Canadian singer Sarah McLachlan co-founded Lilith Fair back in 1997. The concert series ran for three years and then stopped.
McLachlan announced Lilith Fair was returning in 2010 and would tour North America, including five Canadian stops. Some big names who signed on to perform include Rihanna, Sheryl Crow, Kelly Clarkson and Loretta Lynn.
Now the fanfare has died down and reality is starting to sink in. Ticket sales are not going as well as organizers had hoped.
A few shows in Nashville and Phoenix were cancelled. Some have been downsized to a smaller venue, including concerts in Vancouver, Edmonton and Montreal.
Terry McBride, Vancouver producer and Lilith Fair co-founder, talked to the Globe & Mail about slow ticket sales. He explained: "The whole summer’s soft — it’s not just Lilith. We’re in the middle of a recession. The interesting thing is we’re stronger than most, but tickets are soft."
The 2010 Lilith Fair successfully kicked off last night (June 27) in Calgary. McLachlan commented on reports the festival is going through some tough times, saying: "There’s a lot of idiots out there with a lot of stupid opinions which all of a sudden become fact."