Ms. Hill’s Latest Return

Lauryn Hill had a sort of spur-of-the-moment and prohibitively-expensive show ($85 tickets in advance; $100 day of; $200 for the VIP “meet and greet” experience) at the Music Hall of Williamsburg in Brooklyn last night. It could be her last performance for some time, as she may have to serve a three-month prison sentence for Tax Evasion.

There are a few assumptions that come with Ms. Hill appearances these days. One is that she will not just be late to the stage, but actually somewhat offensively late to the stage (I saw her at the Highline Ballroom in February 2011, where she performed between the hours of 12:20 and 2:20 a.m. on a Wednesday morning; she was scheduled to come on at 10 p.m.). Another is that she will not perform her songs in their original forms. She has a large backing band, which she conducts ferociously throughout performances, and they’re essentially creating live remixes of her very beloved old tracks. This isn’t ideal for the nostalgics, but it’s one way for an artist who we could probably refer to as “disillusioned” to find her old music interesting again.

In Williamsburg last night, Ms. Hill actually came onstage on the actual calendar date she was scheduled on (11:40 p.m.!) and performed, according to Billboard’s Dan Rys, “like someone who cared so much about her craft and presentation that it bled seamlessly out of her.” This bodes well for Lauryn 3.0, I think: she’s inked a new deal with Sony, she released a real, streamable single earlier this month, and she seems reenergized in a quintessentially Lauryn way. “Here is a link to a piece that I was ‘required’ to release immediately,” she wrote on her Tumblr a few weeks back, by way of introducing “Neurotic Society.” That’s like an “it’s funny how money change a situation” for the digital age.

I didn’t make it to the show last night, but I noticed at the Highline two years ago the way her fans will wait, and wait, and wait for Ms. Hill, and then will hardly begrudge her for making them do just that. At 2:30 on a Wednesday morning, when the show had finally ended, they stood pressed to the stage, reaching out to shake her hand and say thank you. No matter how many times she has to make some sort of return, we’re always very grateful to have her back.

[Billboard, OkayPlayer | Photo via Flickr]