Lauryn Hill Brought Her Anniversary Tour to Ball Arena: Photos and Five Takeaways

"I appreciate all that love and everybody's support," the R&B, hip-hop and neo-soul legend Lauryn Hill said to an almost sold-out crowd at Denver's Ball Arena on November 2. The answering cheers from her adoring audience were so resounding that her following words were lost in the roar. Hill, with her silver eyeshadow glittering in the stage lights, waited for the audience to settle, gazing out into the packed arena with an expression akin to someone who just returned home.

Denver's enthusiastic turnout for the Miseducation of Lauryn Hill 25th Anniversary Tour, which saw the artist reunite with the Fugees, wasn't very surprising. Although Hill all but disappeared from the music scene following mixed reviews of her live album, MTV Unplugged No 2.0, in 2002, the impact of her short-lived career can't be overstated. Initially a member of the hip-hop trio the Fugees (along with Wyclef Jean and Pras Michel), Hill struck out as a solo artist with her first and only solo studio album, The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill, in 1998. The album earned her a record-setting five Grammys, including Album of the Year and Best New Artist. The first woman to win five or more Grammys in a single night and the first artist to earn Album of the Year for a hip-hop record, Hill set a lasting precedent for hip-hop and rap and paved the way for both genres to go mainstream.

Twenty-five years, six children and one tax-evasion conviction later, audiences' reception to her Miseducation anniversary tour proves Hill's powerful musical legacy is immune to time itself. If you missed the legendary singer's performance or just want to relive two hours of hip-hop and R&B bliss, here are five takeaways from her November 2 show:
Yes, She Was Late
Any avid Hill fan knows that the musician has a (well-deserved) reputation for being late. Reddit threads about the tour debate whether the show is worth the money, citing fears that the musician will be several hours late or not even show up at all. On November 2, Hill was supposed to start her set at 8:30 p.m., an hour after the show "start time" listed on Ball Arena's website. Instead, the DJ had the pleasure of being the sole object of attention for an extra hour. A few miffed calls from VIP ticket purchasers were patched through to the arena's customer service desk, and some audience members even left. Hill, rumored to have arrived at the arena moments before performing, started her set a little after 9:30 p.m., but still gave the crowd a solid set list (albeit without the planned costume changes), pushing past the arena's 11 p.m. curfew for a show that lasted a little over two hours.
But She Went All Out
The stage was packed. There wasn't a lot of space for performers to move, so dancing was kept to a minimum, although Hill did break out some small moves. A drummer, several keyboard players, saxophones, brass, a conductor, electric guitar and bass, a string section and backup singers and rappers were just some of the stage's occupants. As the night went on, more musicians joined Hill, including Jean and Michel of the Fugees, who did a few numbers without Hill for a Fugees set before bringing her back on stage for remixed versions of such classic hits as "Killing Me Softly With His Song" and "Ready or Not." Multicolored lights swept through the arena and fog danced through the beams. Glowing, flickering live footage of the musicians played on a massive screen, and Hill put everything into her shining vocal trills, runs and wails. The show was well worth waiting for.
It Got Personal
In between audience favorites such as "Everything Is Everything" and Hill's cover of "Can't Take My Eyes Off You," Hill sprinkled in small anecdotes and moments of wholesome connection with her audience. For "To Zion," her song detailing the pressure she faced from the music industry while pregnant with her son, Hill displayed photos and home videos of a round-faced baby Zion, much to the crowd's adoration. She spoke about the beauty of love and loving others, and how, as a child, she found records by some of the great musicians that inspired her, like Aretha Franklin, Curtis Mayfield and Martha Reeves. "I'm somewhere between six and eight years old, and I discovered this music," she recounted. "Literally my mind is blown, my heart is open, and I play this music continuously. ... It becomes my school, my conservatory."
The Audience Couldn't Sit Still
Unlike the usual flock of teenage girls or young couples I encounter at most of the concerts I go to, Hill's audience was incredibly diverse, ranging from children with glowstick bracelets to seventy-year-old couples in sweaters and plaids. But the one thing they all had in common was their inability to keep still. They spilled out of their seats, dancing in the aisles and on the stairs, hands thrown in the air and heads whipping back and forth with elated abandon. Phone lights randomly flickered across the arena and in the vivid glow of the multi-colored stage lights, everyone looked like they were having the time of their life.
Aftermath
"Thank you!" an older woman called toward the stage as bright overhead lights illuminated the arena after Hill and the Fugees' last set. A sense of blissed-out contentment settled over the crowd as they spilled onto the street, laughing, chatting and dancing their way into the chilly November night.

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