The First Lilith Fair Kicks Off On 7/5/97

Entertainment Weekly
May 28th, 1999

Sarah McLachlan recalls being told she couldn't share concert bills with other females -- much as radio wouldn't play chick songs back to back, presumably saving listeners from estrogen freak-out. But vindication wasn't on her mind when her boy-free Lilith Fair got under way at the Gorge in Washington State. "I thought it'd be fun," McLachlan says. "Nobody wants to hear that! They want me to be this political-social innovator. I became that by error." But it was no accident that Lilith surpassed all other festival tours in '97 and '98, proof of the lightened testosterone load on pop's hit parade.

• Lilith Fair ranked as the 47th greatest moment in rock.