Opening Act: Busta Rhymes

01. It's Like That
02. Heartbreaker
03. Dreamlover
04. My All
05. Shake It Off
06. Vision of Love
07. Fly Like a Bird
08. I'll Be There
---"B" Stage:
09. Fantasy
10. Don't Forget About Us
11. Always Be My Baby
---End "B" Stage
12. Honey
13. I Wish You Knew (Snippet)
14. Can't Let Go (Snippet)
15. Thank God I Found You/Make It Last (Snippet)
16. One Sweet Day (Snippet)
17. Hero
---Encore:
18. We Belong Together
19. Butterfly Reprise

From The Edmonton Sun: M is for Mariah!

This show was all about her

Seeing Mariah Carey's big show last night got me thinking about divas and their spectacular diva concerts.

No man can compare to the sheer scale of grandiosity and display of ego that is a diva working her trade - usually on a magnificent stage drawn from childhood fantasies of the ultimate Barbie Dream Tour.

Countless spectacular diva events from Madonna to Beyonce to Gwen Stefani to Tina Turner and back through the ages attest to that. Trends may change, but the full-blown diva spectacle remains a powerful draw. It just keeps getting bigger and bigger and more fabulous.

A respectable crowd of 12,500 turned up to witness the celebration of herself that is the Mariah Carey experience - the lights, the sounds, the dancers (great dancers), the costumes, the excitement! The closest comparison would have to be the farewell tour put on by Cher.

Consider the following:

WIGS:

Mariah: None needed.

Cher: Each more gravity-defying than the last.

HOTNESS:

Mariah: Plenty. Not many divas would perform in nothing but a cape, black bikini and high heels.

Cher: She was, once.

KNOWN BY ONE NAME:

Cher: Yes.

Mariah: Sort of.

GENERAL FABULOUSNESS:

Cher: Absolutely.

Mariah: Off the scale.

THE VOICE:

Cher: Braying donkey.

Mariah: Five-octave freak of nature as pure as the sweat of angels.

Other than that, they're exactly the same - divas through and through.

After an opening set from rapper Busta Rhymes - whose coarse yet charming ways threw the headliner into even sharper, more fabulous relief - this show was all about Mariah. The songs came second.

It opened with a film where she talked about herself, comparing her life to a roller-coaster and offering wisdom like "eventually you have to face your fears." No you don't, but let's move on.

The stage was as fabulous as we expected it to be: old-fashioned theatre curtains, sweeping ramps down the sides, the whole thing shaped like a giant "M" and the giant video screens, which, when not showing Mariah herself, would show a cartoon of Mariah or some other Mariah-related image.

And don't forget the rising platform where Mariah made her grand entrance. Divas must always enter the stage on a rising platform of some sort. Preferably shrouded in fog and dazzling colour. In this case, it was a number called It's Like That. She sang a few notes, shouted "whassup, Edmonton?" - not for the last time - and started to really sing as glittery dancers writhed around her.

The latest diva spectacle was underway.

Mariah hit the "Star Search" moment early, unleashing a barrage of high notes so sweet they brought tears to the eyes of the toughest security man. Those pipes really went into overdrive in the love ballads - the high diving act we had all come to see. Songs like Heartbreaker and My Own featured notes so high they could only be heard by dogs, others that shattered every piece of glass in the arena. Yes, I exaggerate, but the point is made: Mariah can sing.

By the time the giant lighted "MIMI" was lowered - Mimi is Mariah's nickname, as made clear on her comeback album, The Emancipation of Mimi - I was wondering whether any substance could get past all this diva dazzle. There were times when potential soul was lost in a sea of glitter and blithering talent demanding to be shown off. She ruined the ending of one ballad by pausing for cheers after flurries upon flurries of notes, all rendered meaningless, undone by her own ego. How ironic.

But do divas ever create meaningful music that is remembered after they're gone? Sometimes. For now, the diva spectacle seems to be the most important thing for Mariah.

BONUS DIVA ITEM: On Mariah's orders, security was hassling fans about the "no cameras" rule, despite the fact that every person here seemed to have a camera in their cellphone - none of which were capable of taking a good picture from 50 feet away in a darkened arena. Geez.

---

SOUND CHECK

MAIN EVENT:

MARIAH CAREY

IN THE SEATS:

12,500 IN REXALL

SYNOPSIS:

Mariah, Mariah, Mariah, Mariah, Mariah ... enough about Mariah. What do you think of Mariah?

RATING:

3 1/2 SUNS OUT OF 5


From Edmonton Journal: Mariah in the flesh

Only when she’s on stage is Mariah Carey truly free.

As soon as the R&B diva unleashed her five-octave range and voluptous hips on Thursday’s crowd of 12,500 at Rexall, all the tabloid tales of Mimi’s controlling ex-husband and her fabulous meltdown vanished into thin air.

At least they did after the intro to her show, which featured a videotape of a roller coaster.

“I’ve had my ups and downs,” Carey’s disembodied voice boomed over the speakers.

“If you don’t get on the rollercoaster, you won’t experience the adventure.”

Indeed, Carey’s first show in Edmonton was an unforgettable ride of ego, acrobatic vocals and slinky costumes — including a glittery bikini and floor-length, mid-riff baring gown.

Sure, she was bolstered by an entourage of back-up musicians, singers and dancers to distract us during her costume changes — including one which involved Carey adding a pair of sunglasses and necklace to her bikini ‘n’ cape outfit — but the props kept reminding us of who we were there to see.

Not only was the stage enveloped with a huge M, a sign with her nickname, Mimi, in lights, was lowered to her feet. As she treated us to an airy rendition of Shake It Off from her comeback smash, The Emancipation of Mimi, Carey grabbed on to the sign, and sensually rolled along the bulbs.

In other words, she loves to be the centre of the attention — and unlike a lot of rock stars, isn’t afraid to revel in it.

You could tell she cherished every minute on stage and loved teasing the audience with her dramatic poses, hand flourishes and come-hither looks during My All and Dreamlover— even though there were more girls in the crowd.

Frippery and diva poses aside, there’s a reason why Carey has sold more than 100 million albums and notched 17 number one hits — the most of any female artist.

Her voice — ranging from husky to girlish to squealy to glass-shattering — is phenomenal.

At times, she was overpowered by her four musicians, three back-up vocalists and a DJ, but her somersaults on My All, Vision of Love and Heartbreaker, featuring Jay-Z’s pre-recorded rhymes, were loud and clear. And almost painful.

Carey was one of the first big-name artists to collaborate with rappers, so it only made sense for the diva to bring along Busta Rhymes as her opener.

(Though some of the older members of the audience probably didn’t appreciate the connection. At least one grey-haired Mariah fan fled the building during his set.)

Carey appeared on one of Busta’s tracks, 2002’s I Know What You Want, but she didn’t bother to grace the stage when the rapper also known as Trevor Smith performed it with help from his partner in rhyme, Spliff Star, DJ Scratch and the ladies in the crowd.

(Carey wouldn’t want to blow her grand entrance by dropping in on his 40-minute set, now would she?)

Busta also chose to make a big bang with an abbreviated version of one of his more recent collaborations — Don’t Cha minus the Pussycat Dolls — and his latest single, In the Ghetto, featuring the vocals of late, great funk star Rick James.

Despite his strings of hits, Busta isn’t as well-respected (or perhaps feared) as 50 Cent. It’s a shame, really, considering his rhymes are fast, fluid and funny.

Unfortunately, Busta’s set was bogged down by the endless repartee with Spliff Star about ladies, joints, alcohol and breaking out the classics.

“What could be better than Busta Rhymes and the Flipmode Movement and Mariah Carey on the same tour?” he shouted at the start of his set.

Uh, more rhymes.

By Bob:
OMG! mariah was fabulous and she was dressed so fab lol! and i think one time she looked at me in the audience omg! and she sang all her songs so great lol! !!!!!!!!!

Oh, wait. I just remembered that I'm not a 16-year old girl.

Anyways, here are my recollections of the concert.

Since the kids were at their grandparents house for the night, we went out to eat before the concert. By the time we actually got to the concert (which was scheduled to start at 8:00), it was already 8:30. Since none of us were huge Busta Rhymes fans, we weren't too concerned. We got into Rexall Place and tried to find the bathroom. They temporarily converted many of the Men's bathrooms into Women's bathrooms. WTF?

We then tried to find our way to our floor seats. I bought a huge drink because I was thirsty, and then when we got to the entrance to the floor seating, there was a sign saying "No Food Or Drinks Allowed". WTF? But instead of wasting my drink, I guzzled it until my bladder was at 110% capacity. Yeah, that's always a good idea.

So once Busta finished dropping his phat beats (whatever that means ), we went to find our seats. Hey, that rhymes! We were in the 17th row on the floor; in front of the B Stage, and to the right. Not too shabby, I thought.

I looked around the audience surrounding me. The ratio was about 2/3rds female to 1/3rd male. But everyone seemed a lot younger than me. In fact, I started playing a game I like to call "Find A Guy That Is Older Than Me At This Concert". It took awhile, but I finally managed to find someone older than me (however, it was an usher, and he was probably on the verge of retirement).

Then the lights dimmed and everyone started hollering. The first notes to "It's Like That" kicked in. Yay! I heard this song before! Mariah makes her entrance onto the stage and the crowd goes nuts. Especially the three Japanese guys standing in front of me, who were acting like... Japanese schoolgirls (not sure if that's "ironic" or not). My wife then says she can see the stage okay, but she can't see Mariah's feet. Who looks at her feet?

In between songs, DJ Clue entertained the crowd with samples from Salt 'N Pepa, Michael Jackson, and 2Pac. Yeah, I'm down with dat! And he used the term "old school" only about twenty times. Yes, I get it... these songs are "old school". He then asked everyone to raise their hands in the air, and to wave them like we just don't care. I felt too old to do that, so I just stood there with my arms crossed and bobbing my head to the beat. Yeah, I'm cool. He then told "all the ugly people to be quiet". LOL!

Later, Trey Lorenz comes out to sing a few songs. This is a perfect opportunity to go to the bathroom. When I get back, Trey is singing the Gnarls Barkley song "Crazy". Ya y, I heard this song before! Okay, now you go sit back down.

Then the spotlights start swirling around the crowd. The audience frantically starts looking around. Finally, Mariah Carey emerges onto the floor, flanked by a bazillion bodyguards, and makes her way to the B Stage. Everyone on the floor moves in closer, so that we're only about 20 feet away from her. Even on the B Stage, her hair looks windswept. Is this a permanent condition for her hair? Does she wake up in the morning, with her hair looking like that? Awesome.

Mariah then emerges again to sing her final few songs, including "snippets" of her past hits. She ends the show with "Hero" and walks off. Everyone does the usual "we want an encore" cheer. She emerges back onstage and kicks into "We Belong Together", then bids everyone a good night while "Butterfly" plays on.

We make a beeline to the entrance. From the time the concert ends to the time our car makes it down Wayne Gretzky Drive, only 15 minutes have elapsed. That must be some kind of record.

After picking up the kids, we eventually got home before midnight. We were tired, but it was a good kind of tired.