Lilith Fair announces all its dates, adds Rihanna
The full Lilith Fair tour date list is finally here. The North American tour will swing through 36 cities in the United States and Canada. And the tour has added superstar Rihanna for its July 12 Salt Lake City show. Man, count that as the first time I’ve wished I lived in Salt Lake City.
The tour will now kick off June 27 in Calgary and will end August 16 in Dallas. Each date will feature 11 artists, with the only constants being founder Sarah McLachlan and each city’s OurStage.com talent search winner. Headliners include Mary J. Blige, Kelly Clarkson, Selena Gomez and Norah Jones.
A full list of dates:
Sun, Jun 27 Calgary, AB McMahon StadiumMon, Jun 28 Edmonton, AB Northlands Spectrum
Thur, Jul 1 Vancouver, BC Pitt Meadows Airport
Fri, Jul 2 Portland, OR Sleep Country Amphitheater
Sat, Jul 3 Seattle, WA The Gorge Amphitheatre
Mon, Jul 5 San Francisco, CA Shoreline Amphitheatre at Mountain View
Wed, Jul 7 San Diego, CA Cricket Wireless Amphitheatre
Thur, Jul 8 Phoenix, AZ Cricket Wireless Pavilion
Fri, Jul 9 Las Vegas, NV Mandalay Bay Events Center
Sat, Jul 10 Los Angeles, CA Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre
Mon, Jul 12 Salt Lake City, UT USANA Amphitheatre
Tue, Jul 13 Denver, CO Comfort Dental Amphitheatre
Thur, Jul 15 Kansas City, MO Capitol Federal Park @ Sandstone
Fri, Jul 16 St. Louis, MO Verizon Wireless Amphitheater St Louis
Sat, Jul 17 Chicago, IL First Midwest Bank Amphitheatre
Sun, Jul 18 Minneapolis, MN Canterbury Park
Tues, July 20 Indianapolis, IN Verizon Wireless Music Center
Wed, Jul 21 Detroit, MI DTE Energy Music Theatre
Fri, Jul 23 Montreal, QC Parc Jean-Drapeau
Sat, Jul 24 Toronto, ON Molson Canadian Amphitheatre
Tues, July 27 Cleveland, OH Blossom Music Center
Wed, Jul 28 Philadelphia, PA Susquehanna Bank Center
Fri, Jul 30 Boston, MA Comcast Center
Sat, Jul 31 New York, NY PNC Bank Arts Center
Sun, Aug 1 Hartford, CT Comcast Theatre
Tues, Aug 3 Washington, DC Venue TBA
Wed, Aug 4 Raleigh, NC Time Warner Cable Music Pavilion at Walnut Creek
Fri, Aug 6 Charlotte, NC Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre Charlotte
Sat, Aug 7 Nashville, TN Bridgestone Arena
Sun, Aug 8 Atlanta, GA Aaron’s Amphitheatre
Tues, Aug 10 W. Palm Beach, FL Cruzan Amphitheatre
Wed, Aug 11 Tampa, FL Ford Amphitheatre
Thur, Aug 12 Birmingham, AL Verizon Wireless Music Center Birmingham
Sat, Aug 14 Austin, TX Venue TBA
Sun, Aug 15 Houston, TX Cynthia Woods Mitchell Pavilion
Mon, Aug 16 Dallas, TX Superpages.com Center
Not all the cities on the Lilith Fair website have full lineups listed. But the site promises to update lineups weekly, so keep looking. No word, also on when the remaining cities will go on sale. The first round went live at the end of March.
The tour has gone to great length to be inclusive this time around. While in the past, rightfully or not, it has been criticized as being too homogenous, it’s hard to say the same about the roster this year.
The lineup goes from your standard strong singer-songwriter types like Brandi Carlile, Indigo Girls, Missy Higgins and Ingrid Michaelson to R&B/soul wonders like Janelle Monae, Erykah Badu and Jill Scott and indie rockers like Tegan and Sara, La Roux, Gossip, Marina and the Diamonds, Sia to country like Emmy Lou Harris, Miranda Lambert, Loretta Lynn and Court Yard Hounds and retro regroupings like The Go-Gos and The Bangles. And then there’s Ke$ha. I have no idea where to put her.
Now, no word on whether the tour will make its way to Europe yet. Initial press releases mentioned a date in London, but nothing has been mentioned since. But tour organizers told Variety that U.K. and Australia dates are being explored for 2011.
Variety also reports that the tour has teamed up with the broadcast network ABC as its media partner. The arrangement means you’ll be seeing a ton of Lilith Fair artists on the network’s various shows including Jimmy Kimmel Live, Good Morning America and The View. Also, expect to hear their music on shows like Grey’s Anatomy, Desperate Housewives and Cougar Town. A TV special on Lilith Fair has also been discussed. In turn, expect to the network promoing its shows at the concert stops.
So, what do you think of this lineup? What cities are they missing? Are you ready to buy your ticket? Discuss.