A DOWN ECONOMY HAS FORCED SARAH MCLACHLAN AND THE LILITH FAIR MUSIC FESTIVAL TO CANCEL DATES THROUGHOUT FLORIDA. PHOTO BY RAPHAEL MAZZUCCO

Lilith Wilts
Lilith Fair’s Comeback Tour Comes at a Difficult Time, Pulls out of the Sunshine State

By George Varga

Lilith Fair’s return this summer after an 11-year hiatus was greeted with excitement by fans of Lilith creator Sarah McLachlan and by fans of this pioneering women’s music festival in general. But that enthusiasm hasn’t been matched at the box office for the 35 (make that 24) city tour.

Late last month, the Lilith tour stops in Phoenix and Nashville were canceled, while the three Canadian dates that kicked off the tour last week were all moved to smaller venues.

On July 1, Lilith co-founder Terry McBride announced that the festival was canceling 10 shows “in the midst of one of the most challenging summer concert seasons and with many tours being canceled outright.”

Locally, Live Nation promoters announced on July 2 that the cancellations included the Aug. 10 concert at West Palm’s Cruzan Amphitheatre and the Aug. 11 Tampa booking.

Although some artists booked solo shows in cities where tour dates were canceled, South Florida is not seeing much of the make-up love.

But it’s not all that surprising.

The timing of Lilith’s return couldn’t be worse. The recession-wracked concert industry is going through its worst summer season in years, with entire tours being scaled back or (in the case of Christina Aguilera) being canceled altogether. Lilith has responded by reducing ticket prices.

For the tour’s July 10 stop at Irvine’s Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre, two-for-one ticket deals were briefly offered in late May, a plan that infuriated fans who had already paid full price. Factor in the scarce number of major headliners at too many Lilith tour stops and it’s not hard to see why the festival is struggling.
“That economy certainly has been a difficulty, absolutely, and a bit of a frustration,” McLachlan said from her “working vacation” in West Vancouver a few days before the tour began June 27.

“We don’t have a lot of control over the economy, but we do have control over ticket prices and how much artists make. And we’ve all had to make concessions and have worked hard to keep the prices down and let people attend for an affordable price.”

Will Lilith return next year? Definitely maybe.

“Yes, we are looking to next year,” McLachlan said. “It depends on how this year goes, financially. But, absolutely, we’re looking to put it on next year.”

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