I4C Campaign recently invited Lumino out to First Midwest Bank Ampitheatre in Tinley Park. The campaign is a handful of Lilith Fair sponsored socially-conscious companies that were hand chosen by Sarah McLachlan to go on tour. Hard working (and a little bit shiny) Better World Books representative Abbey Frick took time to tell Lumino what they are all about. Alter Eco is a fair trade foods company, To-Go Ware is a company that makes containers and utensils out of bamboo and sustainable material, and lastly there is Better World Book whose certain percentage of all book sales go to help non-profit literacy programs (including Books for Africa, Invisible Children, and Room to Read).
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Lilith Fair
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First Midwest Bank Amphitheater
Tinley Park, IL
July 17, 2010
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The promotional booths were a creative way to pass the time in between acts. It wasn’t as crowded as it has been in previous Lilith’s Fairs, so you could stroll around pretty leisurely. If you got there early, you ran the risk of sweating yourself into dehydration, and burning holes in your wallet with prices from $4.50 bottles of water. But then again, you would’ve had ample time to get free samples and chill with the cute girls at the Degree stand in their air conditioned VIP tent.
When I got there I was disappointed that La Roux was out sick, and Eryka Badu was not on the Chicago roster, but Court Yard Hounds introduced me to the night. They are made of Emily Robinson and Martie Maguire of the Dixie Chicks who put on a surprisingly insightful and moving performance. They rocked the mother Earth vibe in a seven piece, Americana, country sort of way. Thousands of fans went silent in the late afternoon for songs like “Waste of Time.” In the midst of all the estrogen, I dug deep within my feminine side and found a new fondness for country music… Maybe I’ll start playing the banjo.
Heart catered the crowd next. Please excuse the generational gap but I only recognize most of their songs from Guitar Hero. Anne Wilson’s presence was huge sporting the fact that especially the big girls can kill it! And they sported a song, “Even It Up” with samples from Rolling Stones’ “Gimme Shelter,” thrown in there which was great! Their energy made me one with the middle aged female rocker inside me and seeing them beat the hell out of playing it on Rock Band.
As the night darkened, security heightened as Mary J Blige took the stage and the crowd filled with a special kind of excitement and anxiety. In between songs, you can see tears coming from Blige’s eyes in the video screen. She made speeches about how surreal it was to be there, given where she came from. “Coming from nothing, from the projects, not knowing what it was to have anything.” She looked thankful in every moment of her being there, reminding me of what a real diva looks like.
Fog formed behind her and her presence became epic. She brought some soul to “Stairway to Heaven,” however it unfortunately didn’t do the original version justice, especially with the sound guys messing up the levels on the guitar, which is like the core of that song. She ended the set with her hit, “No More Drama.” Who knows how many thousands of times she’s sung that song since it was released in 2001, but she sang it like it was the first time with a tearful pain still fresh in her voice.
By the final feature, I was feeling fairly exhausted. Sarah McLachlan came out by around 10 p.m. It was hard for her soft folk pop sound to pick me up at the end of the hot and moist night. Maybe I had sweated out all my feminine energy by that time. Her songs initially reminded me of the NOW pop album compilations that were popular in high school.
But then I thought of the 1997 depressed and suicidal version of DMC (of Run DMC), when he talked about McLachlan saving his life with the song, “Angel.” I surrendered myself to that song along with the thousands of women at the festival and I quickly lost sense of any pop preconception I had of McLachlan’s music. I was moved by her music. I was moved by her performance. I was moved by the crowd, which undeniably held onto every word. They gazed into her petite and gentle smiles. Her delicate and whispery voice felt like it was uniting all the women in the world. It was a feeling of the crowd thanking her, for her music, for her festival, and for all the empowerment that she gives to women, to socially conscious organizations, and to any of those simply touched by her music.
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