Sarah McLachlan defiant in face of Lilith Fair's ticket slump: 'You can't go back'
Sarah McLachlan performs during a campaign rally for U.S. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid in Las Vegas on July 8. (Ethan Miller, Getty Images)
It’s been a tough summer for a lot of major tours, and no one is more aware of that than Sarah McLachlan, the cofounder of Lilith Fair, which was scheduled to arrive Saturday at the First Midwest Bank Amphitheatre in Tinley Park.
Tour promoter Live Nation and Lilith have so far canceled 12 of 35 summer dates, and headliners Norah Jones and Kelly Clarkson dropped off the rotating lineup, which due to scheduling issues has been different for every tour stop (headliners at Tinley are to include McLachlan, Mary J. Blige, Heart, La Roux and Dixie Chicks offshoot the Courtyard Hounds).“It’s been a combination of bad ticket sales and Live Nation making a decision to pull shows because they didn’t have the marketing money to promote them properly,” McLachlan said in an interview from the road. “But the alternative of canceling the whole tour is not going to happen.”
Though many in the industry are calling Lilith the latest flop in a summer full of concert disappointments (including cancellations of major tours by U2 and Christina Aguilera), for McLachlan the tour has provided a much-needed re-emergence in music after years of personal turmoil.
Lilith, created by McLachlan to provide a forum for female musicians that she felt were getting shut out by the music industry, was a roaring success during its initial three-year run in 1997-99, drawing 1.6 million fans and pulling in nearly $53 million in revenue.
She revived Lilith this year to coincide with the release of her first studio album in seven years, “Laws of Illusion” (Nettwerk/Arista).
“My oldest daughter is going into 3rd grade, so I knew I could only tour during the summer,” McLachlan says. “Lilith made a lot of sense. I hadn’t been out with a band in a long time, and I wanted that sense of community around me.”
McLachlan, who has sold 40 million albums, faded from public view in recent years while dealing with personal issues. Her marriage of 11 years dissolved, and she put her energies into rearing her two daughters at home in Vancouver.
In that time, she didn’t write many songs, but she never strayed far from music – she found herself at her piano almost daily, “just noodling as a release more than anything.”
“I was going through a tough time emotionally – coming to terms with being 40, being a single mom, going through a divorce,” she said. “It was a huge adjustment, a shift in a perception of how my reality is shaped, and it took a while to start moving forward again.”
Plans were hatched two years ago to re-launch Lilith and she returned to the studio to write some of her most personal and wrenching songs yet. “My producer (Pierre Marchand) has worked with me for 20 years, and we were in very similar situations – he had just split up with his partner a couple of years before I did. We had this shared emotional experience, and we were collaborating on songs and recording them much more quickly than I had ever done before.”
Lilith was originally conceived as a show-and-prove gesture directed at a music industry that viewed women more as token performers who couldn’t tour together or be played back-to-back on the radio without alienating consumers.
“Things improved after Lilith,” McLachlan insists. “It forced some old-school attitudes to change. Inequality still exists, but top-40 is 50 percent women now, though that’s a different, more highly marketed genre in some ways than what Lilith was doing.”
McLachlan aimed to make this year’s Lilith more diverse, in response to criticisms of the ‘90s version that it was “the white-chick folk festival.” And the festival has expanded its reach slightly by adding artists such as Blige, Jill Scott and Erykah Badu. But she says this time it’s mostly about “the comfort level and the camaraderie, a chance for us to get together and play some music together.”
“After the last few years, I really needed that,” she says. “It was great just the other night sitting outside Miranda Lambert’s trailer and eating tacos and drinking wine with everybody and just having a great old time with all my friends on this tour.”
So McLachlan says she’s plowing ahead, determined to enjoy the summer on the road with her two children and her numerous Lilith “girlfriends.”
“Somebody mentioned how disappointing it was that we’d only sold 9,000 tickets for Lilith in Indianapolis after selling 27,000 there in the ‘90s,” she says. “But it’s a very different market than it was 12 years ago. Nobody is selling that many tickets anymore, and the people who are coming are super-excited to be there. That’s who I’m playing to. There’s no reason to be sad about it. If we knew the economy was going to tank, maybe we would’ve thought twice about doing this, but once the wheels are in motion, you can’t go back.”
greg@gregkot.com.
Lilith Fair: 2:30 p.m. Saturday at First Midwest Bank Amphitheatre, Tinley Park, $37.50, $47.50, $77.50, $107; ticketmaster.com.
You want to know why they can't sell tickets? Look no further than the prices. $37.50 is the cheapest ticket? Plus then you have Ticketmaster's outrageous monopoly fees tacked on, so it's really $50. Talented as these women are, I won't pay $50 a seat, plus parking.
They really should have tried to set up something in the city like Lollapalooza.
Posted by: Bankerdanny | July 12, 2010 at 09:14 AM
U2 for all their professed love of America actually love the capitalism part.
They gouged Americans in tough economic times.
I won't ever buy anything U2 again.
Posted by: The King | July 12, 2010 at 09:19 AM
What in the world is First Bank Amphitheatre? You do live in the Chicago area, right?
Yeah, I know it's the south suburbs, so who cares about getting a name right for those construction workers down, past I-80.
Anyways, credit has dried up for a lot of folks, and a meh lineup, equals canceled shows.
My last concert was Steely Dan, got fantastic seats, but cost a fortune.
Posted by: Deadhead4life | July 12, 2010 at 10:10 AM
First Bank is just a poor venue. Sound is inferior to other outdoor venues in the area, including Toyota Park and Northerly Island.
Posted by: OakLawnBill | July 12, 2010 at 10:12 AM
Wait...the purpose was to "provide a forum for female musicians that she felt were getting shut out by the music industry"...and yet the lineup reads like a freaking rush hour radio top-40 playlist.
That might be your problem right there...well, that and the resulting ticket price gouging...
Posted by: mike | July 12, 2010 at 10:32 AM
"It’s been a tough summer for a lot of major tours, and no one is more aware of that than Sarah McLachlan, the cofounder of Lilith Fair, which was scheduled to arrive Saturday at the First Bank Amphitheatre in Tinley Park."
You make it sound like it was cancelled...
Posted by: Shorty44 | July 12, 2010 at 10:36 AM
Besides the poor value, people are voting with their wallets to NOT listen to liberal dribble spewed at them from someone on stage.
Uneducated, clueless entertainment libs will never get another dollar of mine, just as blue states will never get another of my business or tourism dollars.
Posted by: jenny | July 12, 2010 at 11:00 AM
Ticketmaster and high prices are destroying the music industry period! These big-wigs just have to stuff their pockets....everybody thinks they need to make the most money possible.....wrong.
Posted by: Lee | July 12, 2010 at 11:12 AM
She played at a Harry Reid fundraiser? Enough said.
Posted by: Fletch | July 12, 2010 at 11:40 AM
When tickets start going over $100, it ain't rock n roll no more. Enjoy your Evian and for god's sake, don't light that bowl! See you in spin aerobics tomorrow? Feh.
Posted by: B | July 12, 2010 at 11:49 AM
Oak Lawn Bill hit the point right on the button. Whatever they're calling that place in Tinley now-a-days, it's the WORST venue in the Chicago area, hands down. Between Ticketmaster, Live Nation and a very abysmal venue it's no surprise that ticket sales are lagging. OTOH, I went to Bonnaroo and that was sold out. I'll be at Lollapalooza, and Summerfest in Milwaukee certainly didn't seem to be struggling for attendees. Then again, all three of these aforementioned festivals steer clear of Ticketmaster's racket.
Jenny - Way to rationalize your inability to afford concert tickets. LOL! You won't be missed at any concerts. Most of us go there to hear good music and have a good time, not to hear your nonsensical political ranting.
Posted by: Jim | July 12, 2010 at 11:54 AM
Umm, no, Shorty, lackluster sales are due to the recession, not the liberal dribble. Can't get over Dixie Chicks, huh? Move on.
Posted by: Mina | July 12, 2010 at 01:05 PM
Perhaps people are tiring of hearing those who yap about everything wrong with gender and race based issues promoting nothing but gender and racist based programs/issues?
Posted by: Anne | July 12, 2010 at 01:15 PM
To "provide a forum for female musicians that she felt were getting shut out by the music industry" is laughable at best. Sorry, Sarah, looks like you won't be raking in millions during your 3rd grader's summer vacation this year, better luck next time.
Posted by: Jane | July 12, 2010 at 01:26 PM
This event might have had a place in 1997, but, as one other poster pointed out, the airwaves today are FILLED with female musicians. Those that haven't made it to the air don't have the talent or the experience, and do NOT command $50 ticket prices.
Posted by: RegularGuy | July 12, 2010 at 02:41 PM
jenny, stuff it. Uneducated? Only a teabagger would drag politics into a music discussion. But while we are at it, you should realize that on average, people who identify themselves as liberals are more likely to have secondary education.
So much hatred. It's no way to go through life, jenny.
Posted by: mike | July 12, 2010 at 02:59 PM
So Jenny, where exactly do you live? Illinois? Because I'd love to know how you are not spending your money.
Posted by: mel | July 12, 2010 at 03:09 PM
Frankly, after being inundated with all those gd abused pet commercials, I've heard more than enough McLachlan's wailing to last me several lifetimes.
Posted by: doodahman | July 12, 2010 at 03:17 PM
$50 or more to sit outside in the heat after waiting through crowds to get in then get gouged at the concessions? No thanks....
Posted by: chris | July 12, 2010 at 03:42 PM
@Jenny, you do realize that it's the non-liberals who want to keep the rich rich and the poor poor, right? We don't want your money or your opinions anyway. I'll be attending Lilith this year mostly because I took advantage of a 2 for 1 offer that was going around, so $35 for two tickets really wasn't bad. I'll be shocked if there is anyone there who isn't on the lawn besides the die-hard Sarah fans.
Posted by: Liberal Here | July 12, 2010 at 03:58 PM
Wait a minute! She's complaining about the promoter cancelling the shows....when she just cancelled a show in Arizona in protest over their Immigration Law? You're kidding right? Surreal~~~
Posted by: Colin | July 12, 2010 at 04:32 PM
This left wing bomb thrower has been stuck on stupid for the last 5 years. She couldn't see squat tickets in Arizona so she claimed she was cancelling due to SB1070. What a fraud, What a phoney.
Posted by: The Truth/Southside | July 12, 2010 at 04:37 PM
I didn't see her "complaining" about anything really. But I guess when you live your own life whining and complaining about everything, it's easy to project those behaviors on everyone else. In fact, given her comment about the whole tour not being canceled, it would appear that she is doing the opposite of complaining. Maybe she just wanted to explain why concerts are being canceled.
You do realize that some people out there make comments without an underlying agenda to those comments, don't you? Politics have become an idiots' game, and there are far too many willing to play.
Posted by: Everyday American | July 12, 2010 at 05:09 PM
Dear Chris. The rich are rich because they work hard. It is not a conspiracy of "non-liberals". Stop wasting your money on concerts and pot and you could be rich one day too.
Posted by: shiloh | July 12, 2010 at 05:22 PM
Anyone who thinks McLachlan personally "rakes in millions" knows nothing about how the music industry works.
Posted by: LKJ | July 12, 2010 at 05:37 PM