Wednesday, January 5, 2011

The wait for Lauryn Hill is over. Or is it?

Lauryn Hill, who made one of the greatest albums of the ’90s, is scheduled to take the stage at Amos’ Southend on Saturday night.

Doors open at 9. The hip-hop diva actually will go on at … 9:30? 10? 11? Midnight?

If it’s 1 a.m. by the time she breaks into her first song, don’t be surprised. At a recent comeback concert in New York, she kept fans (including soul superstar Prince) waiting for almost four hours. When she finally took the stage, she responded to some boos by saying, “Don’t do that. That’s disrespectful. I spent my entire 20s sacrificing my life to give you love. … I personally know I’m worth the wait.”

The 35-year-old Hill has long been an enigma.

A member of the acclaimed rap group the Fugees from 1992-97, the New Jersey native released a debut solo album in 1998 titled “The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill” that yielded the No. 1 smash “Doo Wop (That Thing)” and garnered 10 Grammy nominations. It went on to win Album of the Year, beating Madonna’s “Ray of Light.”

And then … she went off the grid, so to speak.

She dabbled in several other art forms, got pregnant, fired her management team, absorbed herself in Bible study, took on a spiritual advisor, and stopped listening to music. She resurfaced briefly for a 2001 MTV Unplugged concert, and then again in the mid-2000s as the Fugees got together for a short-lived reunion.

Which brings us to Saturday night’s concert.

Tickets are $67.76 each including fees, which makes it the most expensive Amos’ show in recent memory. (Average price to see the other upcoming acts on the venue’s schedule: $16.22.)

Will Hill be worth it? Depends, I guess, on just how long we have to wait.

32 comments:

Anonymous said...

The price for this show doesn't make sense. Its $67.00 if you buy in advance, but only $60.00 at the door. Nobody is going to buy advance tickets. I bet the show gets canceled and then the promoter tries to blame it on the Charlotte community. Charlotte has the worst concert promoters in the world.

Anonymous said...

Tickets are $55 in advance, do some research.

Anonymous said...

Who is Lauryn Hill?

Anonymous said...

They are $55.00 but once you add fees the price goes up to $67

Anonymous said...

Love the headline at the top of Amos's webpage: "Charlotte's AFFORDABLE Live Music Venue"

Anonymous said...

please dont go see Lauryn Hill at her last show in Brooklyn she kept her fans waiting for 4 hours and then when she came out she chastising for not wanting to wait.

http://nymag.com/daily/entertainment/2010/12/lauryn_hill_showed_up_really_l.html

Unknown said...

Actually, you could've just linked to the article you are posting on.

Anonymous said...

If it was at better venue I would go. That place sux.

Anonymous said...

Last time I went to Amos southend for a R&B/Hip hop concert I was treated to the main act for 15 minutes total....at 12:30AM on a Thursday (Slick Rick). Asked for a refund and wasn't given one because a "promoter" was holding the concert, even though it was in Amos Southend.

It was the last time I went and will be.

Better hope that 67 bucks gets you more than 15 minutes.

Anonymous said...

Wouldn't pay $6.70 let alone $67.00 to see this show

Anonymous said...

I'd jump at the chance to see Lauren Hill at a better venue for $67. She's a legend, but I'd want to make sure that I actually got a real concert. I paid at least $75 to see the opera Carmen at the Belk Theater. I'd pay it for Lauren Hill, too, if she were there.

Brian Outlaw said...

I am a professional musician and I am in the national music business and in my opinion, my road cases have more talent than this washed up has been. She had 1 # 1 record and that was all marketing and no content.
Now, tickets to her show are $67.00 ?

I tell you what Lauryn... you come over to my place and you can pay me $67.00 apiece for every one of my guitars, basses and keyboards that you polish up!

What a joke this chick is!

Brian Outlaw said...

I am a professional musician and in the national music business and my road cases have more talent than this washed up has been!

And now, tickets to see her are $ 67.00 ??

I tell you what Lauryn, you come over to my place and I will let you pay me $67.00 apiece for every one of my guitars, basses and keyboards that you polish up for me.

What a joke this chick is!

Anonymous said...

That photo of her is 12 years old. What does she look like today?

Anonymous said...

The Greaseman certainly knows who Lauryn Hill is. He can attribute his dramatic fall as a superstar shock jock to his "And they wonder why we drag them" comment in reference to one of her songs.

Anonymous said...

Being that black chicks usually age really well, I'd say she still looks good. Still, the only thing I'd pay $67 bucks to see her do has nothing to do with music, IF ya git mah drift...

Anonymous said...

Oh man, I don't think you wanna see what she looks like now! Taken at that Brooklyn show.
http://www.openentrance.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/01/lauryn-hill-011508.jpg

Anonymous said...

I love Lauryn but the tickets cost to much and it is a known fact that you might get a "Unstable Lauryn Show" I dont want to see that, but this might be the last time she does a show in this Area you never know with Her. My luck the show will be great because I'm not going

Anonymous said...

To dumb @$$ poster number 2, you need to do some research yourself, if you click the link provided in the article you'll see the advance tickets are $55.00 "plus fees" = $67.00.

Anonymous said...

This concert was announced more than a week ago - "This Just In"?

Anonymous said...

WHY ....I ask why spend your dime on this crackhead diva....???

Come on now Charlotte....please people....dont believe the HYPE

This poor girl is out of juice....her habits have robbed her...their is a shell of a woman....she needs her band to over-play to hide her lacking skills....it is sad circus

Anonymous said...

cleBrian, I don't care if you are a "professional musician". You'd have to be blind, deaf, and dumb to not realize that Lauryn Hill is immensely talented. I'll just chalk that up to your ignorance. Anyway, I live in Atlanta and her show sold out here. I then decided I'd go see her in Charlotte but thought I'd better check the reviews first. Good thing I did! Read the reviews on Ticketmaster and you'll see exactly how it went down. Needless to say, I will not be spending one dime on this type of nonsense.

Anonymous said...

Brian, I don't care if you are a "professional musician". You'd have to be blind, deaf, and dumb to not realize that Lauryn Hill is immensely talented. I'll just chalk that up to your ignorance. Anyway, I live in Atlanta and her show sold out here. I then decided I'd go see her in Charlotte but thought I'd better check the reviews first. Good thing I did! Read the reviews on Ticketmaster and you'll see exactly how it went down. Needless to say, I will not be spending one dime on this type of nonsense.

Anonymous said...

I would never pay that much to see someone who has a rep for keeping fans waiting. I don't care how good the music is, how talented, etc. I'd rather use my $67.00 to see a few of my friends perform in some local talented bands at venues I enjoy.

Anonymous said...

"... I personally know I’m worth the wait."
-- that quote from the horse's mouth is even more reason not to want to wait in line to see her. $67 can get you all her CDs and probably an autographed picture of her from Ebay.

Anonymous said...

I thought she was dead. well I hope she falls off the stage and breaks a leg.

Anonymous said...

I wouldn't watch her if the concert was free and in my living room, and they gave me $67.

Anonymous said...

Crack will crack anyone, even a Black chick. Right Lauryn?

Anonymous said...

Wow. So much hate expressed here. If you don't like someone, that's your right. But why be so nasty about it?
A "professional" musician who calls another artist "a joke" and says she can pay him to clean up his equipment? If I was a professional anything, I surely wouldn't have time (nor the inclination) to trash another in my field. And no, I'm not a Lauren Hill fan. Her music is okay but I wouldn't pay to attend her show. But as a human being, I respect the struggle she still seems to be enduring. May she arrive at the other side SOON.

Anonymous said...

Brian is a jerk! And truly her music speaks for itself! Miseducation is still in many peoples playlist some 12 years later....not many artists can put out an album that can stand the test of time and actually feed them for so long that she still doesnt even have to come back for money's sake. She did turn up 3 hrs late for two shows, the Jan 28th Brooklyn and the DC Rock the Bells. All 5 shows since then including the Blue Note, she has been on stage within an hour of scheduled showtime and has delivered a great nearly 2hr performance.

Anonymous said...

She's probably in a lot of people's playlists still because that was when they stopped buying new music. Almost everybody hits that point where they stop following new music.

Another thing, being on-stage within an hour of your start time is nothing to brag about. It's rude and disrespectful to your fans. The amount of arrogance she has by telling people they are rude to boo her is staggering.

J said...

You are all crazy. I am from Charlotte, didn't go here because Amos' sucks. I drove up last night to The Orange Peel in Asheville (A real music venue)- and she rocked the house down. She is crazy talented and the band she's with is an awesome new look at her songs. And to the professional musician, I bet you don't have a friggin' grammy do ya? Lauryn Hill is more talented and important than anyone on this page.