Post by fugees-online on Jun 28, 2007 17:33:22 GMT 1
June, 27th 2007
Lauryn Hill Concert, Paramount Theater - Oakland, CA
VIDEO:
Lose Myself (LIVE in Oakland)
myspacetv.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&videoid=11649812
Review:
I miss L-Boogie. Can someone please tell Miss Hill that there are many folks out there that would like to hear L-Boogie back on the mic? Better yet, can you just get The Fugees back together for real this time?
Came into the Lauryn Hill show tonight at the Paramount Theater in Oakland with lower than low expectations after hearing about her "Miss Hill" issues, sound troubles during her previous shows, and general outlook on life (see: Lauryn Hill Unplugged). Unfortunately, rather than being pseudo-pleased with the outcome because of said low expectations, it was... well... just as I expected.
A good chunk of the people sitting around me left the show 20 minutes in with half of the upstairs balcony gone before she left the stage for the encore. At one point someone screamed, "Play something we wanna hear!" and there were a few times when booing was heard. My friends and I stuck it out to the end and were slightly pleased with the inclusion of old Fugees favorites into the set, but the energy was too little too late to save the performance. Miss Hill's voice sounded like she had just come off a bad chest cold, her pacing of songs included epically-long 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.
Now, I'm all for artists expanding their horizons and trying new things, so don't think I only want Miseducation/Fugees Lauryn Hill. I didn't mind her Unplugged stuff, but when she started going off about being "caricatured" by the industry and then getting her being "crystalized" (whatever the hell that meant) midpoint of the show I really felt like just telling her to stop the yapping and get on with it. I mean, girl made one major album that she said she was proud of, won a ton of recognition for, gets cheated on by her baby daddy and suddenly she's "caricatured" and "crystalized?" You made one album! One! And it's been almost ten years since it happened!
Can someone get L-Boogie back?
source: elel.vox.com/library/post/miseducation.html
Review:
It use to be easy to be a fan of Lauryn Hill, back when she was making some of the most important and successful albums of the ’90s and winning record numbers of Grammy Awards.
It’s gotten much more difficult in recent years, as the diva has hidden herself from the public, appearing out just enough to still give Courtney Love a run for the money in the wacko pop star race.
And it was darn near impossible to be a fan of Hill during her rare concert appearance on Wednesday night (June 27) at the Paramount Theatre in Oakland.
How bad was this concert? Well, calling it a fiasco would be an insult to fiascos everywhere. It was bad enough to send 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.
It was easy to sympathize with the disgruntled fans. It was also hard not to feel bad for the venue and promoter _ since they were presenting what they surely believed to be a still-professional act.
The blame for this whole mess should fall squarely on the shoulders of Hill, who should really consider retiring at this point in what’s left of her career.
The crowd had started to turn on Hill long before she took the stage _ nearly 2 1/2 hours after the showtime printed on tickets. Even with an opener, fans were forced to endure an hour of silence. Little did they know that was going to be the highlight of the night.
Once Hill finally made her appearance, fronting a solid 14-piece band that deserved far better than this, things began to quickly unravel. She opened with a jammed-out, improvised number that featured almost no real lyrics and zapped whatever little wind remained in the crowd’s sails.
The 32-year-old vocalist then turned to 1998’s landmark “The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill” _ a work that, amazingly, still stands as her most recent studio effort _ for a garbled version of “Lost Ones.” Her voice was terrible, so harsh, strained and unlike what one hears on the masterful “Miseducation” CD. She also sounded like she’s out of shape, huffing and puffing like a weekend warrior after only a few songs.
But it wasn’t just her voice that was shaky. Hill stumbled about the stage and, at one point, actually fell flat on her back _ which brought into question exactly what the singer had been doing backstage during the long delay.
Of course, Hill would find that question ludicrous. She blamed her stage fall on her high heels and, later in the show, took the time to assure the crowd that she was sober.
Assuming she was telling the truth then that’s one less excuse Hill has for her terrible outing, which included shoddy and uninspired vocal performances on such formerly great “Miseducation” tunes as “To Zion” and “Final Hour.”
The singer had somewhat better luck with the material from her old band, the Fugees. Her voice was brittle and weak on “How Many Mics,” but she finally started to get in the swing of things with “Fu-Gee-La” and “Ready or Not.”
By that time, however, the once-capacity crowd had dwindled down to half a house. Those who left early missed Hill’s new song, “Lose Myself,” which is featured on the “Surf’s Up” soundtrack. It’s a pretty good tune, but the singer wrecked it in concert by stretching it out far beyond its recommended dosage.
In all, Hill didn’t manage to provide one good reason why locals should remain in her fan camp. I’d like to tell you different, but that would clearly be a “miseducation” of the readers.
source: www.ibabuzz.com/concerts/2007/06/28/the-misadventures-of-lauryn-hill/
Videos
Doo Wop (Live in Oakland, June, 27th 2007)
www.youtube.com/watch?v=XP3YAIaFWz0
Lauryn Hill Concert, Paramount Theater - Oakland, CA
VIDEO:
Lose Myself (LIVE in Oakland)
myspacetv.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&videoid=11649812
Review:
I miss L-Boogie. Can someone please tell Miss Hill that there are many folks out there that would like to hear L-Boogie back on the mic? Better yet, can you just get The Fugees back together for real this time?
Came into the Lauryn Hill show tonight at the Paramount Theater in Oakland with lower than low expectations after hearing about her "Miss Hill" issues, sound troubles during her previous shows, and general outlook on life (see: Lauryn Hill Unplugged). Unfortunately, rather than being pseudo-pleased with the outcome because of said low expectations, it was... well... just as I expected.
A good chunk of the people sitting around me left the show 20 minutes in with half of the upstairs balcony gone before she left the stage for the encore. At one point someone screamed, "Play something we wanna hear!" and there were a few times when booing was heard. My friends and I stuck it out to the end and were slightly pleased with the inclusion of old Fugees favorites into the set, but the energy was too little too late to save the performance. Miss Hill's voice sounded like she had just come off a bad chest cold, her pacing of songs included epically-long 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.
Now, I'm all for artists expanding their horizons and trying new things, so don't think I only want Miseducation/Fugees Lauryn Hill. I didn't mind her Unplugged stuff, but when she started going off about being "caricatured" by the industry and then getting her being "crystalized" (whatever the hell that meant) midpoint of the show I really felt like just telling her to stop the yapping and get on with it. I mean, girl made one major album that she said she was proud of, won a ton of recognition for, gets cheated on by her baby daddy and suddenly she's "caricatured" and "crystalized?" You made one album! One! And it's been almost ten years since it happened!
Can someone get L-Boogie back?
source: elel.vox.com/library/post/miseducation.html
Review:
It use to be easy to be a fan of Lauryn Hill, back when she was making some of the most important and successful albums of the ’90s and winning record numbers of Grammy Awards.
It’s gotten much more difficult in recent years, as the diva has hidden herself from the public, appearing out just enough to still give Courtney Love a run for the money in the wacko pop star race.
And it was darn near impossible to be a fan of Hill during her rare concert appearance on Wednesday night (June 27) at the Paramount Theatre in Oakland.
How bad was this concert? Well, calling it a fiasco would be an insult to fiascos everywhere. It was bad enough to send 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.
It was easy to sympathize with the disgruntled fans. It was also hard not to feel bad for the venue and promoter _ since they were presenting what they surely believed to be a still-professional act.
The blame for this whole mess should fall squarely on the shoulders of Hill, who should really consider retiring at this point in what’s left of her career.
The crowd had started to turn on Hill long before she took the stage _ nearly 2 1/2 hours after the showtime printed on tickets. Even with an opener, fans were forced to endure an hour of silence. Little did they know that was going to be the highlight of the night.
Once Hill finally made her appearance, fronting a solid 14-piece band that deserved far better than this, things began to quickly unravel. She opened with a jammed-out, improvised number that featured almost no real lyrics and zapped whatever little wind remained in the crowd’s sails.
The 32-year-old vocalist then turned to 1998’s landmark “The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill” _ a work that, amazingly, still stands as her most recent studio effort _ for a garbled version of “Lost Ones.” Her voice was terrible, so harsh, strained and unlike what one hears on the masterful “Miseducation” CD. She also sounded like she’s out of shape, huffing and puffing like a weekend warrior after only a few songs.
But it wasn’t just her voice that was shaky. Hill stumbled about the stage and, at one point, actually fell flat on her back _ which brought into question exactly what the singer had been doing backstage during the long delay.
Of course, Hill would find that question ludicrous. She blamed her stage fall on her high heels and, later in the show, took the time to assure the crowd that she was sober.
Assuming she was telling the truth then that’s one less excuse Hill has for her terrible outing, which included shoddy and uninspired vocal performances on such formerly great “Miseducation” tunes as “To Zion” and “Final Hour.”
The singer had somewhat better luck with the material from her old band, the Fugees. Her voice was brittle and weak on “How Many Mics,” but she finally started to get in the swing of things with “Fu-Gee-La” and “Ready or Not.”
By that time, however, the once-capacity crowd had dwindled down to half a house. Those who left early missed Hill’s new song, “Lose Myself,” which is featured on the “Surf’s Up” soundtrack. It’s a pretty good tune, but the singer wrecked it in concert by stretching it out far beyond its recommended dosage.
In all, Hill didn’t manage to provide one good reason why locals should remain in her fan camp. I’d like to tell you different, but that would clearly be a “miseducation” of the readers.
source: www.ibabuzz.com/concerts/2007/06/28/the-misadventures-of-lauryn-hill/
Videos
Doo Wop (Live in Oakland, June, 27th 2007)
www.youtube.com/watch?v=XP3YAIaFWz0
