Lilith Fair

The other day as I was driving home from school, Sarah McLachlan's new song came on the radio. I started to wonder, what ever happened to Lilith Fair?

Sarah McLachlan founded the three year tour, mainly because she "became frustrated with concert promoters and radio stations that refused to feature two female musicians in a row." (Wikipedia) It consisted of all female musical artists of all genres- Sheryl Crow, Sarah McLachlan, Paula Cole, Monica, Mya, Dixie Chicks, and Nelly Furtado just to name a few. Because of its all-female line-up, the tour has been called things like "Breast-fest", "Girlapalooza", and "Lesbopalooza" (Wikipedia) by many critics.

One critic even went as far as writing a journal article, apparently warning parents about the 'demonic legend' of a mythical figure named Lilith, from which the tour gained its name. Apparently, "Lilith is a figure from ancient Hebrew mythology who takes on a variety of forms. According to various mythologies, she has been called Adam's first wife, a fiery, female spirit and a wild-haired, winged seductress who tempts men in their sleep. Some see her as the first feminist because of her independent ways." (rslevison) Maybe this is why Sarah McLachlan picked the name Lilith, to symbolize that women can be independent.

For me, this tour gave women more power in music. I think that the tour really gave women in general the ability to be themselves. It broke the gender barrier of many concert line-ups, including Ozzfest. Although Sharon gets all the artists together, I could not find a band on the line-up that had a female in it until 2000 when Kittie was on the list. (I may be wrong, though, so I apologize if I am!) Was this because of Lilith Fair, giving female bands the power to become noticed?

I wonder, what music would be like today for females if this tour had never happened? Today we have rock bands that are led by females (or all female band members) played on any radio station. Such bands include Paramore, In This Moment, and Evanescence. We also have tons of female soloists- Rihanna, Christina Aguilera, Britney Spears, and Pink. Would these females be as popular? Granted, they would be popular amongst teenagers and college students, but would they be played on the radio back to back like they are now? Is it because of Lilith Fair that these females are popular, or is it the ever changing opinion of women in popular culture? Did our opinions of females in music change because of Lilith Fair? Should there be another Lilith Fair-type tour that celebrates women in music?


Websites used:

http://www.lilithfair.com/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lilith_Fair
http://www.rslevinson.com/gaylesissues/features/collect/religiousreich/blreich008.htm