What New Bands Belong on the Lilith Fair Stage in 2025?

A dream second-stage lineup for the would-be 2025 Lilith Fair that Sarah McLachlan hasn’t booked (yet)

Hi! I’m Caroline!

Gabbie is taking a much needed break, and has graciously allowed me to infiltrate her newsletter with music that she would probably never cover herself.¹ There are many genres that you might use to describe Sarah McLachlan and her original Lilith colleagues, but post-punk is probably not one of them.²

In later years, the festival expanded its inclusion of artists to many other genres. I tried to maintain that in this, my hypothetical Lilith lineup. I hope you enjoy, and as always, let me know in the comments what I’m missing!

xx

Caroline in the Garden

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Notice anything odd about this Billboard top 10 for the week of July 19, 2025?

Where are the chicks, man?

Lady Gaga is the only woman who gets top billing. There are a few tracks by men accompanied by women, but that’s pretty much it.

Sarah McLachlan launched the Lilith Fair in the ‘90s as an antidote to seeing Billboard charts exactly like the one above week after week.

Named for Lilith (Adam’s first wife before Eve, who skipped out on Eden to eat all the apples she wanted), the festival created a space to honor and amplify women songwriters and performers. Lilith stands for the wild and free feminine. She is accompanied by no man.

There was a brief revival of the festival in 2010, but the world wasn’t ready.

I say we’re ready now.

In the late ‘90s, this festival was ruled by the likes of McLachlan, Indigo Girls, Sheryl Crow, Natalie Merchant, Tracy Chapman, and a slew of other chicks (including The Chicks).

I want to build a lineup that pays homage to these legends.

The main stage practically books itself.

Legacy ‘90s performers like Sarah McLahlan and Brandi Carlisle are musts. Maggie Rogers seems like an obviously choice, too, and then maybe some newer acts like Doechii or anyone in the Boygenius crew. All make perfect sense as headliners.

But the real fun is in imagining who would play the second stage.

This isn’t the right place to profile well-known and successful musicians, anyway. I’m going to focus on the lesser-known artists; not just the ones I’m most excited to see, but those that could become future legends.

The 2025 Lilith Fair Second Stage Lineup

(Straight from my dreams to your inbox, and in no particular order)

#1 The Army The Navy:

I’m going to kick this off with some traditional Lilith-style soft folk pop. Best friends Sasha and Maia create delicate, delightful harmony dances over minimalist instrumentation. Think Indigo Girls meets Sufjan Stevens.

Stand Out Track: Dirty Laundry - Acoustic

#2 Danielle Ponder

Known for her soul-stirring vocals and raw emotional exchange, Ponder reminds me of a brooding Tina Turner or Nina Simone. In 2021, at age 39, she left her job as an attorney to pursue music. By the next year, she was booking appearances on Seth Meyers and at Lollapalooza.

Stand Out track: So Long

#3 Panic Shack

Guys, the NBfOH discord server is currently going batshit bonkers for this (*very mostly*) all-girl punk rock band from the UK. It’s irreverent, it’s infectious, it’s fast, it’s funny, and it reminds me of any band fronted by Kathleen Hanna — which makes it POST-PUNK… because a 2025 Lilith Fair celebrates so much more than acoustic folk and singer-songwriters.

Stand Out Track: Girl Band Starter Pack (which, P.S., is an incredible name for a song)

#4 Victoria Canal

The Victoria Canal signature is velvety vocal delivery over arpeggiated piano. This is pretty impressive considering she was born without a right forearm! Her debut album came out this year, and it swings from soft introspective piano to cheeky pop. Vocally, I’m feeling Norah Jones + Feist, but with Billie Eilish overtones.

Stand Out Track: swan song

#5 Oklou

Meet Oklou, a French pixie producer who layers wispy vocals over electronic soundscapes that are evocative of a ‘70s cartoon or a ‘90s RPG. In trying to come up with an ‘Old Heads’ comparison, I’ve settled on a more medieval, whimsical Daft Punk, or Nobuo Uematsu, of “Final Fantasy” fame.

Stand Out Track: thank you for recording

#6 Half Waif

Avant synthpop and electro-folk for forest nymphs (and their friends). For fans of Bjork, Sarah McLachlan and Caroline Polachek.

Stand Out Track: Dust

#7 Liz Lawrence

Liz Lawrence reminds me simultaneously of Joan Jett and Ani Difranco. I discovered Liz Lawrence through one of Gabbie’s ‘Best Of’ Posts late last year.³

Stand out track: Strut

#8 Jensen McRae

One of the marks of a good songwriter is the ability to share intimate, specific details in a way that resonates with wide swaths of people. As an ‘Old Head,’ I was initially skeptical of Jensen McRae, because she rose to prominence on TikTok. But she’s a great songwriter in the vein of Jason Isbell or Phoebe Bridgers.

Stand Out Track: Praying for Your Downfall

#9 Yunè Pinku

Let’s get some proper pop on here. If you like ethereal dance pop with Miami Vice elements, that’s exactly Yunè Pinku. She’s so new that she 1) wasn’t even alive during the ‘90s and 2) hasn’t released a full length album yet. If you’re a fan of Little Dragon and CHVRCHES (like I am), you can join me in anxiously awaiting her debut.

Stand Out Track: Midnight Oil

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Even More: Third Stage Picks

There are literally thousands of acts that would be ripe for inclusion here, but I’ve picked the ones that are taking up the most time in my ears.

If you’d like more recommendations, here are some of my picks for the Village Stage (the third stage).

Village Stage All-Stars: Lesser known honorable mentions that still deserve your attention.

• Clara Pople: The vocals of a Celtic druid, melted over tribal percussion.

• P!lot: Retro pulp bubblegrunge

• get lost cassidy frost: sugary sparse pop punk

• Jessye Desilva: fierce folk

• Pacing: fun, quirky anti-folk

Now it’s your turn!

If Lilith Fair came back tomorrow, who would be on your dream lineup?

Who was your favorite Lilith Fair artist back in the day?

Let’s discuss in the comments….

1. Editor’s note: Pshaw! P-sh-aw!

2. Editor’s note: HOW VERY DARE, I also listen to some other genres that aren’t post-punk, probably! And I’ll think of one if you just give me a minute!

3. Editor’s note: Vindication!