Singer Sarah McLachlan rehearses for her new album and upcoming Lilith concerts in Vancouver.Lyle Stafford
As Lilith, the mammoth all-female tour co-founded by Sarah McLachlan, hit her hometown on Canada Day, the celebratory atmosphere was dimmed somewhat by news that the troubled tour was cancelling 10 shows.
"It sucks," said Ms. McLachlan at a news conference backstage at Ambleside Park, mere blocks from her West Vancouver home. "But you know what? We're here today and my feeling is I always try to look at the silver lining of every cloud, and whoever is going to come to the shows is going to get a great performance from every artist here. And that's what I focus on. I focus on the people who did come."
The Montreal show, scheduled for July 23, was among the casualties, along with concerts in Salt Lake City, Raleigh, Charlotte, West Palm Beach, Tampa, Birmingham, Austin, Houston and Dallas. Two shows - Phoenix and Nashville - had previously been cut.
"Guess what? The summer sucks," said Terry McBride, Nettwerk Music Group CEO and another of Lilith Fair's founders. "It's sucking for everybody else."
Mr. McBride blamed media reports of poor ticket sales and said rumours of cancellations were so rampant, he was told that the Calgary show had been cancelled shortly after arriving home from the Calgary show.
Some 9,600 people attended the Vancouver concert, which had been moved from the giant Pitt Meadows Airport to the smaller Ambleside venue - although there were factors for that move beyond size, Mr. McBride said.
He would not say how much money the tour will lose as a result of the cancellations, but pointed out that charities would be out "thousands of dollars" because of the development. Lilith donates $1 from every ticket sold to a local charity in each market.
The original Lilith Fair, which ran from 1997 to 1999, was considered groundbreaking and a tremendous commercial success.
Ms. McLachlan said she revived Lilith after an 11-year hiatus because she missed the experience of touring with other women. "For me it was as simple as I want it again; I miss that. It doesn't have anything to do with ticket sales. It has to do with my gut, my heart."
When asked whether Lilith would be back in the future after this year's problems, Ms. McLachlan said, "Yep."
Lilith artist Sheryl Crow added: "And you can spell that y-e-p."