Two weeks ago I wrote about Lauryn Hill and how she was almost four hours late taking the stage. Well, things have not improved. Her average arrival time for the tour so far is 3 hours late. Not only that but apparently she has decided to stop singing any of her hits, or if she does, they are mixes of them and her singing is bad and the music has not been arranged for the mixes so everything is completely out of whack.
Look, if you are going to be late once, fine, but to be 3 hours late every night just shows a lack of respect for people who are shelling out hard earned money to hear you play. There is nothing making her play her hits, but again, by not arranging in advance what you are going to sing and how it is going to be performed is showing a total lack of respect for your fans. If she has any left.
Sounds like some kind of a breakdown..
ReplyDeleteshe'll disappear again soon. she wasn't ready to be put into a tour situation. she's not big enough anymore that she'd be considered worth the liability/massive insurance, there's going to be too much loss and bad pr. it's a real shame b/c she's a brilliant artist.
ReplyDeleteI was hoping for a different outcome with this comeback but alas, I will say that I am not surprised. I'm happy that she didn't play my city first as I was considering going to see her. I will be saving me hard earned dollars.
ReplyDeleteMY hard earned dollars. Geez. It's not even talk like a pirate day.
ReplyDeleteThis happens with artists they feel they entitled and don't have to serve the audiences needs.
ReplyDeleteBut no matter what you are a paid performer to perfom for people. You aren't royalty you are just a singer. Get over yourself and get on some medication.
Mental illness is devastating and doesn't follow comeback tour schedules. Nor is mental illness an excuse to take money from people for a performance you cannot provide.
ReplyDeleteShe should take whatever money she has left and get the help she needs.
I'm sorry I don't think she is mentally ill at all. I think she is just bitter at the recording industry for making her work so hard early in her career and she felt she wasn't singing the material she wanted, she was a pop star not Joni Mitchell.
ReplyDeleteNow Britney I think is mentally ill.
Look, people are making excuses for her behavior but it flat-out sounds like she's on drugs to me. And if she's not on drugs, how the hell is this any different than being on drugs?
ReplyDeleteShame on people who are STILL buying the tickets when they know full-well this has a very high chance of happening. Unless people want to relish in the downfall of a once-great performer.
How is this any different than Whitney Houston's recent "comeback" tour? Or than John Prine back in the day, showing up totally wasted, IF at all. Or Sly Stone? Same thing.
Best way to nip it is to NOT buy the tickets so there will cease to be booked shows. And who the hell is the promoter taking the gig in the first place? NOT good for future business, IMO.
Sounds like she's on the Whitney Houston career path!
ReplyDeleteDoes she have a history of drug use? Sounds like she does now :-(
When you're doing worse than Amy Winehouse, you know you have a problem.
ReplyDeleteDRUUUUUUUUGS!
ReplyDeletereally, what other explanation can there be?
I just saw her last week in Asheville. When we got to the venue, they let everyone know she'd be starting between 11 and 11:30; she went on at 11:45. Not crazy late and between doors opening and the start of her set was 2.5 hours. And the show was great. Yes she re-did the songs from 'Miseducation' and they were uneven but the Fugees songs she did were awesome. She was great and totally worth the money.
ReplyDelete@S. Spooner -
ReplyDeleteI was about to post the same thing! I have only heard great things about her show in AVL.
I STILL love her
ReplyDeleteMy first thought was with selenakyle - sounds like drugs. Or else she's the blind about starting at 11pm regardless of schedule that we all thought was Beyonce. Or she read the blind and thought if Beyonce can get away with this, so can I....
ReplyDeleteThis women is mentally ill. There are quite a few write ups about it in the early 2000s. Also Pras, former Fugee member, has a Freudian slip about it in an interview shortly after her first breakdown.
ReplyDeleteHer behavior is just somewhat different than Britney, but it's still mental health problems. I'm sure they both self-medicate.
Maybe she should go work at Walmart for a while and see how she likes it.
ReplyDeleteLauryn Hill is in the Susan Boyle category. Talented, but far too emotionally fragile to be attempting to perform. Both ladies need to get some help for their issues. Sad :(
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ReplyDeletePras said:
ReplyDelete"Lauryn Hill is like to me the greatest artist in the last 25 or 30 years, but - still - if you mentally ill, you mentally ill. I'm not no expert, but based on my professional opinion, she needs medication. I think it's bi-polar. The thing is, when you're around someone like that that you love and grew up with, you don't wanna believe that kind of behavior really exists. It seems so unreal."
Ooh, I just saw that she's at First Avenue tonight. My BFF works there - I'll ask her to make sure to find out if there was any behind-the-scenes drama!
ReplyDelete@Mooshki-Dang, I have stuff first thing in the morning, or else I would SOOOO be there!
ReplyDeleteI just called her, and she said they're all aflutter trying to plan for whatever might happen. I made her swear to tell me if anything juicy happens, and I'll pass it on to you guys, of course. :)
ReplyDeleteI agree with selenakyle & timebob. She's just being a bint. There's no excuse for her to be acting like that.
ReplyDeleteI saw Chuck Berry on New Year's Day and his performance was cut short & the entire concert was shaky...but he's got an excuse: he's 84 years old.
Haaa! Yep, ol' Chuck Berry...he's prolly DOING drugs just to KEEP performing, at that age!
ReplyDeleteI think she may have mental issues - or at least had heard she did some years ago. Too damn bad - her album was brilliant. When I think of all the sane artists out there (sans Britney) producing generic, soulless crap while Hill and Winehouse and a few other incredible artists struggling to get their sh*t together, it makes me want to weep.
ReplyDeleteOh, and I'm not even going to start with Whitney. The tragic loss of her talent and beauty makes me want to weep, tear my clothes and gnash my teeth.
ReplyDeletebeen to one of her shows. She was only TWO hours late and it was supposedly because she was smoking weed in her trailer.
ReplyDelete@selenakyle - At his age, shit...I know he had to have gone & hit the vaporizer or something when they took him off stage. That or they gave him an upper. But smoking a joint of primo weed with Chuck Berry & Willie Nelson would be pretty rad.
ReplyDeleteOh how I miss first ave! Tell us everything! :)
ReplyDeleteI would like to know who is enabling her in this behaviour. Her band and managers and other assistants can't be too happy. And what the hell is she doing that is so important that she is even ONE minute late for work?
ReplyDeleteAs for not wanting to sing her old hits, I am sure Madonna gets pretty damn tired of singing Vogue, but at least she switches it up each concert tour. Besides, she knows what her fans have paid to hear.
Excerpt of a review of last night's show at First Avenue, from the local paper:
ReplyDelete"Lauryn Hill was late arriving onstage at First Avenue on Tuesday. That was no surprise. Her performance was great. That was a surprise.
A big thank you to Rohan Marley, Lauryn’s man who surprised her with a visit in Minneapolis. She gave him a shout out late in the evening and insisted that he take a bow with the spotlight shining on him. (Then he fired up a smoke – those illegal Marleys—as Lauryn went into her final song, “Doo Wop (That Thing).”) His presence may have had something to do with her good mood and memorable performance.
Ms. Hill -- which is what she prefers to be called -- was in such good spirits that she stuck around after her generous 109-minute performance (which ended at 1:43 a.m.) and greeted fans, posing for photos and signing autographs. That is reportedly a first on her current 17-city tour."
yay, thanks Squeezebox!
ReplyDeleteEmail from my friend:
ReplyDelete"I guess it was an awesome show. She went on at 11:50 and played for around 2 hours. My friend xxxx hung out with her afterwords and said she was totally cool. Not on the drugs. Kind of boring news, I guess. Oh well, let's hope for a breakdown in the future!"
Nah, I'll hope she gets her illness in order. I wouldn't wish an illness on anyone.
ReplyDelete