11:15PM CDT

Amy and Emily played a rambunctious set to the sold out crowd of 35,000 at Tinley Park tonight. The duo were backed up by their solid band of bassist/vocalist Sara Lee, violinist/saxophonist/mandolin player Josh Siegel and drummer Jerry. Drawing from their new album and old favourites they couldn't do more to please the standing and singing along crowd. Throughout the set the band was joined by fellow Atlanta dweller and Lilith acoustic stage artist Michelle Malone. Michelle played guitar, harmonica, hand percussion and sang backup vocals. Emmylou Harris walked on the stage and sang a verse of the lovely "The River Runs Deep". Crowd reaction was good but became ecstatic when Sarah McLachlan joined in near the end of the song. The highlight of the evening had to be the self described "hootenanny" for the song "Closer To Fine". The band was joined by Michelle on guitar, Sarah McLachlan, Lisa Loeb, Emmylou Harris and Jewel. Members of Jewel's and Emmylou's bands also joined in on the fun. Sarah, Jewel and finally Lisa Loeb sang a verse of the song with the whole stage joining in on the chorus. It is easy to see the love and camaraderie that exists between Amy, Emily and their guests during these giving performances.

9:30PM CDT

we can hear the sweet strains of sarah as we work like busy bees on the bus. the crowd went wild when she walked on the stage. and when the crowd in the village heard her voice, the stampede started. angelique was nearly crushed to death against a rather large security guard. good thing he was well cushioned.

jewel drew the same response from this sellout crowd. she told them a cute story about when she was singing in a little club in san diego. someone told her that a record label person would be there, so she decided she'd better wash her hair. she had to do it in a denny's washroom with a tiny sink and dry it with paper towels. all the while people were coming and going, but eventually she noticed that two "blue hairs from ... florida" were cringing against the wall in horror. she ignored them and kept on doing her thing. as she left and passed them, she heard one of them say, "she's such a pretty girl, i wonder how she got that way?" the audience moaned and then jewel said "and here's what i have to say to those ladies," as she held up that middle digit.

and she yodelled again tonight. whew! how does she do that?! she's good.

and for those of you wondering how the catering was, since you know how important it is to us, it wasn't so good. more like airplane food than real food. oh well, they tried.

7:00PM CDT

As Lisa Loeb began her set tonight many people were just finding their seats. But as soon as they were settled Lisa put them to work contributing a double clap accompaniement to her song called "Summer". A few seconds into the song she stopped saying that she couldn't hear the crowd because of the loudness of her stage monitor. Lisa's clever solution was to ask Jewel's tech Kelly to join her onstage and clap along so that she could hear. The song continued, bright and shiny, with the whole audience joining in. Later in the set the always cool and collected Emmylou Harris came on stage to join Lisa on the song "Falling In Love". Emmylou's vocals add a haunting quality to the bittersweet song. It would be exciting if Emmylou joins Lisa on her Lisa's new album "Firecracker" which will be out November 4th.

6:00PM CDT

Beth Orton arrived in the nick of time for her acoustic stage set this afternoon. Heavy traffic delayed Orton and her entourage from getting to Lilith in good time. As Beth and her guitarist Ted Barnes hurried to set up their guitars she apologized for being late. On hand to watch the chaos dissipate was Lilith owner Terry McBride and Sarah McLachlan bassist Brian Minato. Beth, being a good sport launched into "She Cries Your Name", to the applause of the gathered fans. Even the spotty rain that began with her first chords could not dampen her fans enthusiasm.

5:00PM

yung chen lhamo joined us today, so we went to see her set. as soon as she sang her first note, we knew we were in for something special. her voice is haunting and ethereal. she had the crowd mesmerized. and she kindly introduced each song and explained a little of what they were about. sarah and emmylou were both on hand to watch her. they both were very impressed.

before yung chen, michelle malone finished up her final day at lilith in a big way. she invited sarah to sing with her on her final song (sorry, didn't catch the name of it). sarah showed up just before she started her set and you could hear the crowd start buzzing. someone banged me on the back and said, "sarah mclachlan's over there! look! look!". i think i disappointed her by calmly saying, "yeah, i know."

just spotted in the parking lot chatting with jewel as they walked by our bus: james iha and billy corgan from the smashing pumpkins and this other person you might have heard of - oprah winfrey. ooooooh, celebrities are out in chicago. they've got LA beat hands down.

3:35PM

The surprise artist at the village stage was Camille Henderson. It was her wish come true once again, and she sang her heart out. Camille has got to have the best posture we've ever seen. It must be the stairmaster workouts. Overcast or not everyone is smiling. It isn't going to rain. It just can't. Rumour has it that there is more surprises yet to come!

1:00PM

Welcome to not so sunny Chicago. A little overcast but that won't stop us from having a good time. The venue is huge! 35,000 people and production just told me that it's sold out. The backstage space is huge. Everyone has a lot of space. So much that one of the crew were skateboarding back there. The venue is really big, so big they have sky boxes. Imagine, your own personal little room with a view and staff to bring you drinks. They even have couches and a fridge. But hey, our bus looks out onto the press conference area which they are preparing for right now.

10:00AM CDT

There's a musical playing on Broadway right now called "Chicago". It stars the woman who played Lilith on Cheers. Today, in Chicago, there's a musical event called "Lilith" that will be greeted with cheers. Coincidence? We don't think so. Forget how bad Chicago's baseball teams are for a day and let yourself go as we bring you coverage from the biggest show on our little tour.

Joining us today are Patty Griffin and, all the way from Tibet, Yungchen Lhamo. It's going to be a great day.