Lauryn Hill Rewrites History

When she finally took the stage last night in Brooklyn, Lauryn Hill — two and a half hours late and resplendent in a red ’fro, ten tons of costume jewelry, and baggy plaid clown pants — was twitchy and unfocused, and mostly reduced to shouting hoarsely over her enormous band (backup singers, horns, at least three drummers, etc.). “Let’s see how many people remember me,� she said to her audience before tearing into a ska-ified “Lost Ones.� “I know I haven’t been around for awhile.�

They did remember, which seemed to be the problem; many were frustrated that tracks from her now-classic The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill had been rearranged into huge, unrecognizable glam/ska/Afrobeat exercises, even if the Phil Spector scale gave them a cool, apocalyptic edge. But when she calmed down enough to sing “The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face� with hints of the old, smoky richness, the crowd was with her, as it was during the largely satisfying encore, which included a sing-alongable “Killing Me Softly.� During her cover of the Shirelles’ “Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow?� she barked over her backup singers: “It’s a really valid question.� It certainly was. —Tim Murphy