Lilith Fair

I thoroughly enjoyed Robert Hilburn's article regarding the final Lilith Fair and its concept and artists ("A Fair to Remember," July 19). I agree that it may well be time for a cross-gender music festival of quality--sans the fiasco associated with Woodstock 99. And while Sarah McLachlan has made the saddening decision to end Lilith Fair, she has opened the door to all music lovers (both male and female) to do just that: Create a high-quality festival that focuses on the music, not the drinking or riots or mosh pits.

The line for autographs from singer Aaron Carter wrapped nearly all the way around the Nickelodeon Kidway at the All That Music & More Festival here. Marlee Fritz, of nearby Freeport, Pa., waited in line more than half an hour to meet the new, hot preteen idol. "I love him," she squealed. But he's only 11. "I'm only 11," she said.

What better place for Lilith Fair to say goodbye to Southern California than the same Rose Bowl turf where the U.S. women's soccer team captured the nation's imagination just seven days earlier? None of the performers took off T-shirts at the end of the eight-hour affair Saturday, a la Brandi Chastain, but there was an overriding sense of celebration in the air.

In a recent hit song, Alanis Morissette thanked India for helping her to get her head back on straight after her rise to fame. Next year, don't be surprised if Sarah McLachlan expresses similar sentiments. As she kicks off the third and final year of the Lilith Fair tour she created as a showcase for women in music, she's very much looking ahead to getting away from it all. "Travel, that's what I want to do," says the singer-songwriter. "India. And I want to go to Tibet.

Jerry Falwell's rep reached a new, comic low last week when his National Liberty Journal created yet another laughable boogeyman. Not only should we keep our preschoolers a safe distance from the degenerate purple Teletubby known as Tinky-Winky, but we must keep our preteen girls far from the wayward influence of the she-devils who practice heretical soft rock at the sacrilegious Lilith Fair.

Stage "The Mexterminator Project" is Guillermo Gomez-Pena, left, and Roberto Sifuentes' interactive performance-installation featuring living "techno-dioramas" that explore emotions regarding immigrants and people of color. Highways, 1651 18th St., Santa Monica, (213) 660-8587. Tonight-Sunday, 8:30 p.m. * Dale Kristien, Maureen McGovern, Amanda McBroom, Jim Baily (as Judy Garland) and other notables will appear in "A Holiday Cabaret," an evening of entertainment to benefit Los Ninos.

"This is a very wonderful event to be part of," purred Natalie Merchant, just before finishing up her Saturday set at the Lilith Fair. "Don't let anyone tell you differently." Merchant's good-natured admonishment was the closest any of the six headlining acts at the Rose Bowl came to addressing the criticisms leveled at this all-female rock festival.

Yes, Sarah McLachlan has heard most of the condescending names that male music biz insiders coined after she announced last summer's all-female Lilith Fair festival tour. The 30-year-old singer-songwriter even smiles now at the mention of them: "Girlapalooza" . . . "Lesbopalooza" . . . and the rest. When it gets to one she hasn't heard, she breaks into a flat-out laugh: "Breast-fest." "Oh, my God," she says, cackling during an interview here. "Really. Well, there you go."