THE ROCKRGRL EXPERIENCE By Carla DeSantis

What do I have to do with Lilith Fair? Well, as the publisher and editor-in-chief of a magazine for and about women musicians called ROCKRGRL, we were fortunate to be selected as vendors on the first four dates of Lilith Fair (Washington, Oregon, N. California and S. California). This has been an incredible experience, especially since this event proves without argument what I've been trying to prove via my magazine for the past three years -- that women have (and always had) a place in contemporary music. For more info you can visit our site (which is updated with far less frequency than this incredible Lilith Fair site) at http://www.indieweb.com/rockrgrl. We've put out three more issues since the site was updated much earlier in the year. Maybe Cathy from Nettwerk could help us in her SPARE time. Haha.

My dear friend Susan, who I dragged across the west coast of the US, and I will never forget our amazing Lilith Fair experiences and we are more than happy to share them with you folks out there in cyberland.

July 5th, 1997 - The Gorge, George, Washington

We arrived at the Gorge promptly at 1:00 with a car full of magazines, a banner with our logo on it, and everything else we could think to bring. Donna, the person in charge of the vendors, was great and immediately put us at ease. She is very professional and supportive. She showed us where to set up our stuff in the community area in a tremendous location. It was very windy day and it was difficult to keep everything on the table from blowing away. But once we heard the first strains of music -- the amazing Sarah McLachlan playing solo on the smallest stage, we felt moved and honored to be a part of Lilith. Three weeks later, we still have that Lilith feeling.

For some reason, once the crowd arrived, our table became an area where many of the country's most influential music journalists congregated. The creme de la creme of national music writers from Rolling Stone, The New York Times, Time, etc. all came by to visit, and for me it added to the celebratory feeling of the first day. I even took the time to do a few interviews (anyone see ROCKRGRL mentioned in the New York Times??).

The same performers played all four days we were with Lilith. The main stage acts were Sarah McLachlan, Tracy Chapman, Jewel, Paula Cole and Suzanne Vega. The second and third stage acts -- the ones we got to hear the most -- were Mudgirl, Leah Andreone, Cassandra Wilson, Lauren Hoffman and Kinnie Starr. We were so busy at our table that we didn't get to see the mainstage acts, but we enjoyed everyone that we got to hear. We knew that to get through all that driving and all that sun we'd need to take care of ourselves, so as soon as the crowds dispersed from our area, we packed up and hit the road. Next day was the Salem show.

Bizarre moment of the day: a guy who had probably consumed too much beer walked past the table, waved at me and said with a slur, "Loved your last album!" I've never put one out, but thanks, anyway, buddy.

July 6th - L.B. Day Amphitheater, Salem, Oregon

After a thrilling first day at The Gorge, the Salem show was a bit of a disappointment. The venue was a fairgrounds that only held half as many people as The Gorge. We were crowded into a small area too near the stage to be able to talk to anyone when the music started. We were also exhausted from the long drive to and from The Gorge. I was pretty cranky and hot. Food lines were tough to navigate, and I could definitely feel the sunburn I was getting underneath the sun-screen. Met some great people from Microsoft's site called Riff. Despite sunblock and lots of water, we were feeling sunburned and dehydrated. We looked forward to having the next day off.

July 7th - Travel Day

We got up early and made the long drive down to the Bay Area. It was nice to get a good night's sleep and to relax a bit once we got there. We also decided that instead of driving all the way to Irvine two days later, we'd empty our suitcases, fill ëem with magazines and fly to the Irvine show. That ended up being a good idea.

July 8th - Shoreline Amphitheater, Mt. View, CA

I lived in the Bay Area until a year ago, so it was a treat to see many familiar faces at the Northern California Lilith Fair show. Of the four dates, this was the best for us financially. Some of that might be because this was the only venue where hard liquor was served. By 7:00 PM, we probably could have sold some of those people anything. I interviewed Lauren Hoffman and Cindy Blackman, Cassandra Wilson's amazing drummer who is best known as Lenny Kravitz' drummer. Both Lauren and Cindy were wonderful to talk to.

July 9th - Irvine Meadows, Irvine, CA

This was the last date for us, and many of the acts on this leg of the bill, as well. We decided that it would be better for us to take a one hour flight to Irvine than attempt a seven hour drive each way. It ended up being a great idea. We filled our suit-cases with magazines and headed for the airport.

By this time we had built up a pretty good rapport with the smaller acts but hadn't seen too much of the larger ones. I went to the press conference, and watched Sarah expertly field many annoying questions about "girl power". There seemed to be more photographers than writers there. Kinnie Starr was brilliant describing Lilith Fair's philosophy. "It's a celebration of people," she said, "And women make people."

Paula Cole performed an acoustic set on the smaller stage, and did a version of Dolly Parton's "Jolene" that blew everyone away. Paula is an amazing singer and her hit song, "Where Have All The Cowboys Gone," doesn't even begin to scratch the surface of her amazing vocal prowess.

We had a plane to catch, so as soon as Cassandra Wilson was done, we packed up, turned in the rental car, and headed back to the Bay Area, bringing with us lots of wonderful memories of Lilith Fair that we will always treasure. And Friday we made the entire trip up to Seattle. It probably took a week to recover from the excitement and to process all the cool things we got to see and do.

It's two weeks later and I still find myself wondering who's on stage and what city the tour is in. I know that everyone who has participated in the event -- the artists, the vendors and the crowds -- all walk away feeling so positive. It's thrilling to hear "Building A Mystery" take over the airwaves, and Sarah McLachlan is redefining what a summer festival should be. Long live Lilith Fair. We can hardly wait to do it again next year.

If you'd like to see a sample issue of ROCKRGRL, please send $5.00 US (no cash, please) to ROCKRGRL, 7683 SE 27th St., #317, Mercer Island, WA 98040. Lilith Fair and an interview with Sarah McLachlan are the cover stories, and we are donating a percentage of all Lilith generated money back to Sarah's favorite charities. Thanks for reading this!!