LOAF Reviews Live: Lauryn Hill, Sidney Myer Music Bowl

Seeing Lauryn Hill live is a rarity in itself but seeing her perform one of the most influential albums in my life, an album I believe has shaped my own music taste more than any other, well, that is a dream come true. I have always had Lauryn on my music bucket list and have missed out on her many a time. She headlined Raggamuffin, a reggae and soul festival in New Zealand in 2010 and 2013, both of which I was unable to attend. In 2015 she was headlining Soulfest along with Mary J Blige and Miguel so I purchased tickets, ready to finally see my idol, only to have the festival cancelled a week before. So when this tour was announced with Nas as her support act I jumped on tickets REAL QUICK. Sidney Myer was completely sold out for these two legends, deservedly so. Much like myself, everyone who I encountered was in complete adoration for the elusive queen of hip hop, Ms Lauryn Hill.

Before I begin to discuss how amazing Lauryn Hill continues to be, even twenty years after releasing her magnum opus, The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill. I want to give you a back story into my personal relationship with this album with a moment that occurred midway through the performance.

Lauryn Hill paused in between songs to share with a completely packed out Sidney Myer a story of her youth. She talked about growing up listening to her parent’s eclectic music collection. She would listen to Marvin Gaye, Stevie Wonder, Bob Marley and Aretha Franklin amongst many others. Lauryn would listen to this music throughout the day and long into the night on headphones connected to the stereo. However, this cord wasn’t long enough for her to both lay in bed and listen to music, so when it came to choosing between music and a bed, Lauryn chose the music. She would set up a bed on the ground near the stereo and fall asleep listening to her favourite artists. This story resonated with me deeply as I, similarly to Lauryn would always raid my parent music collections. This was a time before iTunes and Spotify so I had to either search through other peoples music collection or get albums out from the library to hear anything new. One day I was raiding my Dad’s collection and one of the albums I came across was The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill. I remember doing a similar thing to Lauryn and locking myself in my room to listen to this album. I played this album top to bottom over and over again. I was so obsessed with it that I would have it on repeat for the whole weekend and would even draw out my favourite song lyrics in my journal. With this in mind, you can only imagine what an incredible experience this show was for me. It was made even better by being able to share it through video call with my Dad. Sharing my experience with him through the phone was my way of saying ‘Thank You’ for showing me this incredible art and it is something I will never forget.

Now back to the show.

It all began in the same way the album begins. With the ring of a school bell and a roll call. The teacher calling out ‘Lauryn Hill?’ to no response, then again, ‘Lauryn Hill?’. Lauryn then responds by exploding on stage with the lyrics ‘It’s funny how money changes situations’ just as she does on the album. The lights reveal her in a pink chiffon skirt covered by a traditional cloth dress making her form larger than life, accompanied by an indigenous flag pin (yasss), glasses and a colourful hat. An outfit fit for a queen which, much like her music, respects both her cultural roots and her love of hip hop. She is backed by a large band and back up singers. During the show, they would be who I would sing along with. The backup singers would perform the songs the way they were sung on the album and Lauryn on the other hand, delivered her lyrics to her own rhythm, flawlessly and somehow even more soulful than the recorded version. As the song continued, I paused my loyal screaming of the lyrics to notice that Lauryn’s vocals were far too quiet and were being drowned out by her band. This sent me into a bit of a panic but it was corrected by the next song, thankfully.

She sang through classics such as Forgive Them Father, Ex-Factor and Frankie Valli cover Can’t Take My Eye’s Off You. I was pleasantly surprised by the crowd, as it seemed that the entirety of Sidney Myer was as much of a Lauryn fan as me. Young and old, male and female, everywhere I looked people were singing along to the lyrics with as much passion and adoration as me. It is a special thing to create an album so timeless that even after twenty years, it is able to captivate people and bring them together in this way. She then stopped to address the crowd, another priceless moment where she stated Australia was a special place for her. She continued to say that it was in Australia while touring with the Fugees she found out she was pregnant with her first son, Zion. This was an incredible and very rare introduction to the song To Zion, dedicated to the birth of her son which happened during the peak of her career. This song is a beautiful illustration of motherhood and feminism, telling women that you can be a powerful life-giving woman and successful at the same time.

This night was one which had many special moments. Given Lauryn’s history with giving unenthused performances and even cancelling shows last minute, they felt even more special. One of these moments was when Nas joined Lauryn on stage to perform one of their classics If I Ruled The World. This duet got everyone up and dancing after an hour of soulful singalongs. This was backed up by another upbeat crowd favourite Doo Wop (That Thing) which is arguably one of Lauryn’s most commercially successful songs. However, this moment for me was bittersweet because I knew the night was drawing to an end. Before I had time to think about how sad I was that this experience was coming to its inevitable end the beat started for Killing Me Softly and I reimmersed myself back into the music. Everywhere I looked people were belting out their best renditions of this song, myself included. It was a perfect and wholesome way to end a perfect night. Hearing Lauryn’s flawless rendition of the Lori Leiberman song was the perfect consolation for bringing to an end one of my favourite live shows.

Lauryn was understated yet commanding, soft yet powerful and shared more than just her timeless music with audiences. The show was perfect minus the small sound issues and I am happy that after waiting so long to see her, this was how it happened. If you ever get an opportunity to see Lauryn Hill live, take it. I promise you it will be something you won’t regret.

Image: @stephenilopez