Lilith Fair concert dates trimmed

With Sarah McLachlan's all-female concert series Lilith Fair scheduled to kick off Sunday in Calgary, there are doubts about how many dates at the end of the tour will go ahead.

On Thursday, Vancouver producer Terry McBride said dates in Nashville and Phoenix, Ariz., had been cancelled.

Now the Globe and Mail is reporting singer Norah Jones is out of the tour after several of her dates in August, all in the U.S., were cancelled.

She had been scheduled to play West Palm Beach and Tampa, Fla., Birmingham, Ala., Houston and Dallas.

The tour had been scheduled for 35 cities, including five in Canada.

McBride said ticket sales had been slow, blaming the recession, which has hit the U.S. particularly hard.

"The whole summer's soft — it's not just Lilith," he said. "We're in the middle of a recession. The interesting thing is we're stronger than most, but tickets are soft."

He also said McLachlan fans might be holding back in hopes she would do a solo show.

The singer, who had a hit in 1997 and 1998 with her all-female festival, has no plans for another tour because she's busy with two children, he added.

The Canadian dates are all scheduled to continue, but shows in Montreal, Edmonton and Vancouver have moved to smaller venues.

McBride said the Canadian shows were not moved because of slow sales, but for other reasons.

Vancouver's July 1 show was planned for Pitt Meadows Airport, but was moved to Ambleside Park, a location McBride said was more convenient, while Edmonton's June 28 show will be held at Rexall Place and Montreal's July 23 show moves to the Bell Centre, both indoor venues.

The lineup for the Calgary show includes McLachlan, Sheryl Crow, Sugarland, Erykah Badu, Kate Morgan and Grace Potter and the Nocturnals.