Lauryn Hill, July 8, Hammersmith Apollo, London
Bob Dylan was famously booed at the Newport Folk Festival in 1965 for going 'electric', when his audience was expecting his normal one-man acoustic show. Nowadays, those who booed Dylan look foolish as he went on to release one of his finest albums in Highway 61 Revisited which also featured perhaps the greatest rock 'n' roll song of all time in 'Like A Rolling Stone'. After Sunday's performance, Lauryn Hill better hope she has a Highway 61 up her sleeve.
Arriving half an hour late, her 15 piece band jammed for ten minutes before she was led onto the stage, looking like a hobo, to rapturous applause. Unfortunately, that applause didn't last. First up, was a run-through of 'Lost One' that lasted all of one verse before becoming an unrecognizable jam. She continued this trend by play numerous new tracks with muddled lyrics and no discernable melody that incorporated a number of afro-beat and reggae influences. These tracks often integrated bits of her other songs, including a version of 'Mr. Intentional' off 2002's Unplugged 2.0. that retained none of the melody or words. The 15 piece band were tight, particularly while incorporating the break from Nina Simone's 'Sinner Man' into a nameless new song, but lacked the front woman, who yelled and moaned into the mic throughout, to make it any more than a fine example of musicianship lost behind an appalling display of vocal deterioration.
After nearly forty minutes of seemingly endless jamming, she did play a slightly re-worked version of 'Ex-Factor' that let the band up the tempo but still retained all the emotion of the recorded version. She then ruined any goodwill by playing an absolutely awful version of 'To Zion'. On record the strength of her voice carries the song, but she either no longer wants to or is incapable of sounding that way again. Most of the lines were yelled into the mic and the song lacked any of the soul that made it so compelling on record. After 'To Zion' she played another awful version of 'Final Hour' which ended in middling applause and a number of boos. After playing a well received cover of Roberta Flack's 'First Time I Ever Saw Your Face', she launched into four straight Fugee songs. Starting with 'How Many Mics' and ending with her set with 'Ready or Not', the crowd finally got what they had paid for.
After a short break she returned to do 'Killing Me Softly' which received the loudest applause of the night, and new song 'Lose Myself' (currently streaming on her website http://www.lauryn-hill.com/). Though 'Lose Myself' is closest to anything she's recorded since Miseducation it continued the pattern of going on far longer than needed. Finally, she played the two songs everyone had been waiting for, with arrangements closest to their recorded versions. 'Everything is Everything' got many people up dancing with many in the crowd singing along and waving their arms. The band then played a short version of The Shirelle's classic 'Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow' that left many in the crowd confused, before launching into an upbeat version of 'Doo Wop (That Thing)'. The crowd (or at least what remained of it, many having left during her encore break) were clearly overjoyed, as everyone in the bulding sang along and danced. Not bothering to say goodbye, Lauryn Hill just gave a wave before being led off the stage and leaving her band to jam out the end of the song.
When Bob Dylan went 'electric' he was in the middle of his most creative period. He was releasing an album every year and his sound changed from album to album. Looking back now, the fact that he picked up an electric guitar hardly seems a surprise . Unfortunately, Lauryn Hill hasn't released an album since 2002, much less a studio album for an entire decade now, and does not seem to be in the throes of an artistic renaissance. Though the chances of her ever making another record on par with Miseducation seemed unlikely after the Unplugged album, after Sunday's preformance any chance of a return to form seems almost impossible. During the show, Hill called this her 'coming out party' and it is the first we have seen or heard of her in five years, but without an album to back up what for many was unlistenable new material, there is little chance the audience will be coming out to see her again.
The kids from Newmarket took to the stage and delivered a short set consisting of the entirety of 'A Lesson In Crime' and a number of new cuts (forthcoming album?). The band played well but seemed to lack the confidence needed to pull off the show they would like. Considering their tour schedule and the wealth of good new material played here they should be there in no time. 6/10
