Who remembers about Lilith Fair, a late 90’s music festival traveling in the US and Canada which was exclusively featuring women? The festival, founded by Canadian musician Sarah Mclachlan, Nettwerk Music Group’s Dan Fraser and Terry McBride, and New York talent agent Marty Diamond, was presenting the biggest female acts but it didn’t last very long (97-99) and was unsuccessfully resurrected in 2010… it lasted only one year.
Well, it could happen again thanks to the Haim sisters, at least this is what bassist Este Haim said when she spoke to Vulture at the New Yorker Festival last week:
‘We talk about this all the time, how there aren’t enough female represented bands and artists at festivals. You don’t see them. And it’s really sad for us. We came up with the idea basically of why can’t we just bring back a festival that’s just ladies – not that we don’t love the boys. Love the men.’
Yeah these girls don’t want to bring any ambiguity on their sexuality, but let me guess? Taylor Swift would be headlining? The mega pop-star is definitively on their wish list with Savages, Florence + The Machine, Lorde and Chvrches. As she was way too young to have attended the original Lilith Fair, she assures everyone she knows about female performers as she saw many of them:
‘I did see Melissa Etheridge in concert, I saw Sarah McLachlan in concert, I saw Paula Cole in concert and Sheryl Crow. All these amazing ladies had such an amazing outlet and place to play music, and it was really beautiful, and I feel like that’s not really available anymore and that outlet isn’t there.’
Oh yeah the Haim sisters are gonna save Sheryl Crow and Melissa Etheridge’s careers, that’s totally the case… except that last time I checked, Crow had quite a few dates on her calendar tour, she is even playing Neil Young’s Bridge School Benefit this month, and Melissa Etheridge is doing quite all right too, with many dates throughout January! And I am sorry to let Este Haim know that Paula Cole’s website shows many dates too, as it is the case for Sarah McLachlan’s. Wasn’t it a presumptuous thing to say ? Also presumptuous to think they will succeed where others have failed?
‘We talk semi-jokingly but semi-seriously about making it happen,’ she added. ‘So stay tuned. I think that would be really magical.’ So yes, nothing is really done yet.