Ms. Lauryn Hill concert review

Most amazing concert ever! Ms. Lauryn Hill is a true RnB/Hip-Hop/Soul LEGEND! Not only does she have spunk and groove in her incredibly powerful, soulful, and aerobatic voice, she really moves on stage in a way that makes you feel her energy and joy. Many months ago when I first read in The Music that Ms. Lauryn Hill was coming to not only Australia but PERTH I nearly cried with joy - Lauryn Hill is one of my biggest soul/RnB inspirations for me as a singer, even though I'm mainly a jazz,swing,blues singer (www.facebook.com/poetofjazz). Lauryn Hill's courage to speak the truth and be political really appeals to me and shows me what it means to be a powerful human being. At the last minute my gf Maneera de Mel decided to join me for the concert! We rushed to get a last minute ticket but, naturally, they were all sold out. But we managed to get one from a kind lady in Fremantle. Anyway, long story short, when Lauryn Hill walked on stage IT WAS AMAZING!!!! She performed with such INTENSITY and ASSURANCE and a real JOY to be on stage and be singing while her beautiful daughters watched her. She did all our favourites, especially from the Miseducation album: Killing Me Softly, Everything Is Everything, Final Hour, To Zion, Lost Ones, and Ex-Factor. Then she even did songs from Uplugged 2.0! Mr Intentional, Adam Lives in Theory, and O Jerusalem. She then surprised us with a rare song Just Like The Water. Then she did songs made famous with The Fugees including Ru-Gee-La and Ready or Not! The venue managers had already begun trying to get her offstage but Ms Hill wasn't backing down. She treated the already frenetic and adoring crowd with MORE! Bob Marley's Could You Be Loved, then a reprise of Killing Me Softly, and then Doo Wop (That Thing)!!! It was during her final song they began muffling and turning off her mic. The audience kept singing for her! Shame to the person on sound & lighting - through most of the concert Ms Hill was not getting the sound she needed to hear through her foldback and during the intimate part of the show they took minutes to bring the lights back and when they did it wasn't quite right but what a true show woman, she kept going. After her mic was off, Ms Hill finished the song and almost had to go but her AWESOME band kept playing a funky killer outro. Then members of the Hill family came on stage for a special occasion. Out came the birthday cake! Her daughter tried to ask the audience to sing Happy Birthday but the venue refused to turn the mic back on. Regardless, we sang! And then, Ms. Lauryn Hill gave MORE to her fans!!! Maneera and I had been FRONT ROW & CENTRE for the whole show - even getting a smile & wave from the back-up singer we met earlier! But then Ms. Hill did what you can only hope for - SHE CAME TO MEET HER AUDIENCE/FANS!!! She took time as she walked by the front to individually speak with and listen to and HOLD HANDS with her fans!!! Maneera & I BOTH got to hold and thank Ms Hill. She was GENUINE and when I asked her to sign my Ms Education album cover she was OBLIGING!!! However, I'd lost the pen earlier that evening but a kind person lent me one and then her daughter took it to her and returned it to me (someone tried to pretend it was theirs and steal it but I yelled out THAT'S MINE! and the daughter brought it back to me . THEN Maneera said, "Get a song prepared Babe, I'm gonna get her to sing with you. I'm gonna make your dream come true." And, just like she did when I told her many, many years ago about dreams I have, SHE MADE IT COME TRUE! "Sing one sentence with him, please! One sentence!" I launched into "A Change Is Gonna Come" and SHE SANG WITH ME! Ms. Lauryn Hill sang with me!!!!!! She smiled and said "Keep singing, baby." That's how the concert ended for me - with encouragement from Ms Hill to keep singing and with my most wonderful, encouraging, BEAUTIFUL, and supportive girlfriend Maneera de Mel right there to celebrate it with me.