30 years ago, Canadian singer-songwriter Sarah McLachlan was frustrated by venues booking so few women, so she co-founded Lilith Fair, a traveling music festival composed entirely of female solo acts and groups. The new documentary, Lilith Fair: Building a Mystery, chronicles the historic tour, and is available to stream now on Hulu. Hulu, of course, is a Disney-owned company, just like ABC, the network who suspended Jimmy Kimmel last week for exercising his right to free speech. So while McLachlan and fellow Lilith Fair artist Jewel were scheduled to perform at the doc’s premiere on Sunday night, McLachlan instead kindly informed the audience that the performances were canceled to show solidarity with Kimmel.
“It’s a gift for all of us to see [this film], but also I’ve grappled with being here tonight and around what to say about the present situation that we are all faced with, the stark contraction to the many advances we’ve made watching the insidious erosion of women’s rights, of trans and queer rights, the muzzling of free speech,” McLachlan said. “I think we’re all fearful for what comes next, and none of us know, but what I do know is that I have to keep pushing forward as an artist, as a woman to find a way through, and though I don’t begin to know what the answer is, I believe we all need to work towards a softening to let in the possibility of a better way, because I see music as a bridge to our shared humanity, to finding common ground.”
She continued: “If Lilith taught me anything, it taught me there is a great strength in coming together to lift each other up instead of tearing each other down. So I really hope this documentary inspires everyone to continue to try and create positive change in your communities, to keep lifting each other up, keep championing the causes you believe in with kindness and empathy because ultimately we’re all in this together.”
Toward the end of her remarks, she broke the news about the performances being canceled.
“I know you’re expecting a performance tonight, and I’m so grateful to all of you for coming, and I apologize if this is disappointing, but we have collectively decided not to perform but instead to stand in solidarity in support of free speech,” McLachlan said, receiving loud applause and the standing ovation in support. She added, “Thank you for your understanding.”
…Lilith Fair: Building a Mystery retraces the iconic music festival that went on tour in the late 1990s and featured female solo acts and bands. A portion of the one-hour, 39-minute documentary was dedicated to how the artists faced protests, backlash and even a free speech fight during stops of the tour. While in Houston, organizers had partnered with Planned Parenthood to set up a booth on the venue grounds with reps handing out condoms. Conservative pro-life groups criticized the move, as did venue officials, by attempting to ban the organization from participating. Joan Osborne explained that Planned Parenthood was eventually allowed in, but artists were prohibited from discussing or promoting the organization during their sets. Osborne resisted, saying she didn’t enter into such an agreement, so she wore a Planned Parenthood T-shirt.
Wow, Sarah’s impromptu speech was so eloquent and the comments so intentional. Spoken like a real songwriter, and not all that surprising given Sarah’s catalog. Who can forget the lyricism of “You are pulled from the wreckage/of your silent reverie/You’re in the arms of the angel/may you find some comfort here,” from her 1997 hit “Angel,” which of course was memorialized in the epic tearjerker of an ASPCA commercial (that ended up raising $30 million in one year alone!). Before the premiere and cancellation of the performances, a recent comment Sarah made was making the rounds about her feeling like that ASPCA ad miscast her as “all dark and moody,” when in reality she’s very playful and happy. I have a pitch for how Sarah can reframe the infamous ad: recreate the whole thing, same song with Sarah front and center, only instead of animals looking for homes, to make it a parody it’ll be “Free Speech” and “Women’s Rights” looking to find shelter once again. Oh wait, that’s still an ad that will make me sob.
Photos credit: Katie Godowski/MediaPunch/INSTARimages, MediaPunch/Backgrid, Getty