Sheryl Crow, Deborah Cox Electrify At Lilith Fair
July 9, 1999, 1:50 pm PT
Sheryl Crow
Morality hall monitor Jerry Falwell would have been hard pressed to find
fault with the opening show of Lilith Fair, which began a 40-date tour
Thursday (July 8) at Vancouver's Thunderbird Stadium. Rather than the sinful
Sapphic celebration the corpulent naysayer has warned of in recent weeks,
the eight-hour festival displayed all the depravity of a Mother/Daughter
Day.
Sure there were some short-haired women holding hands and sporting piercings
and tattoos -- although a great deal of the latter appeared temporary. But
the predominantly female audience seemed disproportionately adolescent, or
at least it felt that way every time they squealed in high-pitched delight.
The crowd's "most favored status" fell, understandably, on the Canadian
bands. Sarah McLachlan sightings were an all-day and incorrect constant, the
most blatant occurring when a sizable contingency of teenage girls mistook
Beth Orton, sadly and wrongly given a too-brief 20 minutes on the second
stage, as McLachlan.
McLachlan never joined any of the supporting acts. In fact the only time any
band members cross-pollinated was in the show-closing, all-cast rendition of
"Put a Little Love in Your Heart."
After McLachlan, the most popular Great Northern acts of the day were pop
punkster Bif Naked and soul songstress Deborah Cox. Naked, also a second
stager, had the crowd pogo-ing almost from the outset; her appeal rebellious
but safe, sort of Britney Spears goes Goth. Nonetheless, she was far more
enthusiastically received than main-stage opener Luscious Jackson, whose set
preceded hers. The New York band was perky, but its slowly escalating 30
minutes never really caught fire, perhaps because many in the audience
didn't seem to know them.
Deborah Cox
Cox, however, was electrifying, especially after the maudlin performance of
Mya, whose high moments consisted of Jackson 5 covers and a painfully
amateurish tap-dance routine. Cox had the house by the heart, a smooth,
seasoned R&B pro with stellar pipes. And Cox was the beginning of a
finishing hat trick that more than made up for the paucity of much of the
days first four hours.
Cox was followed by the explosive Sheryl Crow, and the singer-songwriter's
raw-rock tirade -- far more fiery live than on record -- blew the stands and
fans apart. Crow has always been engaging, but in her early years the appeal
was often coquettish. Here it was all blood, bones, muscle, and soul. She
clearly was the festival highlight. Starting with a chugging "A Change Will
Do You Good," she continued with a series of body blows that included "My
Favorite Mistake," "Everyday is a Winding Road," and the anthemic
white-trash classic "If It Makes You Happy," a song that didn't request a
sing-along so much as rip it from the audience's collective throat. Crow
also bravely avoided older hits in favor of new material, again proving her
undeniable growth.
Sarah McLachlan
After Crow, McLachlan should have been anti-climatic, but she wasn't. It's
touching just how honored and adored McLachlan is in her homeland, and for
her spirit and sincerity deservedly so. Beginning with "Possession," she had
the audience joining her like an angelic choir, each word reverently
mirrored. She truly glowed, appreciative not only of the love being showered
upon her, but also at how gloriously the summer day had turned out.
"We've been praying and begging," she said, beaming, "and the gods and
goddesses smiled upon us." Hopefully now she can just brighten up the front
half of the show.
-- Tom Phalen
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