Live Review: Ms. Lauryn Hill

by Jenni Moore

LAST NIGHT Ms. Lauryn Hill’s MLH Caravan: A Diaspora Calling! tour was scheduled to play at the Keller, and after a rough week of grief and trauma from the presidential election results, I really needed a win. I needed Lauryn to come the fuck through and not cancel her show. And I knew all too well that a cancellation was very possible; what if L Boogie’s energies became misaligned due to the election results, and she didn’t feel capable of performing? And to be fair, it would be hard to fault her too much for a flake-out this week, especially since I’ve admittedly had my own difficulties being productive. (While following post-election news coverage, I’ve had to resist from crying onto my keyboard and hurling my computer across the room on more than one occasion.)

Luckily the show, while it did start tremendously late, actually did go on. Starting well after 8:30 pm even though it was scheduled for 7, the show’s opener had to be rescheduled. Something caused the cancellation of opener Seun Kuti, and yesterday morning Seattle rapper Sol was asked to fill in for the slot. And of course, since it’s Lauryn fucking Hill, Sol made the drive down to Portland, bringing with him the tremendously talented soul-singer Otieno Terry. The two put on a really great set that included an upbeat performance of their collaboration“C’est La Vie” and some “Fuck Trump” sentiments that were pleasing to the audience and got us ready to see the hip-hop legend.

Lauryn’s fully fleshed-out band took the stage shortly after—a 10-piece ensemble that played a lengthy intro that was reminiscent of 1930s Harlem jazz. A trumpeter and saxophonist traded off on high-pitched solos for quite some time before Lauryn casually took her place at center stage. She slid into speedy and Caribbean-style remixes of hits from The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill like “Everything is Everything,”“Forgive Them Father,” and “Lost Ones.” My favorite song of the evening was “Ex-Factor,” which she didn’t alter past the point of recognition or singing along. On all of her performances though, Lauryn’s voice seemed to be as great as it’s ever been, and she can still intuitively feel her way through every ad-lib and complicated run. One thing that was impossible to miss though was that she was obsessed with having her microphone/earphones adjusted every 15 seconds.

Throughout each song, Lauryn would signal to an off-stage sound assistant to turn something “up,” and give her “more” of something in her ear, using her free hand to aggressively point upward, and constantly looking off to her left to get someone’s attention. After the first three songs I realized it: Lauryn Hill is simply a perfectionist—a control freak to a fault. I knew she was going to be nit-picking at the levels for the rest of her set. Whether she was singing effortlessly or rapping at crazy-fast speeds while playing guitar, she was simultaneously trying to get the people off stage to make adjustments. It was both hilarious and slightly irritating to watch, especially since she sounded so great, but her compulsory nitpicking became a giant distraction from her musical genius. LEAVE IT ALONE LAURYN: YOU LITERALLY SOUND AMAZING.

I wasn’t trippin’ though; I was just grateful to be able to hear and see her in person. And by the way, Lauryn is still stunningly beautiful, even while dressed in a such weird and frumpy outfit: a chunky turtleneck sweater with strange tassels hanging from it, and a floor-length sparkly black pleather skirt. And yet I was still shook from seeing her gorgeous dark complexion, shining smile and bright eyes in person. What a beauty.

Throughout the show the crowd chanted encouragements like “Lauryn! Lauryn! Lauryn!” and “We love you!” as the singer continued to tweak and micromanage the volume of something no one could tell needed adjusting.

Lauryn ended her set with “Doo Wop (That Thing),” which everyone infallibly sang along with. She then told us all to take care of each other and find freedom in these troubled times, and repeatedly instructed us to get home safely. She left the stage while her band continued to play, and then the lights flicked on a couple seconds after the last horn. There was no encore, which wasn’t surprising in the least, since it seemed like an unnecessarily frustrating set for the singer. But again, I can’t complain. I got to hear a legendary artist live in all her imperfect perfection. And while her performance surpassed my expectations, I wonder how good she would have sounded if there had been a proper soundcheck.

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