An hour spent waiting for a show to start on Sunday night in the body heat-fed oven of a sold-out House of Blues can feel like much longer, but the irony alone made it almost worthwhile: In the 14 years since Lauryn Hill’s solo debut exploded to critical and commercial acclaim, her fans have made patience their guiding principle, and even they were getting a little anxious.

So when Hill finally took the stage, long after tour coheadliner Nas delivered his own strong performance, the audience breathed a collective sigh of relief that, at least for the night, the wait was finally over.