And so, I was able to see one of my favourite recording artists of all time. People love to rip off Mariah Carey and say she, and other pop divas, can’t sing. They really, REALLY couldn’t be more wrong and this concert just proved that without question. Mariah has one of the biggest vocal ranges in the world and watching her sing live with balanced lows and some highs on cats on hear (and they confirmed she was perfectly on pitch) was a joy!
I asked Little Pook to come along with me to the concert because I wanted to go with someone who wasn’t going to ruin it for me! I wanted to sing along and be happy and not have to worry about people ‘slating’ her all night. Well, there were thousands of Mariah fans at the stadium (and more than a few husbands who had been dragged along) who were all bubbling with excitement to see the classic diva.
And what a show. I loved it because it was quite old school! Now, that doesn’t usually sound like a compliment, but it was old school in the non-negotiable way – so good that she didn’t need to put in lights and smoke and cameras and action. Having said that, of course she had a beautiful, yet quite simple format for the show. Big screens, 4 main dancers and just talented, talented musicians. While I LOVE the pop shows that go all out, I can’t say I enjoyed this show any less due to a lack of ‘gimmicks’. Mariah absolutely ‘nailed it’ and I loved it!
Just after the show started her children came out on stage. “Rock and Ro”, meaning Morocco and Monroe, her twins. They were super cute and didn’t give a damn that it was show time lol! They just wanted Mommy’s attention hehe.
Songs on the evening were varied and included some I never thought I’d hear in a million years. Hits like, Heartbreaker – BOTH remixes: with Jay-Z and Da Brat! One Sweet Day – which always touches my heart as it was the favourite song of a boy in my hometown who lost his fight with leukemia. I’ve literally thought of him for the last 20 years, every time that I hear that song.
I didn’t expect to hear Hero either although I suppose it does make sense since it’s one of her biggest hits. I thought she might go the full eighties route so I was pleasantly surprised. I also never expected to hear When You Believe, a song I used to sing with a friend in school that features the ever talented Whitney Houston.
And, possibly, my favourite Mariah Carey song of all time, Fly Like a Bird. Relying on gospel themes with supporting choirs and the highest notes, I really just never thought I’d hear it live. When I did, my night (and life) was made! I played it in my car non-stop for 2 weeks after the show! Other hits of the night included classics like We Belong Together, I’ll Be There and which featured the original artists Trey Lorenz who she originally won the Grammy award with back in the day, Against All Odds, Obsessed, It’s Like That, Touch My Body, Rock with You (MJ Cover), My All and Emotions.
I’ll Be There with Michael Jackson was also super touching. So sad to think of the long road Michael Jackson walked, only to die too soon. What a shame. It was lovely to see the images of Mariah and Michael together, I had never seen them before. Very special.
Songs that I didn’t hear and would have liked to have included Underneath the Stars, another favourite of mine. As well as Honey, although I admit that maybe that isn’t the best concert type song as it’s quite usual.
As ever, the stadium had it’s fair amount of technical issues. A few I picked up, the big screen at the back of the stage kept breaking up and having green dots flying all over it. Not dead pixels but like a lose cable which disrupted the digital elements of the presentation. The camera man, dunno what planet he was on. Half the time when they were introducing someone he would be else where! Like, “here’s the drummer” and the camera would be on the backing vocalists…with no attempt to even find the right featured person! It maybe have been the director selecting the wrong screen, but I thought it was really unprofessional. Also, the sound. The sound, the sound, the sound. I was in the second section of the front seats on the grass. The ‘noise’ created from the sound bouncing off the back of the stadium and heading towards us again created SO MUCH NOISE, it literally interfered with the good sound coming from the stage that we wanted to hear. It really wasn’t very good, the sound quality was quite poor.
Other fun parts of the show included Mariah starting the show by being carried out while sitting upon a chase lounge, carried by 4 hunky dancers, the duets, backing vocalists.
Overall it was a wonderful show! I’d definitely go to her again if she returned, but only if it was at a different venue because I want to hear the sound clearly and nicely. The staff at the stadium, I must add however, were all EXCELLENT. Very helpful, polite, friendly and we enjoyed ourselves thanks to their hospitality. Thank you.
