Product Description

Lilith Fair made rock and roll history in the summer of 1997 as the first all-female music tour. These sold-out concert performances could only be described as magical, boasting many once-in-a-lifetime collaborations. That magic is captured here in Lilith Fair: A Celebration of Women in Music, which also includes never-before-seen backstage jams, intimate interviews and behind-the-scenes documentary footage of the artists. Songs: Building a Mystery (Sarah McLachlan), Water is Wide (Indigo Girls/Jewel/Sarah McLachlan), Bitch (Meredith Brooks), Tried to Be True (Indigo Girls/Sheryl Crow), Sunny Came Home (Shawn Colvin), Strong Enough (Sheryl Crow), Near You Always (Jewel), Shame on You (Indigo Girls), Ice Cream (Sarah McLachlan), Closer to Fine (Indigo Girls/Meredith Brooks/Jewel/Sarah McLachlan), I Need (Meredith Brooks), Wichita Skyline (Shawn Colvin), Angel (Sarah McLachlan), I Shall Believe (Sheryl Crow), Morning Song (Jewel), Big Yellow Taxi (All Artists).

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #15717 in DVD
• Brand: Image Entertainment
• Released on: 2001-02-06
• Rating: NR (Not Rated)
• Aspect ratio: 1.33:1
• Formats: Color, Compilation, Dolby, DVD, Live, NTSC
• Original language: English
• Dubbed in: English
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 90 minutes

Amazon.com
If you assumed that this video of Lilith Fair, the gathering of female rockers, folkies, and everything in between, was for women only, well, you wouldn't be far wrong. Not that there's anything wrong with that. The 80-minute video mixes interview clips and backstage footage with concert performances by such performers as Sarah McLachlan (Lilith Fair's founder), the Indigo Girls, Sheryl Crow, Jewel, Meredith Brooks, and Shawn Colvin. Individually and together, they talk about the industry pressures on women in popular music and the sense of community that developed between the performers, as they shared the collective experience of Lilith Fair. And if you guessed that this is a lengthy collection of gently lilting folk songs, guess again. While there is plenty of ultra-sensitive warbling, these women can also rock, including the Indigo Girls (on "Shame on You") and Meredith Brooks (on "Bitch"). --Marshall Fine

Customer Reviews

Lilith Fair
Although this is a fine piece of work in general, the advertised 5.1 mix is simply not true. A true 5.1 mix has a wide spatial feel with different sound eliments coming out of the several speakers. This 5.1 mix is an obvious afterthough. The center channel is no more than a mono sum of the left and right channels, and the rear channels are some sort of mish mosh of the stereo mix with some ambience in it. There are also some really odd low frequency artifacts in the rear channels during the dialog and interview segments, due to some sort of unacceptable processing to fool the listener (and buyer) into thinking he is listening to a real 5.1 mix.

I can guarantee that this was a poor marketing decision and not what the remix engineer delivered. I know this because I was the remix engineer, and I was asked to deliver the stereo only mix that was originally done for the broadcast and pay-per-view version.

I encourage buyers to take up issue with DVD distributors who continue to market such poor quality.

Tom Davis
SeisMic Sound, Inc.
Nashville, TN

It really was great, wasn't it?
Lilith Fair was quite the enterprise. Were it not for what must be endless copyright issues and contracts issues that would arise, the moving music festival that brought us almost all of the best contemporary female singer songwriters during the summers of 1997 - 1999 could spawn a hundred different documentaries and concert tapes. What we are left with instead, is this one DVD, which is a flavorful but in no way complete sampling of the minds and music that made for the unprecedented, bold and successful venture known as Lilith. The interviews and performances are largely taken from two of Lilith's stops during that first summer. As someone fortunate to be at one of them, I can say that this rekindles special memories. It is interesting to see what was going on backstage while we sat out front. Parts of this DVD were excised for an hour-long VH1 special that was peppered with commercials; that in no way is a replacement for this commercial-free, sustained work. Lilith Fair was an important experience and excellent entertainment. This DVD shares the sparks. Get them back if you were there, and if you weren't, get the DVD and find out why I'm tripping over my sentences trying to come up with appropriate praise.

Something new from Sarah McLachlan and friends
I just received this DVD today on it's release date (thanks Amazon) and am very impressed with this Lilith Fair documentary. I believe this video was shown on Pay Per View, and clips of it were put together to make a "Behind The Music" of Lilith Fair Artists on VH1 that aired, I think in 1998.

The picture quality of this DVD is also quite stunning. If you remember seeing the VH1 Behind The Music, this definitely has a lot more content instead of just short clips and commercials.

One thing that I did find slightly awkward is that this DVD comes a bit late after Lilith Fair has been performed each summer of 1997-1999. I personally feel that it should have came a little earlier, around midway, concerning the documentary existed, just not on DVD.

Either way, I'm still happy that it exists, and would highly recommend it to anyone who enjoy's these women artists, or has attended Lilith Fair because it really is a great concert! It's never the same as seeing it Live, but it's a good entry point especially if you're new to Lilith and what it's all about. It's a concert with a behind the scenes look of what made Lilith Fair so popular.

I'm also happy that we're able to see something new (enough) from Sarah to keep us entertained as she takes her break to work on her new album. I've listened to Building A Mystery quite a bit from Mirrorball, so listening to this version made the song "new" again. It sounded great! Don't forget Sarah's "know it all...grin" as she sings the lyrics...Beautiful. Thanks Sarah!!!