Lauryn Hill Birmingham
The "Miseducation of Lauryn Hill" is a regular in my playlist. So when she announced a few tour dates of the UK, I got some tickets for her gig at Birmingham O2 Academy.
She played the Brixton Academy the weekend before. A place known not to have the best acoustics. Having read some of the reviews of these two shows, I wasn't really sure what to expect the reports of Lauryn Hill not appearing on stage until 10pm with an 11pm venue curfew sounded pretty disappointing.
So on to the show in Birmingham. Doors opened at 7pm for a 7.30 start with the special guest who turned out to be a DJ who, wasn't really that good he played for a hour or so. The stage was then prepared with a Zebra print on the main stage floor by the mic.
Lauryn's DJ then did a set which lasted around 40 minutes or so he started off my playing Everything is Everything then on to a dance and reggae set. During the set some of the crowd were getting a little bit impatient and started to shout "Lauryn Lauryn"
The DJ left the stage and a sense of anticipation went through the crowd as it was near the time for Lauryn to appear. Before she appeared her band came out first to warm up and performed an instrumental piece. The band were great all night. Shortly after the backing singers came on then, as with the other gigs in Brixton she got on Stage just before 10pm and the crowd roared with approval.
She started of with a dub version of Killing Me Softly, then straight on to Everything is Everything which was unrecognisable from the original version on the Miseducation album. Although it was not to everyone's taste I found this version to be very good.
She when on to perform Zion again unrecognisable from the original but, this was expected from the earlier live shows at Brixton.
There was not much interaction with the crowd but there was for Black Rage. Which she dedicated to the people of Ferguson. After this she performed an acoustic solo set from her Unplugged album
In the second half of the show it really picked up a notch or two. After asking were are her "Fugee fans are at". The crowd roared back at her and she went on to perform a few songs from her Fugee days including Ready or Not and more recognisable version of Killing Me Softly.
After the Fugee set she went to perform a Bob Marley set which included Jammin, & Master Blaster. She finished the gig with Doo Wop which left the audience in good spirits.
Some of the audience may not have been entirely comfortable with paying the best part of £50 for a ticket and not knowing many of the songs in their re-worked format. But Lauryn had the audience in the palm of her hand. After Lauryn took to the stage a little later than planed there was no signs of disconnect between her and the crowd. There was a good vibe in the audience, this may have been partly due to the venue.
As the show ended with a party atmosphere my only regret of the night was that I wish Lauryn could have performed a bit longer, 80 minutes is not really long enough with no encore, but the way she performed she didn't need one.
The show was much better than I was expecting after the negativity of the gigs the weekend before. I think the majority of the audience were pleasantly surprised to what they had witnessed. Lauryn Hill will always remain an enigma to some people. Someone who has all the talent in the world with great highs and a little frustrating at times, something that the audience who attended the gig will know too well.
Lauryn's DJ then did a set which lasted around 40 minutes or so he started off my playing Everything is Everything then on to a dance and reggae set. During the set some of the crowd were getting a little bit impatient and started to shout "Lauryn Lauryn"
The DJ left the stage and a sense of anticipation went through the crowd as it was near the time for Lauryn to appear. Before she appeared her band came out first to warm up and performed an instrumental piece. The band were great all night. Shortly after the backing singers came on then, as with the other gigs in Brixton she got on Stage just before 10pm and the crowd roared with approval.
She started of with a dub version of Killing Me Softly, then straight on to Everything is Everything which was unrecognisable from the original version on the Miseducation album. Although it was not to everyone's taste I found this version to be very good.
She when on to perform Zion again unrecognisable from the original but, this was expected from the earlier live shows at Brixton.
There was not much interaction with the crowd but there was for Black Rage. Which she dedicated to the people of Ferguson. After this she performed an acoustic solo set from her Unplugged album
In the second half of the show it really picked up a notch or two. After asking were are her "Fugee fans are at". The crowd roared back at her and she went on to perform a few songs from her Fugee days including Ready or Not and more recognisable version of Killing Me Softly.
After the Fugee set she went to perform a Bob Marley set which included Jammin, & Master Blaster. She finished the gig with Doo Wop which left the audience in good spirits.
Some of the audience may not have been entirely comfortable with paying the best part of £50 for a ticket and not knowing many of the songs in their re-worked format. But Lauryn had the audience in the palm of her hand. After Lauryn took to the stage a little later than planed there was no signs of disconnect between her and the crowd. There was a good vibe in the audience, this may have been partly due to the venue.
As the show ended with a party atmosphere my only regret of the night was that I wish Lauryn could have performed a bit longer, 80 minutes is not really long enough with no encore, but the way she performed she didn't need one.
The show was much better than I was expecting after the negativity of the gigs the weekend before. I think the majority of the audience were pleasantly surprised to what they had witnessed. Lauryn Hill will always remain an enigma to some people. Someone who has all the talent in the world with great highs and a little frustrating at times, something that the audience who attended the gig will know too well.
