12:30AM EDT

today marked the final day for a few lilith artists: lhasa (we'll miss her fiery, evocative performances), julia fordham (we'll miss her unique voice and most excellent sense of humour), and emm gryner (we'll miss her intense, emotional performances). but we do look forward to seeing dar williams, mary jane lamond, and catherine kidd.

tonight we leave for our next gig in milwaukee by way of ann arbor. we get a short afternoon/evening off there, so that the bus drivers can sleep. it's a long drive. sigh. that means we spend more time cooped up in this cramped bus. oh well, at least we can catch up on our reading. heck, maybe we'll even be daring and watch a video!

11:15PM EDT

Sarah McLachlan and her band closed a good day in Montreal. Sarah and Lilith may have had a good day because today is a full moon and Sarah puts great significance in full moons. The audience, influenced by the moon or otherwise, sang along to much of her set. Sarah's band seemed to have a good time tonight as well, especially guitarist Sean Ashby who played several spirited guitar solos. Sarah had most of the stadium dancing, especially when she played "Sweet Surrender", "Building A Mystery" and her hit "Possession". The crowd stood and cheered after "Possession" ended hoping for another song. They got their wish with the sing along favourite "Ice Cream". When bassist Brian Minato, Ashwin Sood and Sarah walked on stage they received cheers but it was Ash and Sarah's dog Rex who had the "oohs and aahs". Sarah invited most of the other artists from the day to join her on stage to sing Joni Mitchell's classic "Big Yellow Taxi". Those who weren't present were absent because their schedules had them leave early. Sarah was joined by Shawn Colvin, The Indigo Girls, Jewel, Lhasa de Sela, Marie-Jo Therio, and Julia Fordham as well as members of Sarah's and the Indigo Girl's band. A highlight of the performance were the harmonies of Julia Fordham and Emily Salier. Montreal was a giving audience tonight and they received a beautiful show.

10:00PM EDT

8:50PM EDT

The band that never ceases to please were at their best tonight. The Indigo Girls charmed the Montreal audience with their diverse set and their special guests. As the night entered with a spectacular crimson coloured sunset, Amy and Emily led the crowd through new and old favourites including "Galilieo" and "Get Out The Map". It was the ethereal sounds of Amy, Emily and guests Jewel and Sarah McLachlan on "The River Is Wide" which put the crowd over the edge into reverent listening. The Indigo Girls finished their set with a guest filled stage singing "Closer To Fine". Shawn Colvin and Emily Saliers sang through the first verse and were followed by Jewel, Sarah, Meridith Brooks along with Amy Ray singing verses. It was a wonderful thing to hear the stadium swell with the voices of Montrealers singing along. A quick look around the stadium showed many couples and friends arm in arm thoroughly enjoying the moment.

7:30PM EDT

As the sun began to fall Shawn Colvin started to play a spirited set. There where many Colvin fans in the audience this afternoon who cheered after her songs. Shawn joked with the audience during her set by trying to speak her best french. This consisted mostly of "arret" and "allez": "because I drive". She also made fun of the title of one of her new songs "Get Out Of This House" by renaming it "Get Out Of This Maison". Shawn assured the crowd she wasn't making fun of them but was just trying to share with them. The audience didn't seem to mind since they laughed along with her. The loudest cheer of the night thus far was heard after Shawn played her hit "Sunny Came Home".

6:00PM EDT

A large crowd of close to a thousand people sat and watched the Wild Strawberries play this afternoon. The skies are clear and the sun is warm making this a perfect day for a live show. Roberta Harrison led the Strawberries in a sunny set with new songs and selections from their record Heroine. After playing a few songs Roberta told the crowd of her new project, a baby. Roberta also told of having her baby's sex foretold by a woman in Toronto. The woman was certain that the baby would be a boy so we'll have to wait and see!

5:00PM EDT

the engineer finally arrived and after his inspection gave the rigging a thumbs up, so everyone breathed a sigh of relief and got on with their work to get the main stage ready. it's a good thing that no sound checks were scheduled for today, cause they sure wouldn't have happened.

the crowd seems to be in a very jolly mood; everyone we've seen and bumped into has been smiling broadly. it's a little tightly packed around the village and b-stages, but everyone seems to be being very patient in dealing with that.

Montrealer Marie-Jo Therio opened the Lilith Fair at the acoustic stage. The acoustic stage is at the corner of the village which today has a cafe feel due to the tables and chairs placed on the lawn. About 100 people sat or stood as Marie-Jo began her set singing while playing a hand drum. After that song she moved to her keyboards where she played three other songs. Marie-Jo played an intense set singing in french but introducing her songs in both english and french for the bilingual crowd.

emm gryner followed her and punched out her dynamic set much to the crowd's delight.

we noticed a few new vendors here today. there're some local jewellers who have some really sharp necklaces for sale. maybe we'll have to spend some money today!

2:00PM EDT

after a morning of phone line hell, we're finally up and running. we can't say things are better for the lighting crew. they are waiting for an engineer to come and survey the rigging for the main stage, cause they're not happy with its safety. as ash says, "it's a shreve (spelling?) gig."

and what a weird gig it will be. we're in a tennis court (don't even start with the tennis jokes!) today. let's just say this is a very atypical day. at least the village area is perfect: lots of room and both stages are very accesible. kristina with lifebeat is stoked cause she'll be able to hear/see the acts on those stages for a change.

today's TBA is marie-jo therio and the rest of the lineup is the same as it was for both toronto shows.