thanks jelani !
MP3 Live: Lauryn Hill, cold vampin'
By Jim Welte - MP3.com
June 30, 2006 at 12:54:00 PM | more stories by this author

L Boogie drops a pair of scorching secret shows on San Francisco fans, delivering a blunt reminder of her vast talent.

She's baaaaaack.
Lauryn Hill

Lauryn Hill

With two hush-hush "rehearsal" shows at the Great American Music Hall in San Francisco last night, Lauryn Hill silenced the skeptics, answered years of questions, and unveiled a reinvention of sorts.

Backed by a raucous 12-piece band, the Fugees centerpiece oozed passion and soul, showing off new material, some reimagined old hits, and an aplomb reminiscent of the late 1990s, when her Miseducation of Lauryn Hill album made her the biggest artist in the world for a time.

On this night, the frail-voiced woman whose raw emotion at her 2001 MTV Unplugged performance that caused many to worry about her state of mind, let alone her musical career, was transformed into a heat-seeking funk bomb. In an hour-plus set that didn't start until 1:15 a.m. and continued even after the venue operators had turned on the lights and cut off Hill's mic, it was as though James Brown himself had inhabited her body as she let out howls, shrieks, and fist pumps of encouragement to her band.

The band kicked off the set with an almost free jazz-style intro jam, with Hill taking the stage and almost immediately storming into a hyperspeed version of her hit "Lost Ones," rattling off telling lines like, "I was hopeless now I'm on hope road" in rapid-fire fashion.

The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill

As with almost all of the songs she performed from Miseducation, "Lost Ones" was barely recognizable from its original version, awash in a sea of massive horn breaks, funky keyboards, and full-throttle guitars. In tune with the show being dubbed a rehearsal, there was loads of vamping, with the band trying out different rhythms in the same song and Hill often catapulting into a soul-drenched vocal improv-style scat.

The vibe of the evening was clear from the start: Hill, who has often hinted at permanent retirement from popular music, has seemingly rediscovered her vigor for performing live. What isn't clear is what exactly that means: were the rehearsals for a new album? A tour? And what ever happened to the much-hyped, Verizon-sponsored Fugees reunion album and tour that came and went with the ill-received single, "Take it Easy"?

No matter. For many Fugees fans, this--an Afro-wearing Lauryn spitting rhymes and belting out songs backed by a nimble funk band--was the return of the Fu-Gee-La.
Lauryn Hill

Lauryn Hill

"Lost Ones" was followed by "Final Hour," featuring Hill rhyming in an intense, soulful style that was one-part rapping and one-part singing, almost like Gil Scott-Heron meets Nina Simone.

Ms. Hill--as she has asked to be called in recent years--and her band then threw the packed house a curveball, turning the deliberate beat of "Zion" into an Afro-Cuban stomper, with Hill seemingly possessed by the spirit: "My joy! My joy! My joy!"

Hill then played a couple of snippets of new songs, belting out the uplifting chorus of one, "I'm moving on!" over a thick reggae beat, then segueing into a take on her deceased father-in-law's "Iron, Lion, Zion" over an uptempo ska rhythm. (Hill has four kids with Bob Marley's son Rohan.)

Before long, the house lights were on as 2 a.m. approached. But Hill didn't even seem to notice, charging into "How Many Mics" off the Fugees' 1996 smash The Score over a beat that gave the song a massive underbelly of funk.

The crowd's roar of approval morphed into an eruption when the band darted into the first notes of "Fu-Gee-La," also from The Score. With her voice booming, Hill delivered one of the verses that first placed her among hip-hop's finest MCs: "Fake bullets can't scar me/I can smell the weak out like safari/Play you out like Atari/Sacrifice you Hari Kari/And I'm sorry/To every single rapper **** and Harri/Saying they want to spar me/Cause how thick my repertoire/And my memoir be/Reminding me of eating Calamari/In the Kalahari/with a band of Rastafaris."

At the conclusion of "Ready or Not," the venue operators had apparently had enough and cut off Hill's mic.

But she wasn't done.

With plenty of help from eager audience members, Hill hushed the crowd to the closest thing to complete silence that 500-plus people can achieve, and then delivered an a cappella version of "I Find it Hard to Say" off the Unplugged album. It was daring, impressive, and downright moving.

As the crowd left the venue at 2:30 a.m., many couldn't help but wonder what they'd just witnessed meant. Has Hill managed to turn the raw emotion of the Unplugged show into a sound that literally takes her brand of soul-soaked, reggae-infused hip-hop back to its funk roots?

More to the point, is she back for good this time? Hill's absence from the scene has left a gaping void in urban music for an artist that can both sing like a bird and rhyme like a beast. The subject was enough to incite Talib Kweli to write a song called "Ms. Hill," in which the rapper heaps praise on Hill and asks her to get back in the music game.

It's unclear how much Hill needs music, although her boundless spirit on the stage last night indicated she does.

But this much is true: music needs Lauryn Hill.

http://www.mp3.com/news/stories/5171.html

This is so cool !!!! :bounce: :bounce: :dances:
But apparently, she didn't perform new material. <_<

wow!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! i would've done anything to hear a lauryn performance like that!!! I know she didn't perform anything new but let's hope this is a sign of the good things to come...after all, good things come to those who wait and we have all definitely been waiting long enough!

it said she did in the intro paragrapgh...maybe cyz they didnt know the songs they didnt mention them...

Most def !!!! B) B)

they said it was a "rehearsal" show though. That's why the capacity was for 600 people.

Oh God, I was so excited I forgot to read that part.
So she DID perform new material !!!! :bounce: :dances: :dances:

Here's a nice little review :
That shit was AMAZING, and I like your review. I pretty much agree with everything you've said. I also heard a little bit of DC GO-GO in the mix. The sound at GAMH sucked, but the music was so good that it didn't detract from her performance. And how absolutely beautiful is Ms. Hill???Even in just a plain button down shirt, long brown pants, black leather jacket and scarf, she radiates beauty. I don't think anyone, including Lauryn and her band, wanted to leave. I would have stayed until the sun came up. Her sound was pretty psychodelic avant gard jazz. I like how she is just ROCKIN IT now. Will we ever get to see her in as intimate setting again in our lives?? Maybe not. I'm so thankful I was there ..and thank you for being an interesting person to talk to for an hour and half!! Have a nice trip.
Coriander

Man, that was such a positive review - i don't even know what to say.

Hopefully she'll be just as good, or better on the 1st ( :o - i just realised that's tonight) - as i have faith we'll get to see/hear some recordings from that show.

:bounce: - :D

that is so good to hear.
thanks for the review. :)

everything is great
but no pics and 1 day has already left
strange
I'm afraid the performance wasn't recorded at all
wannaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa
aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa new album right now!

that one dude said that she was wearing a buttoned down shirt, brown pants, her afro, a leather jacket and a scarf. B)

COOL PIC :bounce:

Yeah, it's a very graphic description. i don't think we need any pictures. B)
Imagine, Lauryn, the afro, a leather jacket = Very rockstar-ish. B) B)

yea i don't need pics too
I AM :bounce: :bounce: :bounce: :bounce: :drunk: to see the video

Did anybody read the part where they said that it was a REHEARSAL show ? :blink: :blink:

i think they meant that she was talkin' to the crowd ...... (like in unplugged concert)
i think people will like her unplugged cd soon

That would be awesome.

wow that's great!!!! I am so happy right now.. I wish I was there.

anyway people.. do you guys really think she back?

no,but I'm glad that reviews are positive :drunk:

:lol: ;)

I will think that she's back, when I see a video, or when I have her cd in my hands. B)

I can't tell you guys how happy I am to hear this!

word

Wow!
Reading that review makes me excited for the future. Something is brewing and I can't wait to fill my glass over and over again!

Same here...

Did she perform new songs or just songs tht arn't on any albums?

I agree, but these shows sound good i hope we will get some pics or vids soon.

check what someone said on fugeesonline !!!!
I hope it´s true !!! :bounce: :bounce:
NOW THIS IS WHAT I'M TALKING ABOUT ! WE ALL KNEW SHE STILL HAD IT IN HER THATS WHY WE KEPT THIS FORUM ALIVE. NOW LETS ALL GET READY FOR A PHENOMENAL COMEBACK THATS GOING TO KICK EVERY ARTIST IN THE ASS. I HEARD FROM RELIABLE SOURCES MS HILL IS FINISHING UP HER ALBUM AND ITS SUPPOSE TO BE SOMETHING CLOSE TO MICHEAL JACKSON THRILLER !
http://fugeesonline.proboards21.com/index....read=1151704228

we all hope it's true

lmao, I choose not say she's going to beat every artist, because frankly I don't think Lauryn is in the game to compete. What I do think is that Ms Hill will release incredible music, that will have phenominal sucess. I mean think about it, how much effort does it appear she's putting in. She's said numerous times herself that the reason she hasn't released new music is because she hasn't felt it was sincere enough. Apparently she might think it is now, looking at how her bahavior is becoming a lot more happier and friendlier. Let's just pray for the future. But let's not put expectations to this, because that's when disallusion is genereated, something that Lauryn has been trying for many years to get away from; the expectations of other pepole. But to me, the future looks bright for Lauryn!

Sup everyone.....WOW...i loved this post so much, i read it over agina, and then again......THIS IS EXCITING.....im scared that she might pull one of these secret shows in Chicago, and i will know nothing about it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

LOL, that's everyone's worst nightmare !
Imagine, you've been waiting yrs to see Lauryn perform, and then she comes to your city, performs a secret show, that nobody knows about !!! :o
I'd die. :ph43r:

u've got million mthfuckas that would see u die and have no million mthefuckas that would see them try :dances: