Watch The Fugees Reunite In NYC

Theo Wargo/Getty Images

Watch The Fugees Reunite In NYC

Theo Wargo/Getty Images

You’re never going to believe this, but a concert that involved both Ms. Lauryn Hill and Wyclef Jean didn’t start on time. Earlier this week, the Fugees, a group who hadn’t released an album in 25 years and hadn’t performed live in 15, announced a global reunion tour. The tour was set to start with a New York show in an unannounced location. Last night, the New York show happened, but there were some predictable snags.

Last night’s Fugees reunion went down at the Manhattan rooftop venue Pier 17 in front of about 3,000 people. Concertgoers had to keep their phones in Yondr pouches. Still, a few videos from last night made it to the internet. Those videos aren’t great quality, but Ms. Lauryn Hill’s voice sounds great. Doors to the venue were opened at 6PM, with the Fugees scheduled to go onstage an hour later. The group finally made it to the stage around 10 — a delay that can’t have been a shock to anyone in the audience. (At least part of that delay was reportedly because of soundcheck complications; apparently, the group’s backing band was huge.)

Rolling Stone reports that the show lasted about 45 minutes, and according to Setlist.FM, all the songs that the group performed came from The Score. (The Fugees’ tour is intended, at least in part, as a 25th-anniversary celebration for that album.) Wyclef Jean and Pras Michel did some live freestyling, as well, and Wyclef pleaded for Joe Biden to stop blocking Haitian asylum seekers from being admitted the US. Ms. Lauryn Hill spoke to the crowd about the history of the group in mythic terms: “There was destiny in us coming together, there was destiny in the touring, and there was destiny in the people we inspired… Respect the miracle of this union. Respect that we can get on this stage and still do this.”

Below, check out a few videos from last night’s show, as well as the setlist. Portions of the show will air as part of the Global Citizen Live broadcast on Saturday.

SETLIST:
01 “The Score”
02 “How Many Mics”
03 “Zealots”
04 “Fu-Gee-La”
05 “Killing Me Softly With His Song”
06 “Ready Or Not”
07 “No Woman, No Cry”

The proper reunion tour starts with a November 2 show at the United Center in Chicago.

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