Lilith Fair 2010, was supposed to fly like an eagle but it crashed to earth a lame duck.
The star-crossed all day festival dominated by women ends August 3, 13 days before it was scheduled. It was marred by 13 cancellations and poor ticket sales resulted in attendance that was half of what was expected in the cities Lilith Fair was presented. For example, the July 1 Vancouver date moved from the 25,000 capacity Pitt Meadows Airport to the 11,000 capacity Ambleside Park and still came up short. Nobody, least of all headliner Sarah McLachlan, could have anticipated such a spectacular failure.
It’s hard to dump on McLachlan. Not only are she and managers Terry McBride and Dan Fraser based in Vancouver, which makes them hometowners who usually are very approachable, but McLachlan is a rarity among her peers: Someone who actually uses her celebrity to improve her community.
By 1999, the last year of the original Lilith summer tours, the fair had raised 10 million dollars for women’s charities. McLachlan established her basically self-financed outreach program for music education. She contributed to various benefit concerts including a fundraiser for cancer research. She lent her name and music to the ethical treatment of animals. A McLachlan event has integrity and a moral purpose.
Unfortunately, in the fickle music business all that good will doesn’t count.
Relaunching Lilith Fair probably seemed like a good idea whose time had come again. The 1996 prototype was created because McLachlan objected to a male bias against women performers. Radio generally wouldn’t program two songs in a row by women while concert promoters had no faith in the drawing power of women.
Yet, by the end of 1997, the first year of the Lilith Fair tour proper, it grossed 16 million dollars and was in the top 20 of tours for 97. By 1999, the last of the tours, Lilith Fair had proven itself and was considered one of the huge successes of each summer.
McLachlan wound down Lilith to concentrate on marriage and motherhood. In that gap of 11 years, the male bias, which had been cowed, had grown as strong as ever and the (likely unconscious) anti-woman attitude was back. There also had been a new wave of women performers for whom the media represented a struggle while something such as Lilith Fair was a lifeline.
As well, McLachlan’s marriage had dissolved, her two daughters had reached an age where they were more independent, and she had a new album coming out, The Laws Of Illusion. Resurrecting Lilith also was her lifeline. It promised to give her the break she likely needed, and, by ending her semi-retirement, to kickstart her career again.
One of the smartest things McBride and Fraser originally did for Sarah McLachlan was make her the Lilith headliner. Certainly it was her tour but many of the women on the bills had a longer track record, had sold more records and had a bigger profile. By accepting McLachlan’s position, they tacitly were acknowledging her dominance. No wonder Tori Amos refused to play along.
The public, too, made a similar assumption. The headliner had to be the star. Therefore, McLachlan was the star. By the last Lilith, she was a star. Undisputed.
The revived Lilith Fair seemed a matter of following the original formula. Armed with new songs and renewed energy, McLachlan would headline again over a new breed of women. Fait accomplis. Simple. It worked the first time, why wouldn’t it again?
Why it didn’t work has been the subject of speculation. The bills were weak, the tickets too expensive, the audience older and, at 40 years old, McLachlan isn’t new either.
By comparison, the new Lilith isn’t as impressive as the original. Colby Caillat won’t be Emmylou Harris.
A patch of grass is a patch of grass whether it costs $60.00 or $200.00 before Ticketmaster greedily processes each ticket.
McBride has rationalized Lilith’s disappointing sales by pointing out that summer ticket sales have been terrible generally. That reasoning doesn’t account for the success of Bon Jovi, The Eagles or Carole King with James Taylor. In Vancouver, McBride’s excuse doesn’t explain why Michael Buble is not doing one show but two at Roger’s Arena or why Bryan Adams and The Beach Boys instantly sold out their date at the PNE.
A promoter suggested there might be too much choice this summer, which
means a few shows had to suffer for it. Makes sense: Between high
ticket prices and a surfeit of shows, something had to give. At the current ticket price, nobody can afford to see every concert.
Terry McBride sits at the head of Nettwerk and Nettwerk, a management company and record label, is smarter than most in the business – often ahead of everybody else in the industry. In the 11 years that have elapsed since the original Lilith, Nettwerk knows that the way music is marketed and consumed has changed drastically. Lilith, which is a retrenchment, doesn’t fit anymore. As well, McLachlan has released only two albums in those 11 years and neither has generated the hits that propel the business now. (It should be noted that Laws Of Illusion’s first week of sales was 22,000, which is good, but not great, in this climate.)
Finally, the original Lilith might have done its job and is not needed as badly today. In 1997 it was a bold idea, cutting edge as it were. In 2010 that edge has been blunted. It doesn’t cut as deep.
Instead of flying, McLachlan has been crippled.
