group exciting enough to guarantee my attendance. A second round of names came out today, lending some serious emotional heft and historical weight to the sisterhood: Cat Power, the Gossip, Norah Jones, Beth Orton, and the double lemme-show-you-children-how-it’s-done whammy of Loretta Lynn and Heart. This is already something I am willing to go crazy on, Mixers — and they say there are more “major” artists yet to be announced! (Might those include names like Swift, Clarkson, or Pink?)
Check out the official site for tour stops in your area, and then let us know: Are you ready to buy your tickets yet?
(Follow the Music Mix on Twitter: @EWMusicMix.)
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Mary J. Blige, Miranda Lambert, and, duh, Sarah McLachlan: 2010 Lilith Tour headliners announced
Sarah McLachlan-founded estrospectacular Lilith Fair will return in the summer of 2010, rebranded as a “Tour,” but just as lady-licious as ever before. The headliners announced today represent a pretty impressive cross-section of women in music: Lilith vets like Sheryl Crow, Emmylou Harris, and Erykah Badu stand alongside newcomers Colbie Callait, Corinne Bailey Rae, and Sara Bareilles. Folkies like Zee Avi and the Indigo Girls will nuzzle up to the freakier bosoms of Janelle Monae and Metric. Mainstream country gets great representation from Sugarland and Miranda Lambert. And the diversity apparent in any tour that carries both Mary J. Blige and Tegan and Sara is to be applauded. Here’s the only question: Will anyone go?
I didn’t attend the first round of Fairs — was too busy being a camp counselor in the woods of Arkansas, where the sheer number of Indigo Girls songs I learned to play on my acoustic guitar probably made such attendance unnecessary — but I always regretted not standing with my sisters on those fertile fields. And given my experience watching various hairy dudes headline gender-unspecific music festivals over the past few years, I can only imagine these proceedings will smell better. Although I did go to art school, and am aware of all the ways I can be wrong about that.
Most of all, I’m psyched at the potential Lilith 2.0 has to refocus today’s young women on the dearly-departed notion of girl power, especially since so many of them currently spend their time pining for vampires. There are a few more acts I’d like to see added — fingers crossed for No Doubt, and I can’t help but think Taylor Swift would both increase tour ticket sales and pick up some new songwriting material along the way — but all in all I think it’s a solid lineup and a worthy venture. So long as McLachlan steers clear of outfits like the one above.
What do you think, Mixers? Dates have yet to be announced, but will you be attending Lilith Tour 2010? Who would you like to see added to the dance card? And does this concept have any shot at returning to its ’90s ubiquity?
(Follow the Music Mix on Twitter: @EWMusicMix.)
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Photo Credit: Robb D. Cohen/Retna
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