Mariah...

Last night I FINALLY got to see Mariah Carey in concert. I have liked Mariah Carey since about 1994. Back when she first visited Melbourne in 1998 I was in year 8 and didn't have my own money (apart from a couple of dollars a week pocket money) so couldn't afford to go. The next time I had the chance to see her was when I was living in Boston in early 2010. Unfortunately, the horrible people I worked for (I was an au pair) refused to let me have a Saturday night off to go see her, making me hate that nasty family even more than I already did. The next time she came to Melbourne, January 2013, I was in Boston visiting so couldn't go again!! Aah! When I heard she was back in November this year, I booked my tickets as soon as I could. Finally I got to see one of my all time favourites live!

Well, the wait was at times a little disappointing. Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed the show for the most part, but it was not the best concert I've been to by a long shot. After over an hour of waiting after the support act (Nathaniel, some dude from X Factor, I know him as the guy who sings like his area is being pinched he sings so high), Mariah finally showed up after a lengthy musical introduction, which was just too long to wait in my opinion. Fantasy was a great opener to the show (although her outfit of a hot pink ballgown was a little misguided for an uptempo song, as were the two songs that followed), but three songs in she was off stage for close to 10 minutes for a very lengthy costume change. The beginning of the second 'act' saw her sing some songs basically no one knew, which served as a good time for a toilet or drink break. The mood here went really downhill and I found myself yawning and looking at my watch, which was a shame. Eventually, she picked things back up again with a very long medley of about 10 'fan favourites' (I think songs she personally likes from her back catalogue as she mentioned when singing a few songs, since when is the obscure Crybaby, a song I quite like, a fan favourite when it is about track 9 on the Rainbow album?). Another lengthy costume change and the opportunity for us to watch the beginning of the cinematic Honey film clip opening, and out she came to sing a further three songs and a lengthy parade through the crowd to sing 'Oh, you're thirsty' over and over and over and over and over again for a good 5 or so minutes, before yet another customer change into yet another gown (perhaps the most ridiculous yet, something that would have been better suited to the Academy Awards red carpet than singing pop songs at Rod Laver, and by the way, can she stop it with the one gloved hand?). The show finished on a bit of a higher note, with Hero and Always Be My Baby (I will ignore the ridiculous Supernatural in between these two songs, something she only performs for her kids and has hideous high-pitched toddler giggling throughout the song which does not sound great through arena speakers), and We Belong Together finished the show. No encore. I am always left pretty furious at a show that doesn't have an encore, to me it doesn't seem like a real show, like the artist doesn't care that much, and can't wait to get back to their hotel.

Mariah singing We Belong Together as the final song. No encore. 

Cons:
-Did she lip synch? I had my suspicions at times she had some definite 'assisted singing'. The cameras never focussed close enough on her face to reveal enough.
-Mariah basically never talked to the crowd - anything she 'said' was sung, which got highly annoying very quickly - she would even sing that she was going to walk over to the piano and look how far her microphone cord went.
-I hate medleys. Play the whole damn song.
-The dancers. What is up with Mariah needing backup dancers? Especially when she is tottering around the stage in sky high heels and ball gowns, it was just totally out of place.
-Too many costume changes. I've come to watch you sing, not to a fashion show. Also, the lengthy periods off stage changing to a new ball gown meant the show lost any momentum being built and lost the energy. The band had to take over while she was getting changed and it made me feel like I was in some weird early 90's club in Manhattan listening to a band trying to break the big time in a small joint.
-She seemed a bit distant, like she didn't really care about getting the crowd involved. I expected her to be a far more engaging and involving performer, considering how long she has been doing this. It was almost like a parody of herself.

Pros:
-It's Mariah. I can say I've finally been to one of my favourite's concerts.

While I was sitting in the concert I started to think of all the concerts I have been to over the last few years, and the things that made them more engaging was that they played their own instruments and therefore had more control over their show, and they interacted with the crowd in long, varied, crowd-pleasing sets without lengthy breaks for getting changed.

Would I rush back? No. Would I go if the price was right? Sure.

What concert have you been to this year that you loved or didn't quite live up to expectations?