REBUILDING A MYSTERY SANS LILITH, BUT WITH A 3-YEAR-OLD DAUGHTER, SARAH MCLACHLAN BRINGS 'AFTERGLOW' TO THE GREEK.

Byline: Fred Shuster Music Writer

There was no hint Sarah McLachlan was feeling under the weather when she called from a Canadian tour stop - but when laryngitis hit a few days later, it knocked her off the road.

Not to worry. McLachlan, who spearheaded the Lilith Fair tour in the late-'90s when promoters and nearly everybody else fretted about an all- female lineup, is made of stronger stuff. After postponing four dates, the atmospheric folk-pop singer is now ready for a pair of Greek Theatre appearances this weekend, keeping up a reputation as one of the pop world's most dependable concert acts.

Expect to hear such perennials as ``Building a Mystery,'' ``Possession'' and ``Sweet Surrender,'' along with new songs and reworked older material. But there is one wild card - the Greek, which McLachlan has never even visited. ``Playing outdoors is a different thing, you know. Lights, sound - it all changes.''

One element that hasn't changed are the people McLachlan surrounds herself with on tour. ``I'm the easiest boss in the world as long as you can sing in tune and have a good personality,'' she said, adding that it helps to be an all-around ``good hang'' when taking a production like the current ``Afterglow'' road show around the world.

As one of adult-alternative radio's core artists, McLachlan knows what it takes to please audiences. Ever since her U.S. breakthrough, ``Fumbling Toward Ecstasy,'' was issued a dozen years ago and the seductive ``Possession'' became a familiar presence on radio, the classically trained singer-composer from Halifax, Nova Scotia, has enjoyed a fiercely loyal fan base.

``Sarah's music spans a lot of different emotions, and it hits people on various levels,'' said Chris Ebbott, assistant program director at the newly formatted pop-rock station Jack FM (93.1). ``Some of her songs are dark and moody, but always tuneful, and a wide range of listeners relate. She's a big artist here at the station, and she has a long history of playing memorable concerts in L.A.''

Part of that history includes the 1997 launch of the traveling concert caravan Lilith Fair, conceived by McLachlan to spotlight female artists on twin stages, featuring the likes of Jewel, Suzanne Vega, Indigo Girls, Paula Cole, Sheryl Crow and Tracy Chapman, among others. McLachlan first tried out the Lilith concept in a small concert at Burbank's Starlight Amphitheatre.

``All these promoters said, 'What? You've gotta be kidding. You can't put all these women on the same bill,' '' McLachlan remembers.

In fact, Lilith went on for three summers, becoming one of the top-grossing concert events of the era, and even bettered Lollapalooza at one point.

``We could've gone on a little longer, but I wanted to get back to writing some new songs,'' McLachlan, 37, said. ``And three years without a single new song is a long time for a songwriter. I just felt I wasn't being very creative. But it was a very amazing experience. It spawned so many things - good friendships, careers, and it helped all of us. Every single person on those shows benefited from it.''

McLachlan's Greek Theatre shows Saturday and Sunday come in support of 2003's acclaimed ``Afterglow'' (Arista) disc and last year's CD/DVD combo ``Afterglow Live.''

Before getting laryngitis last week, McLachlan re-recorded her single, ``World on Fire,'' with fellow Canadian Robbie Robertson, the former leader of the Band, for use in the forthcoming TNT series ``Into the West,'' executive-produced by Steven Spielberg. McLachlan and Robertson also will film a music video utilizing footage from the series.

Now there's another factor that figures into her life. As the mother of a 3-year-old, McLachlan says she considers how every career decision might affect her daughter.

``It changes everything,'' she said. ``You stop obsessing about things. She's an incredible child - the best teacher I've ever had. Every day, you're forced to come to terms with things. I've learned so much more about myself.''

And, in turn, her daughter is learning about mom. McLachlan relates an incident that took place a few weeks ago when her husband took their child shopping - and a McLachlan tune began playing in the grocery store.

``She said, 'Daddy, it's Mommy on the radio.' It's so cute. It's just wonderful.''

Fred Shuster, [phone]

fred.shuster(at)dailynews.com

SARAH McLACHLAN

Where: Greek Theatre, 2700 N. Vermont Ave., Los Angeles.

When: 7:30 p.m. Saturday and Sunday.

Tickets: $40 to $70. [phone]; ticketmaster.com.

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(1 -- cover -- color) Afterglow

Sarah McLachlan riding high after baby, new album

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(2) no caption (Sarah McLachlan)

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