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Mariah Carey @ Tower Theatre, Feb. 1
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Mariah Carey @ Tower Theatre, Feb. 1
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| photo from mariahcarey.com |
Nothing but dog-whistle high notes and a flotilla of dancers to keep her company.
"Welcome to my living room," Mariah Carey said to the audience at the Tower Theater on Monday night. Although she happened to be in the vicinity of a few pieces of furniture at the time, there was little intimate about the show. Dwarfed by a massive, curtained riser that ran the length of the stage, atop which her four-piece band — half rhythm section, half keyboard — perched in the background, Carey faced the audience with nothing but dog-whistle high notes and a flotilla of dancers to keep her company. From the look of it, this was a show meant for stadiums, or at least casino ballrooms, crammed into a much smaller venue. (At least, the stage was crammed: there were more than a few unsold seats in the house.)
Carey's sole concession to the scaled-down venue was the casual attitude with which she addressed the audience in between songs. Peppering her speech with "like"s and "whatever"s, she solicited advice on one of her many dressed, called for adjustments to the center stage fan meant to kept her hair aloft ("like in the 'Obsessed' video") and complained good-naturedly about the chatter in her earpiece about which song to play next. It was as if she were only a small piece in a larger machine, rather than its creator and chief operator. The lush and sometimes syrupy combination of live instruments and backing tracks threatened at times to swallow her whole.
Make no mistake: Carey was in control of all times. If the instrumentation build a formidable wall of sound, it was only because she has the voice to cut through it. She was loose between songs but tight during them: you had the feeling they would sound the same every night on tour, each note and each slur in its assigned place. Perhaps her living room is like that as well. Just keep your feet off the couch.
I had such a great time there. It was intimate with the big music and noted like most stars do at stadiums. She is a diva and can entertain me anywhere. My first Mariah album was Vision of Love at the age of 9. I'm 27 now and still a fan. In true MiMi fashion, My ensemble for the night was a tight black mini dress, black silk stockings, and black calf-high boots. She hasn't lost anything. Look forward to see her again at Tower soon as would all of her fans. There were two women a row behind me who wore butterfly wings for her-she's still got it and we, the fans, love her. I was tipsy on Yellow-tail Chardonnay screaming my love and I don't regret it one bit~ Money well spent~
Bless you for those remarkable tactics inside post, they have certainly aided my family!
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