“Pick it up, pick it up,” Lauryn Hill instructed her five-piece band and three backup singers on Friday at the mostly empty Aragon Ballroom, even though the sped-up tempos were her set’s biggest downfall. Another problem was the all-ages show’s curfew. On a positive note Ms. Hill, who’s notorious for keeping fans waiting sometimes for hours, was merely one hour late. The negative note was that her just over one-hour set ended abruptly when the house lights came on during the finale.
Fortunately, opener Mos Def, whose old-school rhymes, impressive flow and suave dance moves (and later Hill’s DJ for half an hour), kept things moving along. But time, it seems, is not one of Hill’s biggest concerns, given she hasn’t put out a proper studio album since her 1998 breakout debut, “The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill.” The former Fugees’ solo effort topped the Billboard pop charts, spawned several hits and earned her five Grammys. It established Hill as a formidable songwriter, rapper, singer, and producer. Since then, aside from an unplugged live album and the occasional show, she’s been fairly reclusive.
On Friday, she and her band reworked “Miseducation” material along with a few Fugees tunes and covers, including a couple of Bob Marley songs, with uneven results. Hill songs such as “Everything is Everything” and “Superstar” were reshaped into faster, heavy-rocking numbers that bore little resemblance to the originals, and the band’s intensity often overwhelmed Hill’s delivery. This gave songs such as “Lost Ones” and “Ex Factor” added impetus, but sacrificed what made so many of her songs appealing. While it was wise to rearrange compositions to present something different since Hill lacked new material, the songs lost soul and melody as a consequence.
Hill’s vocals matched the added rock fuel — she’s grown more raspy than honeyed, and her rapping was as powerful as ever. She remained riveting onstage, waving her arms to conduct the band; a force demanding well-deserved attention. It’s just that within all that hard-driving determination, some of the more heartfelt, reflective moments for which Hill is also adept at, were lost in the new mix.
