Lilith Fair!

Sheryl Crow and Sarah McLaughlan

So yesterday I went to the best concert. of. my. life. I'm pretty serious about that statement with the one exception being Jon Bon Jovi in concert because I'm sorry but the women of Lilith Fair as purely amazing as they are just can't compete with Jon in some leather pants, but they sure gave him a run for his money, that's for sure. I was invited a few months ago to the Lilith Fair after posting it on my facebook status that I would be in Seattle, and low and behold it turned out that some friends I knew were going down and had an extra seat in their car. I heard "Lilith" and "friends" and didn't even check the line up before immediately jumping on the band wagon. I discovered later that the lineup featured Grace Potter and the Nocturnals (who you've more then likely not heard of but are def worth checking out. I feel really hip and trendy because I know of a band that not a lot of people have heard of yet, but I'm typically not that happenin'), A Fine Frenzy, Colbie Calliet, Erykah Badu, Sheryl Crow, Sugarland, and Sarah McLachlan. So, it turns out, that I know people with super awesome connections, and I have now discovered my six degrees of separation from Sheryl Crow, and had this been a life long goal, I would have felt incredibly fulfilled yesterday and would have gotten to check it off my list. However, this was not a life goal, but still a really cool bonus. Anywho, it turns out that our fellow Lilith Fairers Leigh and Sharon know Sheryl Crow's nanny. Yup, her CHILD CARE PROVIDER. They were her RLC's when this woman was a PA at SPU. Thus, this incredibly gracious woman scored us some comp tickets--and you know how I love the freebies. So, we went down to our seats and were expecting perhaps a back section or something...but we kept walking towards the front...and walking...and walking to ROW TWO. It's true. Row freaking dos. I could pretty much see if people had shaved their armpits or not, or if they had spinach in their teeth. And this is where we got to sit for the whole show. The only terrible part of this experience happened to be that I bought a fourteen dollar margarita that tasted like someone thought it would be funny to melt strawberry hard candies and pawn it off as an alcoholic beverage, but really I can't complain because if that's the worst of my problems then I really have no problems at all. Anyways, the show was so awesome. Now, I'll best honest: I wasn't particularly gung-ho over any of the performers...I mean I certainly liked them, but as most of my fanatical devotion goes to various 80's rock groups, I haven't had time to adequately invest in fandom for any of the aforementioned artists. But let me tell you, I was immediately won over. These women were so great and I will immediately be rushing to download some new tracks on itunes. These women know how to rock. Sheryl Crow threw bras around the stage and her keyboardist threw his keyboard to the ground and smashed it to pieces. Colbie Calliet was a little awkward. Erykah Badu wore yellow sweat pants, a blue t-shirt, an apron and a cowboy hat. Jennifer Nettles gave an absolutely astounding performance--I mean you hear "Sugarland" and maybe simultaneously think "Eh...no thanks" but that woman knows how to put on a SHOW. She will get that toe a tappin'. People were definitely smoking lots of plants during the Sarah McLauchlan show, and I can't be sure but I think this would be a great place to train RA's in the future--"See kids, THIS is what pot smells like. Be sure to note the blood shot eyes and general sloth likeness. They also get what we like to call the 'munchies,' so if you see anyone consuming large amounts of cheetoes please document this" but maybe a Dave Mathews concert would be just as effective. Kelsey thought maybe Sarah herself had had a little hit of the hippie lettuce, but we can't be sure. To quote Kelsey as the show ended and all the performers were singing that song "Because the night belongs to lovers, because the night belongs to ussss la la la" she said, "I think I just had an orgasm." While perhaps to some of you this may seem a wee bit extreme, it really was that good, and frankly I don't know that there's any other way to describe the experience and it was very Lilith-ian of her to say. Hey, more power to the Big O is all I gotta say. It was this beautiful sense of community and empowerment and love and togetherness that leads me to believe that maybe the world isn't totally headed down the shitter after all. It was an experience that I was so privileged to be apart of, and I didn't want to leave. But perhaps even more great then all the performances and our sweet ass comp seats were hanging out with some very very very awesome women--reconnecting with old friends and finding some new ones. I also liked that we went to McDonald's at two o'clock in the morning after Sharon said, "I'm hungry" and I offered her an orange or perhaps a granola bar and she said, "Mmmm no...I really feel like a cheese burger." Fair enough....fair enough.

The sound is a little funky...I think mainly because we were so CLOSE...but this is the women of Lilith Fair singing "Because the Night." I personally love the tambourine dancer.

Sugarland!