CL Reader Stl Opinion caught Lauryn Hill at her St. Louis concert on Sunday (January 16) and hit us up wanting to comment on her performance. Check out the commentary and video of Ms. Hill performing “Lost Ones” below.
I’m a loyal reader and commenter (Stl Opinion), and I went to the Lauryn Hill concert Sunday, January 17th in St. Louis! I would like to clear up some misconceptions with this whole thing about her and her concerts. We were told weeks before the concert that the doors wouldn’t open until 9 instead of 7. Everyone knew that, and at the venue concerts start 2 hours after the doors open. But people showed up regardless and ironically before the doors opened (go figure). So the line was long and people were complaining saying, “I’m not about to wait until no 11 to see her”, “I want a refund”, (which they were VERY willingly giving out before the doors opened at 9) etc. Kinda makes you wonder WHY buy a $60 ticket if you really didn’t want to go in the end and wait knowing the demand for her. All people had to do was research and see that Lauryn been late for all her dates so I don’t know what new they thought was going to happen.
The doors opened at 9 and around 9:30 a DJ came out and rocked the building; it was like a club in there with late 80s-90s music! Around 10:30-10:45 he was done, and her performance DJ came out. After a while people started to get annoyed and boo’ed a little and chanted her name. Her background singers and band came out at around 11:30. Lauryn came on and put on one of the BEST concerts I’ve been to in a while and had wonderful advice about not compromising! Her voice is more raspy now, but I knew that before the concert looking at the Rock the Bells YouTube videos and concerts that came before the St. Louis stop. She clearly explained before she started to sing that she was revamping the songs but after 5-10 secs she got into it and you understood! So people saying she was 4 hours late and stuff are completely FALSE! She was 45 mins late at the most (not saying that’s fine or anything but people are being overly dramatic), but she wasn’t done with her performance until 1:35! To me, it was worth the wait and they had no problem giving out refunds!
“LOST ONES”
Chile boo!
i met him via —– Bla c k’w h it e’F li rts. C” 0- M—-
The most successful interra cial da t ing c lub. If you are still waiting for your sweet “milk” or “chocolate”, don’t hesitate to check it !! Don’t let your babies wait too long for you !!
She’s not in Chile she is in st Louis 0_o
^ lool, I think he/she meant “Child boo” – it’s spelt like how some people say it.
I wish this was Facebook cuz I wanna LIKE YOUR COMMENT
wow new artist watch n learn!!!!! feast your eyes on the truth!!!! lauren hill the Icon!!!!
YES NEW ARTIST WATCH AND LEARN HOW TO LOSE YOUR FANS & YOUR VOICE!!!! WHEN URE AT HOME SINGING IN THE MIRROR ITS ABOUT YOU, WHEN PEOPLE HAVE WAITED 3-4 HRS TO SEE YOU AFTER PAYING THEIR MONEY IN A D*MN RECESSION IT SHOULD BE ABOUT YOUR FANS & THE MUSIC THAT MADE THEM COME. LAUREN HAS BEEN ON SOME STRAIGHT BS & NEEDS TO GET OFF IT EVENTHOUGH I THINK SHE’S LOST HER VOICE & HAS NO CHOICE BUT TO SING THE SONGS THAT WAY. NEW ARTIST SAY NO TO DRUGS!!!…….JENNY JONES!!!!
AND LAUREN SHOULD TAKE NOTE FROM ARTIST LIKE FRANKIE BEVERLY, DOUGIE FRESH, PATTI LABELLE AND THE ROLLING STONES. ALL ACTS THAT HAVEN’T HAD AN ALBUM OR SONG OUT IN 20YRS BUT MAKE MILLIONS EVERY YEAR. WHY B/C THEY RESPECT THEIR FANS BY GIVING THEM EXACTLY WHAT THEY CAME FOR WITH NO SURPRISES. AND THE DIVA ATTITUDES ARE IN THE MUSIC………JENNY JONES!!!!
“Lauryn been late for all her dates so I don’t know what new they thought was going to happen. ” are you serious? 3 hours late shouldn’t be ANYONE’s M.O. — i am a lauryn fan , but she has to make some changes.
yeah and then she says she wasn’t late she was only 45 mins late…what?
Her comments to the band at the intro into the song reminded me of Nina Simone and the manner in which she commanded respect from both her audience and band of her music/craft…GET IT RIGHT!
WELL SHE SHOULD’VE SENT THE MEMO TO HERSELF!!!!!! THAT RIGHT THERE WAS SOME STRAIGHT BS!!!! GLAD I HAVE HER CDs B/C ITS OBVIOUS THAT’S THE ONLY WAY I’LL EVER HEAR THOSE SONGS AGAIN CORRECTLY. WHAT A DISSERVICE TO HER FANS…….JENNY JONES!!!!
This is a very factual report. After the first incident, press release were sent out by all the venue announcing that door would not open until 9:00 and 10:00 in some cases. Lauryn show time was posted for 11:00. Her dj always plays for 30 min; therefore, she is not 3 or 4 hours late to performances. The people are getting in line hours before the start time to try to get down front. She thanks the audience throughout her performance, and tells them she appreciates their support. Lauryn is preparing for her next album. She has not played her classics in the original form in years. It has been reported repeatedly over the years. She is an incredible performer.
I love this quote from STL blogger bgirl4life:
“Its not just St. Louis, everyone’s jumping on the mainstream bandwagon, nitpicking at every fault, even asking is her show worth attending. I’m not surprised, her re-emergence is something the industry fears… how could anyone take the Nicki Minaj v Lil Kim vs Foxy Brown beef serious if Lauryn launches a successful return? Is anyone really surprised that an industry that thrives on illusion, sex, violence and ignorance would not welcome her successful comeback? That an billion dollar industry that glorifies streetlife and prison would rather see her fail? That corporate hacks (radio personalities, reviewers) would sell her out? The same industry that calls Lauryn crazy glosses over Gucci Mane getting committed to a mental institution.”
yesssssssssssss can you post the url to that blogger?
Hot performance! Worth the wait, IMO!
Lauryn has always been pure talent!! True no one wants to wait an extended period of time, but if you know there is going to be a wait adapt and adjust to the circumstances.
Lauryn has always held her own ground and been her own person, on her own terms. I respect that! For those who conform to other’s ideals should be ashame. But that all might dollar makes fools everyday!!!
All I can say is if L.Hill isn’t physically and mentally ready to do this, she needs to just forget it. I’d be mad too if I had to wait all the way to 10:00 to see her, who wants to do that when you gotta work in the morning? I just gave up on her, I wouldn’t even waste my time.
I am so excited to see this post because the same thing happened when I went to her concert in ATL. Ppl tried to complain but I hushed them immediately because I was second in line and I had been waiting since 5:20 pm and doors didn’t even open until 8. If you’re not a real Lauryn fan let someone who is buy the tix and you keep it moving! Lauryn was only abt 40 min. late for her ATL show and she sang great apologized for her lateness and showed the crowd so much love. She shook hands with the entire front row (including me)! This post is correct people are being overly dramatic by saying she’s 3 hrs. late. They just want to bash her but seeing as how most of her shows have been sold out you should return your ticket sit at home and complain about your fd up life and let REAL fans who’re willing to wait and accept her new arrangements buy the tix. Thanks so much for this post!
@Benjamin i was AT the show and she IS READY to do this! She raps quick and furiously she HAS NO competition at all. She’s a BEAST. Then she sand sweet and slow and then sped up and jumped around like she was 18. No one is MORE ready than Lauryn Hill. If you’re giving up on her that’s your loss. Stop listening to the media go see her yourself and btw ppl don’t have to wait for her. You could show up at 11:30 a couple min. before she takes the stage. If you choose to show up early THAT’S YOUR BEEF NOT HERS. #IMJUSSAYING
I like the revamped version of the song. maybe she should’ve started off with the original and then going into the remix, just for those die hard fans.
There seems to be some confusion with the information. Either way, all i know is that people queue up all night for iphones and ipads so if you gotta see her in action then you do what you gotta do.
Also, the comment about going to work the next day, thats what days off are for. When i go to a concert im planning on partying all night.
Steve Litman of Steve Litman Presents, which is bringing Hill to town STL, has heard it all.
He says booking Hill involved “accommodating her personal style of doing the shows,” which meant promoting a show without a start time. But he says it’s worth it. “It’s a hot ticket and we feel great to have her as an artist. Her personal style does make it more challenging, but her fans across the country are understanding and accommodating.”
“It would be more convenient for everyone if her show ran like a typical concert with a firm start time. But the way she approaches her shows, she has a process to go through to get there mentally and physically so she can give her personal best. And that’s what people are paying to see,” he says of Hill, whom he describes as an “uncommonly great artist.”
Litman, who was also behind Hill’s 1999 concert at the Fox Theatre, adds “she definitely has a very strong sense of how she wants to do things, and she’s got the talent to back it up.”
http://www.stltoday.com/entertainment/music/article_1b45bc6e-627a-5679-b2f5-63d7a7d6f46c.html
Thanks SO MUCH Concreteloop for posting this and getting the truth out! I appreciate you guys so much!
This is what I get for letting other ppl opinions shape my reactions or thoughts…her perfomance just from this clip sounded off the chain..next time I will be going if she eva comes back…@ STLOPINION…thanks for this review!
The concert was originally supposed to start at 8pm when they sold the tickets. Somehow that changed to doors opening at 9pm. People sat through a random Asian guy walking around the stage for 45mins,2 D.J sets lasting about 1 1/2 hours, and a band warm up for another 30 mins. She didn’t get on stage until 12am!! I inquired about a refund and was denied. They told me I was S.O.L because I didn’t ask before 9pm…..when the concert started. This was the worst concert I’ve ever attended. Respect ticket holders time Ms. Hill! It’s 2011, you have to do better. “You just lost one!”
This is COMPLETELY false and u know it smh sad u had to pay $50-$60 to validate why u didn’t wanna go SMH
Are you implying I can’t read a watch D? She got on stage at 12am..central standard time! It’s sad I had to pay $72.09 (which is probably the cheapest I’ve paid for a ticket in a long time) x 4 = $288.20 to be disappointed. I’m just giving it to you like she gave it to me.
So she has the right to be late for her performances, why? I’m beyond over Lauryn. Nearly 13 years since her last album, which was good but come on. It’s not a truly music defining classic album IMO. She hasn’t proven there is anything left behind that music. The woman has talent but if you expect your entire fans base to wait for your as* after 13 years with push after push back, all the while you show disrespect by not showing up on stage when your suppose to? Sorry Lauryn but go sit your crazy ass down somewhere and just give it up. I’ll be damned if I waste my money on someone who doesn’t enjoy it anymore.
I feel she has to prove herself again.
I agree she has to prove herself again!!! I luv her but why would people even want to go listen to her perfom songs with totally different arrangements, that aren’t even sung well? And to top it off she is hours late! I want to see her release another album that KILLLLLLS all the doubters and nay-sayer and solidifies her as a legend and not just a crazy fluke. Then these dumb fake talentless barbies can go back in their boxes….
Thats why it was OUR money we spent not yours! an obviously she dont have to prove herself if her concerts are selling out left and right! but i was done w/ this post when u said the miseducation wasnt a music defining album.. really name me another album that incorporated gospel raggae soul r&b an hip hop then your point is proven!
Erykah Badu’s “Baduizm” & “Mama’s Gun”, Maxwells “Now”, Sade’s “Lovers Rock”, Mary J Blige’s “No More Drama”, Janelle Monae’s “Metropolis:The Chase Suite” & “The ArchAndroid”, Jill Scott “Who Is Jill Scott? Words and Sounds, Vol.1″.
All of these are some of the best and most important R&B/Soul/Hip Hop albums of the past 10 years. And all these artist have something in common. They have released more than one album since Lauryn’s last album. I could listen to Erykah’s albums all day. Like Lauryn, Erykah has gone through stuff also. But she consistently puts out good work and doesn’t let her personal demons stifle or interfere with what she does best.
And your right she doesn’t need my money because she evidently has other fans that will still go to her shows. But I’m just stating my disgust with her. After 13 years if I want to hear Lost Ones, I’ll listen to the damn album. She can change it as much as she wants to, it’s still the same song with the same message it had 13 years ago.
You didnt give me not 1 artist in there relevant in hip hop….TRY AGAIN…mary j blige is not relelvant in hip hop jus cuz she called herself rhyming a couple times dont make her a MC and all the other are obviously not in the hip hop category!
Okay, The Roots ,”Things Fall Apart”, “How I got Over You”, Outkast, “Stankonia”, Kanye West, “College Drop Out”, Lupe Fiasco, “Lupe Fiasco’s Food & Liquor”, Eve, “Ruff Ryders First Lady”,Missy Elliot, “Da Real World”, “Under Construction”, Foxy Brown “Broken Silence”, Lil Kim “Naked Truth”, DMX, “It’s Dark & hell is Hot”,Eminem, “The Marshall Mathers LP”, Nas “I Am…”, “Stillmatic”, “God’s Son”, Jay Z, “The Blue Print”.
You can tip toe around it all you want to. But the fact still remains, Lauryn deserves little respect from the 2011 crowd till she reminds them why she was a such a great artist back in 98 and 2002, and not with 13 or 9 year old songs.
OH just say u give up cause none of the albums u named involes all the genres i asked u! you went from one thing to the next LOL! And she deserves full respect her music is timeless everyone nowadays make music for right now! get ya mind right deep down u know it just dont wanna admit it but its cool!
SORRY GIA I DISAGREE ON HER ‘MISEDUCATION’ ALBUM NOT BEING A CLASSIC B/C IT IS BUT EVERY DAMN THING ELSE U SAID WAS ON POINT. AND @STLOPINION HER SHOWS KEEP SELLING OUT B/C HER FANS KEEP THINKING NAW HOPING SHE’LL GET A CLUE FROM THE BOOS TO THE BAD REVIEWS AND GIVE THEM WHAT THEY PAID FOR & ARE EXPECTING. TOO MUCH SELECTION OUT HERE TO BE TAKING A FANS DOLLAR FOR GRANTED W/A DIVA ATTITUDE………JENNY JONES!!!
Love her! Love the video! =D
IF Anyone is going to see lauryn hill just show up like 3 hours late and you will be just in time for her opening set. i dont like this new lauryn hill the one that has the deep voice and doesnt do interviews and all that.bitch you wouldnt be where you are were it not for your fans . YOU SHOULD BE ON TIME for every show. UNTIL SHE PUTS OUT ANOTHER ALBUM LIKE THE MISeducation of lauryn hill she is no longer relevant to me. ugh .
I don’t believe that people are making excuses for her being disresepctful. If I am paying my money for a concert to start at a certain time, then she should start her preparations in enough time to get started with her concert when it is suppose to start. Everyone is saying she was only 40 or 45 mins late. You can’t get your time back. I uderstand she is a great talent, I agree with that, but to disrespect her fans time and money is unacceptable.
who?
I saw Lauryn in NC about 2 weeks ago and it was the same set up. Doors opened at 9 and she came out at about 11:30. Her and the band were all the RAGE and it was magnificent!!! I have been a fan of her’s since I was a kid and was great to see her doing her thing live! Everyone knows that when you go to a show the artist is NOT gonna be on the stage as soon as you get there!!!! They have to allow time for everyone who has paid good money to get in the building!!!!! Quit getting your feather’s ruffled so easily, damn! lol! If you don’t like her, don’t listen. It still won’t change the fact that she is one of the greatest female emcee’s EVER…
Hmm, seems like to me that a lot of these comments are coming from Lauryn/her people. Trying to “clear” her name. Point blank is that she has been LATE. I went to her show last month in Brooklyn, which sbe was suppose to start at AT LEAST 10-10:30pm. She didn’t get on stage until a little after 12 midnight. She also APOLOGIZED for being LATE, meaning what? SHE WAS INDEED LATE. Please don’t try and make things sound better than what they are, because they are not. She also did this same thing in Brooklyn back in ’07. I stayed because I really wanted to see her, and damn it it was FREE. I went last month b/c my friend really wanted to go. I knew what I was in for though. I enjoyed the show, but you can’t walk around like you’re the shit. That’s for the fans to decide, not you. I still love her, but if “there are things that go on and get put into a show” that I’m assuming we don’t ‘understand’, but let me tell you something, YOU FIGURE THAT SHIT OUT BEFORE GETTING TO THE VENUE. Get it together EARLY. Just like anyone here who works; obviously if you know there is traffic, weather issues, ect, what do you do? Leave EARLIER, right? So you can make it on time. Lauryn, your career is still your JOB. Although it may seem like you’re the boss, you’re really not. This is 2011, not late 90′s early 2000′s. The internet is a mother fucker. Keep it up. Word spreads quick. Just. Saying. Music is timeless, but let’s easy up on the ego there, pal. [=
Yes u r this was to clear her name i didnt speak for any other city but St. Louis what happened in brooklyn was not my problem people were giving out false info about the show that I attended and i decided to clear the air saying she was 4 hours late was a lie at the concert here and i had to rightfully defend her as a true fan!
LEGENDARY…
I don’t care if she is late. I don’t care what she’s wearing. I don’t care about her personal problems. But I do care what SHE SOUNDS LIKE. I saw Lauryn Hill 4x back in the day, twice with the Fugees, and twice solo. Absolutely flawless performances. Clearly her voice has eroded, and needs work. Why should I pay almost $100 to hear the same hoarseness that ruined that Unplugged album? We all love Lauryn. But lets not put her in the same realm of artistic ability as Nina Simone. Sure, she blows Minaj out of the water. But that just shows how thirsty we are for real music. I hope Lauryn makes it back. But she’s not there yet…not by any stretch of the imagination.
the truth hurts. lauryn needs to do better. and belittling the band on stage should happen in rehearsal, not during a performance you’re 3 hours late starting.
She was NOT belittling the band majoirty of the concert was improv! this is the wat i was meaning when i said ppl are overly dramatic
She looks as though she is in a family way…again! Decent revamp job.
Seems you guys don’t appreciate a REAL artist. I would love to see her perform this set. Original version are not Lauryn can’t be touched. Music has changed over the years and she just put her spin on it. CL thanks for posting this one. Can’t wait until she comes to my town.
Best Female MC IMO–love her to death
wow. After seeing this, i am GLAD i did not buy a ticket to see her. Poor L-Boogie.
Damn you people hard to please, you complain about EVERYDAMTHING she dammed if she do, dammed if she don’t. She she came back with a silcone booty, boobs a terrible botox job caked up make up and wearing skin tight clothes you would be complaing as well. Let this woman be she is a legend she will be remembered for all her great musical contributions just like her kids grand dad BOB marley. She doesn’t have to be a gimmick to appeal to you haters. Go support nicki minaj and wack ass beyonce rihanna and those other money hungry puppets