Customer Reviews

Lilith Fair - A Celebration of Women in Music [VHS]

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(7)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Although this is a fine piece of work in general, the advertised 5.1 mix is simply not true. A true 5.1 mix has a wide spatial feel with different sound eliments coming out of the several speakers. This 5.1 mix is an obvious afterthough. The center channel is no more than a mono sum of the left and right channels, and the rear channels are some sort of mish mosh of the stereo mix with some ambience in it. There are also some really odd low frequency artifacts in the rear channels during the dialog and interview segments, due to some sort of unacceptable processing to fool the listener (and buyer) into thinking he is listening to a real 5.1 mix.

I can guarantee that this was a poor marketing decision and not what the remix engineer delivered. I know this because I was the remix engineer, and I was asked to deliver the stereo only mix that was originally done for the broadcast and pay-per-view version.

I encourage buyers to take up issue with DVD distributors who continue to market such poor quality.

Tom Davis
SeisMic Sound, Inc.
Nashville, TN

Lilith Fair was quite the enterprise. Were it not for what must be endless copyright issues and contracts issues that would arise, the moving music festival that brought us almost all of the best contemporary female singer songwriters during the summers of 1997 - 1999 could spawn a hundred different documentaries and concert tapes. What we are left with instead, is this one DVD, which is a flavorful but in no way complete sampling of the minds and music that made for the unprecedented, bold and successful venture known as Lilith. The interviews and performances are largely taken from two of Lilith's stops during that first summer. As someone fortunate to be at one of them, I can say that this rekindles special memories. It is interesting to see what was going on backstage while we sat out front. Parts of this DVD were excised for an hour-long VH1 special that was peppered with commercials; that in no way is a replacement for this commercial-free, sustained work. Lilith Fair was an important experience and excellent entertainment. This DVD shares the sparks. Get them back if you were there, and if you weren't, get the DVD and find out why I'm tripping over my sentences trying to come up with appropriate praise.

I just received this DVD today on it's release date (thanks Amazon) and am very impressed with this Lilith Fair documentary. I believe this video was shown on Pay Per View, and clips of it were put together to make a "Behind The Music" of Lilith Fair Artists on VH1 that aired, I think in 1998.

The picture quality of this DVD is also quite stunning. If you remember seeing the VH1 Behind The Music, this definitely has a lot more content instead of just short clips and commercials.

One thing that I did find slightly awkward is that this DVD comes a bit late after Lilith Fair has been performed each summer of 1997-1999. I personally feel that it should have came a little earlier, around midway, concerning the documentary existed, just not on DVD.

Either way, I'm still happy that it exists, and would highly recommend it to anyone who enjoy's these women artists, or has attended Lilith Fair because it really is a great concert! It's never the same as seeing it Live, but it's a good entry point especially if you're new to Lilith and what it's all about. It's a concert with a behind the scenes look of what made Lilith Fair so popular.

I'm also happy that we're able to see something new (enough) from Sarah to keep us entertained as she takes her break to work on her new album. I've listened to Building A Mystery quite a bit from Mirrorball, so listening to this version made the song "new" again. It sounded great! Don't forget Sarah's "know it all...grin" as she sings the lyrics...Beautiful. Thanks Sarah!!!

I totally agree with Gregory Sargent's review. The 5.1 surround sound mix is terrible, I thought my left speaker blew when I first watched it but it turned out to be the DVD. The 2 channel stereo has the best sound.
The DVD is awesome, and I totally loved "The Water is Wide" performance. simple beautiful.
Totally recommend it.
PS. Don't you think that Jewel seemed to be pissed with Sarah M during the song? Did you notice the body language? And they did not give each other hugs after.

While it isn't possible to condense all of Lilith Fair onto one DVD, I really wish this disc showed a wider range of performers. Not that Sarah McLachlan, Jewel, Indigo Girls, Meredith Brooks, Shwawn Colvin, and Sheryl Crow didn't give great (multiple) performances on this disc, but one of the things I enjoyed about Lilith was the sheer number of musicians, both multi-platinum and indie. Even a passing word of the existance of some of these other artists would have been nice.

The audio quality (at least on my 2-channel system) is excellent. Unfortunately, the video suffers from very visible compression artifacting in several places.

Overall, I think this DVD is too little, too late. It feels like more of a last-ditch attempt to profit off the Fair than an attempt to preseve it.

This DVD gives you amazing performances by some of the best out there: Sheryl Crow, Shawn Colvin, the Indigo Girls, and Sarah Mclachlan are all brilliant, and Meredith Brooks and Jewel are in fine form too. The interviews are great, and the backstage jam session with Crow and the Indigo Girls -- they're teaching her "Tried to be True" -- is a little gem that (as another reviewer noted) captures the spirit of Lilith Fair beautifully.
On the technical end: the camera work is marvelous, with closeups and great angles for that you-are-there feeling. In fact I would have given this DVD 5 stars but for the occasionally spotty sound. I can't comment on the 5.1 because I've only got stereo. But be forewarned that at times the volume drops suddenly and inexplicably; and in a couple of places, the muddy mix cheats the listener, as in the closing moments of Crow's otherwise gorgeous "I Shall Believe."
Even so, I wouldn't have missed this for anything. More, please.

The sound and video quality is superb. The Indigo Girls performances with guests are especially nice. Some of these songs put a tear in my eye! It is a great reminder of a fun tour and a joy to behold!

Im so glad i own this amazing piece of documentary, Lilith fair emerged from the genoius of lovely singer/composer Sarah Mclachlan one of the best inspired female songwriters i have ever meet in my whole life and that changed my perception of women in music, with a little help from her friends such as Meredith Brooks, Jewel, Sheryl Crow, Shawn Colvin and a large list of great performers Lilith fair was one of the most sucessfull tours at the time, the concept is very original, appealing, and the type of audience was one of the coolest, music industry needed some fresh air such as lilith fair, the audience was one of the biggest and tickets were everywere sold out, i hope a new edition of Lilith fair hit the road soon again that would be just great
HM

Just adding to what`s already been said; The DVD has some great performances and candid backstage/behind the scenes footage. But the audio(even when setup for 2 channel stereo) has (almost) constant volume surges and drops that deture from an otherwise enjoyable DVD(compressor/limiter threshold levels gone awry? Gear malfunction?). Also to me, not enough coverage of each performer. Are any other of these Lilith Fair concert DVDs or videos available(covering different year concerts)?

I am assuming that this DVD is the same collection of footage that was the Pay Per View a couple of years ago (according to the the song list, the songs are the exactly the same). If so, this is a "Can't miss" great show. All the intimacy of the Lilith Fair itself is present here and the filming is great too. If you've never heard the Indigo Girls, Jewel and Sarah sing "The Water is Wide" you are in for a true treat. Exceptional! I was forced to rate this or the review wouldn't print, so if the sound or video quality is not DVD standard, I apologize.