Lilith Fair returns to Denver

New blood heats up Sarah McLachlan's 13-year-old tour

You have to hand it to Sarah McLachlan: She doesn't mess around when it comes to entertaining. During the first Lilith Tour in 11 years and her own first string of dates in a while, the Canadian songstress came out swinging at Comfort Dental Amphitheatre Tuesday night; opening with her hits "Angel" and "Building a Mystery" before delving into the rest of her catalog like it was 1999.

But the Lilith founder's song choices belied her obvious awareness of how much times have changed since the girl-power festival first hit the road. For every broken-hearted singer-songwriter (like Ingrid Michaelson, channeling Lisa Loeb almost too well) who would have been at home at the original Fair, there was a fresh female face. Tour founder McLachlan stacked the bill with everyone from electro-popper Anjulie to country legend Emmylou Harris, ensuring there was something for everyone.

Harris, 63, actually came across as rawer and more passionate than many of the younger artists. The silver-haired star brought her full band and ran through country standards, modern love ballads and even an a capella number with equal ease. Late in the day, Canadian indie rock outfit Metric snapped a heat-stroked crowd back to attention with a straight-ahead rock set that saw singer Emily Haines leaping, grinding and sliding all over the stage.

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