TOP OF THE POPS
McLachlan’s group for intimate Queens show Friday is a full orchestra
LILITH Fair — the all-female festival founded by Sarah McLachlan — hasn’t been held since 2010.But the “Angel” singer-songwriter is still making her presence known on this summer’s concert circuit with a symphonic minitour that will string her together with the New York Pops at Forest Hills Stadium on Friday.
The Vancouver-based Grammy winner, 51, dishes on Lilith Fair, her Broadway prospects and why Canadians do it better.
How does playing with an orchestra change the game for you?
The feeling of having a symphony play with me is like this huge, warm, enveloping pillow that just takes the music to a completely different place. It’s like being in one’s own cinematic picture. It’s so powerful and beautiful, there are no words for it really.
This is music festival season, so what’s the state of Lilith Fair? Would you ever revive it?
All I can say is never say never. I always used to say “not a chance,” and you never know. It would take so many things lining up in the right way to make something like that happen again. There are no immediate plans. I will say that.
If you were having Lilith Fair this summer, who are the top 5 female artists you’d want there?
Lizzo. That’s all I’ve been listening to right now; I love her so much. Lorde would be great. Alessia Cara. Billie Eilish for sure. And Meghan Trainor. There’s a s - - t-ton of great artists. What’s the best festival that you’ve been to lately?
I’m 51, honey, come on! The idea of standing in a hot field all day does not really appeal to me. [Laughs.] What happens for me in the summer is I go up to the beach, and I surf and I hide. I live in the middle of nowhere all summer, so I don’t tend to be in places where I can go to festivals.
Would you ever do a Broadway musical, like Sara Bareilles (“Waitress”) and Alanis Morissette (“Jagged Little Pill”)?
Absolutely. I’d be honored to write some music for Broadway. It would just take the right project. It’s funny, ’cause some of the songs I write feel sort of like Broadway. It’s a big leap of faith as a musician, because we tend to work in a microcosm in pretty controlled environments . . . But I think, given the right circumstances, it’d be an amazing challenge and opportunity. Is there any song that you’re sick of singing?
“Push” [from 2003’s “Afterglow” album]. It’s just not very good. [Laughs.] And I wrote that about my husband, but times have changed. We’ve been divorced 11 years. We’re great friends, we’re co-parenting fantastically, and it’s all good.
What do you think of the wave of Canadian artists — from Drake to Shawn Mendes — who have been taking over the US pop scene?
We have a lot of amazing musicians writing great music. Borders become less and less important these days, with the Internet and with music being able to flow way more freely with Spotify and Pandora and all these streaming [services] . . . And it’s cold up here! Sometimes those long, dark winters make great music, because there’s not a lot else to do.