Yeppp, on Wednesday night I went with a few friends went to see an acoustic performance by Lauryn Hill at the Wilbur Theater in Boston. The tickets had been burning a hole in my iPhone (that's what we say these days when we use Passbook, right?) for months!
I have a pulse, so obviously I was a fan of Fugees, and I was among the millions of people who bought (and became obsessed with) The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill back in 1998. A few years ago, she performed her entire Miseducation album at the Rock the Bells festival, and witnessing it in person was pretty special. When I heard she was coming to Boston, I immediately rallied some troops (Kara, Steph and Amanze!) and put it on my calendar.
The show was supposed to start at 8, but at around 8:30 a film began playing onstage - Concerning Violence, a short documentary about anti-imperialism and decolonization that was narrated by Ms. Hill. It was interesting (and also a bit depressing), but not everyone in the audience was psyched about being shown a documentary at a concert. When the film ended, a DJ began spinning onstage - who, by the way, was definitely dressed like she belonged in the background of a 1993 Salt 'n Pepa video. At this point, not everyone in the audience was psyched that there was a DJ playing instead of Ms. Hill. Can you pick up on a theme of growing malcontent?
It was well after 10pm when Lauryn finally came out and took her place on a loveseat-style couch at the center of the stage. Picking up her guitar and speaking little-to-no-words to any of us, she and her band launched into Conform to Love. Cue the chair-dancing, because it was a smallish venue and no one was really standing much.
I only took one photo while we were there, and it came out terribly blurry...
... but you get the general setup. I've been trying to find the setlist for the show, but so far it's nowhere to be found. Other highlights were when she did Sweetest Thing, Lost Ones, and Fu-Gee-La in its entirety.
She closed out the show with Doo Wop (That Thing), which is when she finally got up out of her chair herself. The rest of the audience followed suit, and it was a great closer. It was almost 12:30 in the morning when she finished, so that was an unexpected element of a Wednesday night show. So very worth being exhausted the next day!
Now for your entertainment, here is some music from Lauryn to get you on my level:
Sweetest Thing
So High (Cloud 9 Remix) - John Legend feat. Lauryn Hill
Turn Your Lights Down Low - Bob Marley feat Lauryn Hill
Leave a comment to let me know what your favorite Lauryn Hill song is! And I'm sure that a regularly scheduled nail polish post will be back next Friday ;)
So, I'm very happy that you got to see Lauryn. She is obviously quite talented. But I've heard similar things about her performances in the past. I don't think she ever starts on time, and she doesn't always play what you want to hear, and I think she might have become more of a philosopher than a musician lately (not that that's a bad thing), but it's just not the same Lauryn Hill. But still, her music is fab so it's great that you saw her live. Happy Friday!
ReplyDeleteI had definitely read similar things about her performances too, and wasn't really expecting her to start on time, but was startled at how late she went on considering it was a Wednesday show! The great news was that her voice was absolutely flawless. I could get drunk on her vocals! So beautiful.
DeleteBy far my favorite of hers is Killing me Softly (granted that is Fugees) but still. I remember the day I first heard it and how it made me feel.
ReplyDeleteI would have totally left if she was over 2 hours late, I don't care who it is or how much I paid. In my mind that means the artist has zero regard for her fans and their lives. Not worth it to me.
Glad you enjoyed yourself though!