Oh Sister, Where Art Thou?
(Hill at an unspecified live show)
Imagine my disappointment, steadfast Lauryn Hill stan that I am, in the hot-off-the-press news this morning of Ms. Hill's misadventure at Oakland's Paramount Theater, on the first of a sporadic string of stateside summer tour dates:
How bad was this concert? Well, calling it a fiasco would be an insult to fiascos everywhere. It was so bad that it sent 75 to 100 fans into the lobby only four songs into the set, all of them grumbling loudly and demanding refunds. Those were the smart ones - the rest of us remained in our seats and watched what amounted to a two-hour train wreck.Jim Harrington, Inside Bay Area
Her hair in an unkempt rust-colored Afro, Hill wore a green-and-yellow plaid jacket that appeared to be made of wool and an ankle-length black skirt, looking not unlike a bag lady one might encounter at a taco truck on International Boulevard. She held a microphone in her right hand and a black handkerchief in her left, frequently wiping sweat from her face as she paced the stage.
At one point during the show, the singer tripped and fell, landing flat on her backside. "That's what I get for wearing high heels," she said, as she rose to her feet.
Lee Hildebrand, San Francisco Chronicle
...Lauryn Hill, moved across the stage like a sac-religious mixture of a James Brown impersonation, and your local borderline drunk.
The band was playing so loud, I swear it was a Battle of the Bands contest, Lauryn Hill’s mic was generating so much feedback, I felt like I was stuck in a middle school auditorium listening to an ear-splitting talent show, and “Ms. Diva Hill” was so twisted, that through the music and mic catastrophe, I’m not even sure if she was speaking a language native to any country on this planet.
In the lobby there was a growing crowd of angry patrons. I passed a lawyer who was collecting names for a petition, and saw a line of security guards backed up against the doors that led to the box office with a crowd of people waiting. Soon thereafter, the police showed up. A fight broke out in the balcony, someone threw up, and a middle-aged woman came limping out of the arena with no shoes on.
Excerpts of concert-goer K.R. Fardy's letter to the SF Weekly's "All Shook Down" blog
Miss Hill's voice sounded like she had just come off a bad chest cold, her pacing of songs included epic-length new stuff (including her first song that had a chorus that repeated something about heathens over and over and over) and crowd favorites so drowned out by the awesome, yet huge 11-piece band (3 guys on percussion, 2 guys on keys, 3 guys on strings, 2 guys on horns, 1 DJ plus 4 back-up singers) that you could barely make out Miss Hill's vocals.
Blogger two eLs
Here's the rub: I will still attend Hill's free Brooklyn concert this August. I saw Hill at her height during the Miseducation... tour. She put on a spectacle at the Fox Theater in Atlanta and me and my road dog at the time put on our BCBG best, coated our faces with Chanel cosmetics, zipped up our knee-high Kenneth Cole boots and had an extraordinary time. We were so hyped up that despite being underage we confidently drove a few blocks to the afterparty at Esso, parked my friend's truck kitty corner to a Land Rover out of which emerged Andre Benjamin back when he was still 'Dre and, ten paces behind, a narrow platformed woman who we initially dismissed until she cowered from what I can only imagine were imaginary paparazzi bulbs and drew attention to her Baduity. 'Dre said something pleasant and beat us to the entrance. We attempted to follow his lead but were thwarted by the bouncer's demand for ID. Still, it was a good night. We bore witness the next week in the cafeteria of our face-to-face interaction with a woman whose solo debut soundtracked our first year of college, from its drop during our orientation week through May's move-out. We were newly independent and somewhat idealistic like Boogie and were ones to experiment with the odd make-up palette and the ankle-twisting platform sandals. Plus we were exceedingly dramatic. The passion, the pathos, and yes even the pretense of Miseducation... was a perfect match. So looking back, looking back, looking back is a reminder of what we had, what we were: "I Wish", animated, for the not-so little nappy headed boys, the growing-up girls with press and curls and God knows who else. The Boomers romanticize much (i.e., 'Summer of Love' 40th anniversary mania) and it's only fair that the sentimental ones of us should be allowed to see the world, in this case a slight frightfully-fallen star, through rose-colored glasses.
Posted on June 29, 2007 9:26 AM
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Comments (10)
did we forget that this woman is human and possibly going through a tramatic time. black women over the history of time keep going and going no matter what and that is because we have to we raise children alone we out source our knowledge to industry we listen to other people's problem and we at some time and space still keep it together nobody knows what this woman is going through, so just embrace her she needs our love and support for the good music to return. ps you pay for the ticket you take a chance
Posted on July 26, 2007 9:49 PMI am at work taking auto and home insurance claims...moved to tears! I am a 24 yr old female from Detroit that remembers the transition from Sister Act 2 to the Fugees ( the Score) to (recently) The Miseducation. Yes I said recently..that cd has meant so much more to me just this year (2007) than it ever could have meant in 1997. From songs like Light My Fire ( which todays Rap Artists should have to listen to daily to that thing) all the messages in her music ring true. Many of my peers feel exactly the same way. But LBoogies unsuccessful attempts to perform today, with todays standard, should not discredit her as a person or as an artist.
Posted on July 19, 2007 9:28 PMWe all have faults and things that scare the living crap out of us...just think the very thing that makes you laugh can make you cry....what you love, you may end up despising... if there is a nasty truth about it revealed to you...we should be more forgiving! We are all human...al of us...hey u... are you an alien..didnt think so..HUMAN!
I hear you Barrie and Daron I hope she ain't on that stuff. If so, Rohan probably drove her to it.
Posted on July 16, 2007 6:14 PMI PERSONALLY THINK THAT SHE STILL HAVE SOMETHING LEFT IN HER AND THAT SHE SHOULD JUST TRY TO PICK-UP THAT MICRO PHONE AND MOVE ON. SHE WAS SIMPLY THE BEST IN HER DAYS.
Posted on July 14, 2007 7:16 PMThe trend continues. I saw her in Ethiopia at the Bob Marley Concert celebration in 2005. We left while she was still ranting on stage about rubbish!! Total dissappointment. The woman needs to re-group, we all know what she is capable of producing!
Posted on July 14, 2007 5:16 PMI think Amy Winehouse may have said it best..."They tried to make me go to rehab, but I said, "NO, NO, NO!""
Its obvious that there is something terribly wrong with Lauryn Hill--whether its drugs or mental issues. I think we all can agree that she needs a "Re-Education" of the Lauryn Hill who made us all fall in love with her in the first place.
Posted on July 11, 2007 6:23 PMLeave Lauren alone she might just be a little rusty. I thinks she needs the "Fugees" in her life.
Posted on June 30, 2007 9:54 PMLauryn's problem, which she shares with her fans, is that she is convinced that recording music is her path to psychological stability when that is clearly not the case.
Let's look at the facts: Lauryn post-"The Score" = not crazy. Lauryn post-super-cathartic "Miseducation"= crazy. Lauryn post-Biblical mumbo-jumbo "Unplugged" session = batshit. The more she wallows in her pathos to try to mine it for creative gold, the crazier she gets.
Instead of being laid out on a stage, she needs to be laid up on somebody's couch trying to work out her issues.
Posted on June 30, 2007 12:16 AMWell you and me might be the only ones that like Unplugged. Anyway, I hear you. She's a person in transition in the public eye. Worse yet, she's a nineties icon, something of a savior to many people, so built up that she's bound to be a disappointment in person. That said, the relationship with the artists is not one sided and if she's not available to give professional performances than she should refrain or at least not charge 100 dollars for them and then start up 2 hours late. Triflin' I respect her process but damn sure don't want to pay for it! ; )
Posted on June 29, 2007 9:53 PMLBoogie stands as a symbol for me that you can be an emcee and a vocalist and be ill at both. "The Miseducation" is a place I will always be fond of going back to, and "Unplugged", to me, is as beautiful as it is dense. I can understand not giving up on Miss Hill, but I have never been to one of her shows. Part of me wants to remember her as she was, which I know is unfair because everyone (if not artists, especially) must grow and change. I think people (c)(sh)ould be more sympathetic because she exhibits real vulnerability. Her's is not the child-star-growing-up-crying-for-attention-PR-staged kind.
Posted on June 29, 2007 7:32 PM