It doesn't happen often that we get a 2nd, 3rd or 4th chance in life. Today was my fourth chance to see Lilith Fair, and nothing would keep me away from the Capitol Federal Amphitheater. Not a two and a half hour drive, or a busted radiator and being stranded on the side of I-29 for over an hour. Thankfully I found a tow truck for the car ($255) and a rental service ($54) that would come pick us up. After a lengthy check in at HERTZ in Saint Joseph, Missouri, our journey continued. Parking ($10) was a breeze and everything was set at will call for our day's events. Two tickets (main floor, row N), two wrists bands that allowed us access to the press conference, a photo pass and schedule were crammed into an envelope and handed to me. After a quick security search at the gates, we made our way through the sponsor’s area and to the ABC stage.

Sadly we missed the majority of the side stage performances, including Jennifer Knapp, Julia Othmer and local talent winner Sarah Swenson.
Kansas City natives Vedera were the first act of the day we caught. Closing out the ABC stage, Vedera are new to me, but they were in no shortage of fans in the crowd. Hundreds were bearing the extreme heat and humidity. I could see dozens of people belting out the lyrics at the top of their lungs. Kristen did an amazing capturing the hearts of those in the crowd.

Toronto, Ontario natives' Metric opened the main stage at roughly 5pm. The crowd was starting to take their seats and I would guess a couple thousand fans got to enjoy Metric's half hour set. Twilight Galaxy and Satellite Mind had extended industrial-rock intros. After their set, I had heard a few people talking about the sound issues with the a fore mentioned tracks but I honestly believe the noise was intentional. Sadly, it's really difficult to get into a band whose set is only 6 songs, especially when it's 100+ degrees in the shade and just standing still makes you sweat buckets. Joules, Josh and James rocked the crowd with Satellite Mind while Emily did a little robot dance. Too bad the crowd wasn't inclined to join her. I can only imagine what it's like to experience Metric with a full stage show. Glimmering lights still played off of the reflective surfaces, but this was not a set best suited for daylight hours. Metric was set to rule the stage for half an hour, but the press conference started about 10 minutes into their set, forcing us to leave after Help I'm Alive. The crowd could still be heard applauding the band, even from the press area. After they left the stage, we saw no more of any of the members. Not even for the evening’s grand finale.

Metric: "Twilight Galaxy," "Satellite Minds," "Help I’m Alive," "Gold Guns Girls/Hey Hey, My My" "Gimme Sympathy," "Dead Disco."

Ingrid Michaelson, Sarah McLachlan, Ann and Nancy Wilson, Emmylou Harris, Sarah Swenson, Jennifer Knapp and Julia Othmer were all in attendance. I asked about how the cancellations this year would affect next year. We were assured that Lilith 2011 would happen and that no one had expected the trouble with the economy while plotting this tour. I was fortunate enough to get the first question and last questions of the conference. I also asked about opening the genres of the tour even further and adding more rock or metal artists. I think Ann Wilson took offense to this question, saying, "We're not rock enough?" Everyone got a laugh. Sarah added, "It's always a juggling act to figure out how to put together a unique and diverse bill every night, depending on the availability of the artists, the times they've given us, the dates they've given us. I think we've done a pretty spectacular job this year incorporating a lot of different genres. Could it be more diverse? It probably could, but you know what, you gotta be careful with that too. You don't want to aschew the show too far in any direction. It all comes down to music and what I say is that most music lovers don't have one genre on their iPod."
A huge congratulations to Mary Ann and the Hope House for being the local charity winner, getting a contribution of $4000.00 from Lilith Fair. After the press conference, we were lucky enough to meet Ann and Nancy Wilson, as they were signing the hood of a beautiful red chevy and multiple guitars. We also were lucky enough to meet Sarah McLachlan. I've been waiting almost 17 years this opportunity. She was very pleasant and didn't mind that I was covered in sweat. "Honey," she told me, "we're all sweating out here. Get over here and get this picture taken." It was such an honor to finally meet one of my idols. Afterwards, I spoke with a young girl who had met Ms. McLachlan moments before I did. I told her, and her mother, that I've been waiting to meet Sarah for longer than the little girl has been alive. We all got a chuckle about that.


Ingrid Michaelson: "Soldier/Pokerface," "The Way I Am," "Parachute," "Maybe," "Locked Up," "The Way I Am," "Toxic."

Ingrid was another artist that I’d never hear of until today’s festival. She is amazing. No one; well, no one who’s never seen Ingrid live before, expected to hear Lady Gaga’s Pokerface mixed in with Soldier and Spunky and cute (yeah, I said cute). Ingrid had the perfect amount of crowd interaction.
It was after The Way I Am that Ingrid made the announcement that, "It's really hot out here. Like really hot. I have to share with you all that I'm sweating like a pig. I just had sweat drip down my inner thigh. For a moment, I thought I pulled a Fergie. I thought you should all know, because we're that close, you all and I."
The band ended Ingrid’s set with a rousing rendition of

Courtyard Hounds: "Delight (Something New Under the Sun)," "It Didn’t Make a Sound," new song, "Then Again," "Fear of Wasted Time," bluegrass instrumental, "The Coast," "Ain’t No Son."

I’m not a fan of country music, but I’ve always had a soft spot in my heart for The Dixie Chicks. They were a fun band who wrote some great music. Martie Maguire and Emily Robinson had no plans on touring in support of this album, but everyone in attendance today was thrilled and honored to have them sharing the Lilith stage. Even though these ladies took the stage when the mercury peaked at 100 degrees on the concrete, their voices proved to be powerful enough to get people out of their chairs and dancing in the isles.

After Martie and Emily left the stage, we took the opportunity to walk around the venue and scope out the various sponsors for today’s event. The Lilipad tent was a perfect place to cool off and relax in their air conditioning. We even took the time to visit the Crystal Light photo booth. If I were a girl, I’d have stocked up on free tampons and samples from O.B. Carefree and Stayfree. I donated a few dollars to the ASPCA, because they were playing the "Happy" commercial and got my support bracelet. Overall, it was turning into a great day.

Emmylou Harris: "Here I Am," "Orphan Girl," "Evangeline," "Wheels," "Born To Run," "Calling My Children Home," "Red Dirt Girl," "Get Up John," "Bang the Drum Slowly," "Shores of White Sand," "The Pearl."

I have respect for Emmylou Harris. I remember my Grandfather, God rest his soul, introducing me to her music during various campground visits. Her presence commands the crowd’s attention and Emmylou has the voice of a woman who’s seen so much of the world’s pain but only chooses to acknowledge the love. Her mix of folk, rock and gospel was a welcome change of pace for the day.

Heart: "Barracuda," "Straight On" "Even It Up/Gimme Shelter," "WTF," "Hey You," "Red Velvet Car," "Alone," "Magic Man," "Crazy On You." Encore: "What Is and What Should Never Be."

HEART took the stage a full 5 minutes before their set time of 8:50p. The sun was setting and we were finally granted relief from the day’s heat. These ladies have been around for the better part of 4 decades and they know how to put on one helluva rock show. The evening hit a high point when Ann and Nancy, along with keyboardist Debbie, played a rousing acoustic version of Alone. The newbie performers of Lilith would be wise to take a few pages from the Book Of Heart. The ladies introduced several new songs from their forth coming album and were met with great approval fromt he crowd. The touring band was even given a chance to shine during the extended interlude during the 5 and a half minute rendition of Magic Man. The energy Heart gave off was a cullmination of the entire day's events. Nancy spent the majority of the hour long set doing scissor kicks and bouncing all over the stage while playing both an electric and acoustic guitar. Ann's presence at the microphone, up until that moment, had not been matched all day long.

Sarah McLachlan: "Angel" (with Emmylou Harris), "Building a Mystery," "Loving You Is Easy," "Stupid," "World On Fire," "I Will Remember You," "Forgiveness," "Adia," "Out Of Tune," "Sweet Surrender," "Possession." Encore: "Ice Cream," "Because the Night" (with most of the day’s performers).

Sarah took the stage to thunderous applause and cheers. After sitting at her piano, she began the opening chords of Angel. The crowd was blessed to have Emmylou Harris join Sarah for a version of Angel that pulled on all of our heart strings. Just Sarah, Emmylou and Sarah's piano. Such a heart breaking song.
"Holy shit it's hot out here," Sarah commented after Emmylou left the stage. "I'm not used to this heat. It never gets this bad in Vancouver," If anyone in the audience missed an electrifying performance of Building A Mystery, it's because we were all at the ASPCA Booth adopting a puppy during Angel. Building A Mystery is one of my favorite tracks and to be standing in no more than 3 feet in front of Sarah, singing the lyrics and have her look down at me and wink while I'm photographing was the best moment of my life! Sarah apologized before playing Loving You Is Easy, as though we would have been upset with her playing a new song.
There was a decent amount of crowd interaction, with Sarah commenting on the extreme heat, thanking us all for sticking through it. I wasn't lucky enough to have gotten the chance to see any of the tours in support of Afterglow, so to hear Stupid, the song in Sarah's catalouge that I most relate too, was amazing. The staged alternated in being bathed in cool purple and blue lighting, spotlights playing across each of her band members. Sarah admitted to us that World On Fire was written as a nostalgic piece for the feeling of community during the '97-'99 Lilith dates. World on Fire bled seamlessly into I Will Remember You and was the first song of the evening that had people reaching for their lighters and cell phone lights. Hearing I Will Remember You, which was never released on any of her full length albums, was a highlight of the evening.
Another new track, Forgiveness, was introduced by Sarah remarking that, "I played a happy new song off the new album, and now it's time for a sad new song. Just to balance it out. It's always the sad songs that make me feel the best when I play them." The crowd agreed. Adia was followed by Out Of Tune, but this time Sarah did not apologize for playing another new track. Why she would think that we'd not like to hear they new music is beyond me. The evening was kicked up a notch during Sweet Surrender, with Sarah taking a break during the interlude to move to the back of the stage and dirty dance with her female back up singers. As loud as the initial reaction was to Sarah taking the stage 45 minutes earlier, the approval of her playing Possession was deafening. This was the song so many of us were hoping was still in the setlist. Sarah finished her set with a crowd friendly version of Ice Cream, a fan favorite and one that she asks we sing along to, as loud as we can. Sarah's set was a good mixture of tracks from her releases, all except for her debut album, Touch. Her set was about an hour too short and left everyone wanting more.

It was after Ice Cream that Sarah invited all of the day's performers to join her on stage for their grand finale. Because The Night was first made famous by its writers; Bruce Springsteen and Patti Smith. The song next surfaced in the mid-1990’s by Natalie Merchant and 10,000 Maniacs during their MTV Unplugged performance.
Each woman took a verse, Ann Wilson proved her voice is still as commanding as it was 30 years ago. Emmylou Harris was a little off key during her verse but Sarah Swansen and Ingrid Michaelson more than made up for it. It was a little disheartening that The Courtyard Hounds' Martie Maguire and Emily Robinson had to use printed lyrics for their verses.

Many are finally old enough to experience their first Lilith Fair. A few are also anxiously returning after an 11 year hiatus. I did speak with a few women who had been lucky enough to attend the '97-'99 dates. Even though lagging ticket sales forced the festival to cancel 11 of its 34 dates and crowd drawer Kelly Clarkson recently pulled from her Lilith dates, including the KC stop, today's show attracted about 5,000 mostly female fans from across a wide age range. Mothers and daughters. Boyfriends. Girlfriends. Fathers and sons. It may have been unheard of back in 1996 for a radio station to play back to back tracks by female recording artists but thankfully that has changed now. Why is it any different to have an all female line-up than it is to have an all male line-up? There are no female fronted acts on the Mayhem Tour this summer and only a handfull on the Warped and Uproar Tours. Are we still in a time period where it's an oddity to have a Lilith Fair? We baulk at an all female line-up, yet still find it odd that bands like Halestorm, Evanescence and Flyleaf would play on rock and metal tours. Personally, I was more excited for Lilith than Mayhem.

Today the ladies of Lilith helped us build on a sense of community and family that started almost 15 years ago.