If you have seen this show, we would love to post your review! Submit review to LilithFair1999@netscape.net or for more information click here!

Schedule:
Doors Open at 3:00pm
Women's Shelter ($1 Per Ticket Recipient): Support Network for Battered Women
Deborah Padres - 3:30-3:50 - Village Stage
Tekla - 3:55-4:15 - Village Stage
Bijou Phillips - 4:15-4:35 - Second Stage
Sixpence None the Richer - 4:50-5:10 - Second Stage
Eden AKA - 5:10-5:30 - Village Stage
Mya - 5:30-6:00 - Main Stage
Beth Orton - 6:00-6:30 - Second Stage
Sandra Bernhard - 6:30-6:40 - Main Stage
Luscious Jackson - 6:45-7:15 - Main Stage
Sandra Bernhard - 7:20-7:35 - Main Stage
The Pretenders - 7:40-8:25 - Main Stage
Sheryl Crow - 8:45-9:40 - Main Stage
Sarah McLachlan - 10:00-10:55 - Main Stage
Return to Archives

Ryan and I caught the opening act, Deborah Pardes. (She was pretty good.) Then walked around a bit trying to find a place that sells bottled water. Finally found a place that sold wee little bottes of the stuff for $2.50 (man, what a rip off). Then we caught the last part of Bijou Phillips' set. Kinda sad I didn't get to see the whole thing, but what came next almost nearly made my day. I just loved Sixpence None the Richer. Leigh, the lead singer was just adorable, and they put on a really great set. (Rose Bowlers, be sure to check them out!) Then came out Eden AKA. They were okay IMO. Very acoustic. Now it was time for Beth Orton's set. It took her crew forever to set up, so Beth took the opportunity to tell the lamest jokes. ;) She is so cool. After her set, I elbowed through the crowd to go meet Beth. She's a lovely person, and good with cameras. :) She fixed mine since the stupid flash wouldn't flash. Oh well, that's what I get for depending on those damn disposable cameras. :) After that, we headed over to our seats in section 203 and pretty much stayed there till the end of the show. The Pretenders, Sheryl, Sarah--they were awesome...yada...you already know this. ;)

Three's the Charm at the Last Lilith All-women music festival loses its sensitive side

James Sullivan, Chronicle Staff Critic Thursday, July 15, 1999

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Lilith Fair is going out with something like a bang. Definitely not a whimper

--there's no whimpering allowed.

The women's music festival, now in its third and final year, has taken plenty of kidding for its sensitive image. Tuesday, at the first of two dates at the Shoreline Amphitheatre, headliners Chrissie Hynde and Sheryl Crow smirked and ground their boot heels into that misguided perception.

Most of the sets felt like little parties, and the headliners crashed each other's. Organizer Sarah McLachlan, who says she's putting the tour to rest to concentrate on her personal life, closed the show with her usual soft touch.

But then she invited the other performers out for a giddy sing-along of Jackie DeShannon's ``Put a Little Love in Your Heart.'' They held hands and bounced around the stage like kids at a pajama party.

The cartoon image of Lilith has been one of anguished young maidens with wispy songs to sing. On Tuesday, the women were having none of it.

Sandra Bernhard, nobody's idea of a shrinking violet, made a pair of appearances on the main stage, warming up the crowd with her caustic comic routines. She railed against the arty new breed of female pop star. She named names -- Alanis, Fiona.

``Will somebody please give me an old-fashioned, sweaty, bitch of rock 'n' roll?'' she hollered.

Most of Tuesday's performers are a little more fashion-forward than that. Otherwise, they were happy to oblige. They strutted and struck defiant stances. They cracked off-color jokes. Hynde's was great: ``What do you call the useless skin on the end of a penis? A man.''

Her band, the Pretenders, played the festival's best-received set. She wore a gold lame jacket like the one Elvis wore on the cover of ``50,000,000 Elvis Fans Can't Be Wrong,'' and she carried herself like a king.

The near-full house delighted in the Pretenders' greatest hits, which were models of rock 'n' roll economy -- ``Middle of the Road,'' ``Message of Love.'' And Hynde's ``I'll Stand By You'' was arena balladry from the heart, not the diaphragm.

Another crowd-pleaser was England's Beth Orton, who headlined the second stage around 6 o'clock. She joked that she and her acoustic band planned ``a really depressing set today, to counterbalance all the jolliness!'' But her shy smile and warm personality made the band's finely textured set a pleasure.

Earlier, Sixpence None the Richer played a nice, professional set on the second stage, including its smash hit ``Kiss Me'' and cover of the La's ``There She Goes.'' The youthful Bijou Phillips -- daughter of Mamas and the Papas bandleader John Phillips -- carried her fizzy presence from the second stage to the main, where she joined Luscious Jackson on their politely funky ``Nervous Breakthrough.''

R&B singer Mya was most likely booked to offset any criticism about Lilith's glaring lack of color. She led with her hit ``Ghetto Supastar'' and covered the Jackson 5's ``I'll Be There,'' but her set took a turn for the bizarre when she cleared out her band and dancers to showcase a tap- dance routine.

A couple hours later, Crow led her band through a condensed version of the set she's been playing on tour behind her third album. In brown leather pants and a tank top with a bald eagle on the front, she was all teeth as the crowd helped her sing her natural anthem, ``If It Makes You Happy.''

``This one goes out for all the men, ha ha ha,'' she mumbled, introducing ``Strong Enough'' (``are you strong enough to be my man?''). There weren't many in attendance -- maybe 10 percent of the crowd.

Those that were there, however, were surely entertained by Crow's cover of the Who's ``Squeezebox,'' which featured go-go-dancing guest appearances by Phillips, Orton and Luscious Jackson. ``She's playing all night,'' they all sang. ``And the music's all right.''

Pretenders are the real thing

Chrissie Hynde shows Lilith faithful how to rock out

By Jane Ganahl
OF THE EXAMINER STAFF

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"They don't make 'em like they used to!"
— "Popstar," The Pretenders

Amen. And thank God (Goddess?) for Chrissie Hynde.

Thanks to her, the teenage girls attending Tuesday's Lilith Fair concert at Shoreline Amphitheatre learned that female rock 'n' rollers do exist. Not uncouth, marginally talented ones like Courtney Love, nor artsy shoe-gazers like the otherwise talented Sleater-Kinney, but a confident, swaggering, sexually-charged female who rocks.

Hynde was unfortunately the anomaly at this year's third annual Lilith Fair, the all-woman music festival, which began a two-day stint that concludes Wednesday. Other females on the bill — including Sheryl Crow and founder Sarah McLachlan — thought they were rockers, but only Hynde brought the goods, causing others' efforts to pale in comparison.

This is supposedly Lilith's last year; judging by the spotty lineup I'd suggest keeping that commitment and quitting while ahead. The way interest seems to be declining (neither date here sold out), next year's roster might only include Britney Spears, Hole and the choir from Lowell High School.

The up-and-down nature of the talent extended to the second stage, which kicked off in horrifying form with Bijou Phillips, daughter of John of The Mamas and the Papas. The 18-year-old popster, who has put out a decent album ("I'd Rather Eat Glass") thanks largely to magician/producer Jerry Harrison, seemed ill at ease on stage, prancing like a child in front of a mirror, and sang at times in an entirely different key than the band was playing.

Following her, Sixpence None the Richer was far better, with rich harmonies and sparkling instrumentation. They thankfully have more experience performing than Phillips, and it showed. Almost charming enough to erase the memory of that cloyingly cute single, "Kiss Me."

Finishing out the second stage was Beth Orton, who, if talent were the determining factor, belongs on the main stage, if not headlining. But it's audience that counts here, and the cult-worshiped English folk-rock star is still developing hers. She played a heavenly half-hour set, just quirky enough to intrigue, but melodic enough to float on the warm summer breeze. Especially good was the empathetic "She Cries Your Name."

Alas, that's where the soulfulness ended for a while. On the main stage was this year's hip-hop/R&B offering, Mya. While in years past, Lilith has offered formidable talent in the persons of Queen Latifah and Me'shell Ndegeocello, among others, Mya is exceedingly lightweight. The perky 18-year-old, while showing signs of talent, played material that was weak at best, and her voice, reedy and thin, was overpowered by the enormous backup band.

Following Mya was the New York outfit Luscious Jackson, who played a competent if un-rousing set of funk-pop that was hampered by the abysmal sound system. (I can tell you how the bass sounded, but the other instruments were lost in the soup.) It's been two years since their single, "Naked Eye" (which they played Tuesday) so they're overdue for a breakthrough; perhaps their fine new CD, "Electric Honey," will provide it.

Thankfully, The Pretenders jumped in with both feet to salvage the afternoon. From the second they launched into "Popstar" from their new album, "Viva El Amor," the band was blazing. Hynde, now pushing 50, looked terrific in a gold blazer and cigarette-thin black pants wrapping her long legs. And although the new album is inconsistent, Hynde has never been better.

Throughout the hits-heavy set ("Middle of the Road," "Talk of the Town"), she moved like a tigress, strumming her guitar with a savage efficiency and alternately singing and making her harmonica wail. It was a show-stealing performance, and the crowd remained standing throughout, insisting on an encore.

Sheryl Crow had the hapless task of following Hynde, and the juxtaposition illuminated her shortcomings. She came out rocking harder on "The Change" than she did during her entire April performance here, as if unwilling to be shown up by Hynde. But her efforts seemed stilted; Crow is best at folk-rock, when it's just her excellent voice and a song. Worse, she put down the guitar entirely to strut around for "Every Day is a Winding Road," busting some Funky Chicken dance moves.

McLachlan was also afflicted with show-biz-itis Tuesday night, with a huge backup ensemble dwarfing her intimate songs. Without playing an instrument, and also not knowing what to do with her hands, McLachlan began to resemble her Canadian countrywoman Celine Dion on such schlocky numbers as "I Will Remember You."

Maybe next year, The Pretenders should front their own tour: Great Women of Rock 'n' Roll. But who else would it include?