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OAKLAND, CA - OCTOBER 2, 2006
Setlist:
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
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Pictures:
High-Quality Photos
    
    
   
 
Fan Photos [Thanks to Chris, Daniel, and Ruth!]
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
Video/Audio:
Press Reviews:
From A+E Interactive: Mariah Carey and Busta Rhymes at the Oakland Arena
Checking out Mariah Carey at the Oakland Arena was like listening to the soundtrack of my life from way back when in high school. Actually "Hero" was my junior prom theme.
In her hour and a half show, she sang her classics like "I'll Be There," "Always Be My Baby," and "Hero," in addition to her more recent hits like "We Belong Together" and "Shake It Off." Though in the beginning with "Heartbreaker" and "Dream Lover" her voice was raspy.
Her DJ came to the rescue by playing old school hits from Tupac to Salt-N-Pepa giving her a chance for ample breaks, and the time to change outfits. Her clothes ranged from the loungewear-like bespeckled black bikinis with a transparent black hoodie to the J-Lo inspired seafoam green gown with kimono sleeves and the stomach section cut out. She also didn't waste energy on dancing, choosing instead to pose from side to side. It would have been hard anyways, with the stilettos and tight clothes.
The last time she came around, I interviewed her, asking why she chose to express such a sexy image. She said that when she was with Sony chair and chief executive Tommy Mottola, he wanted her to upkeep a very Puritanical outlook, so when she came out of that relationship, she wanted to be on her own - in short, her emancipation though, she admits, dressing sexy is not what she does on an everyday basis.
One nice feature of the concert was the second stage in the middle of the floor section, which gave the fans a closer look at their idol. It also gave her a closer look at her fans, and she took time to wish one happy birthday and thank them for their gifts.
Opener Busta Rhymes was just like Mariah put it, the perfect way to kick off a party. His big personality filled the packed arena. He and partner Spliff Star were up to their usual antics like flirting with the audience and asking them to cheer louder. This is the third show of his I've caught and he's consistently good and worth checking out.
Both he and Mariah had hits stretching years back so it was a good fit.
From The Mercury News: Carey doesn't make it happen at Oakland concert
VOICE GETS LOST IN THEATRICS
The big question going into Mariah Carey's concert Monday night at Oakland Arena was how many wardrobe changes would the pop queen make?
The answer was five, which seemed reasonable for a diva of her magnitude.
Unfortunately, that was about the only reasonable thing about the show. Just about everything else she did made little sense.
This concert should have been much better than it was.
It's all about potential. Mariah Carey has 17 No. 1 singles, which ties her with Elvis Presley for the most chart-toppers by a solo artist, and that alone should provide all the ammunition needed to put on a memorable show.
Didn't happen.
Instead, the 36-year-old vocalist has made some poor decisions with her ``Adventures of Mimi Tour,'' the sum of which took the focus away from where it needed to be -- on the music. The concert was poorly paced, cluttered with unnecessary theatrics and devoid of any sense of purpose. Things would have been simpler, and better, if she had just come out, sung the hits and left all the horseplay to the Madonnas of the world.
Following an opening set by speed-rapper Busta Rhymes, who came across as cartoonish as ever, Carey opened her show with a silly video segment of a roller coaster, which was meant to underscore the twists and turns of the diva's life. The star then appeared wearing her first costume of the night, a little bikini-like outfit that aptly showed that Carey has experienced growth in areas other than artistic in recent years.
Working a large two-level stage that was framed under a giant M, Carey shimmied with six dancers as she opened with a bouncy version of ``It's Like That'' from ``The Emancipation of Mimi,'' 2005's biggest-selling CD.
The musical mix, featuring three keyboardists, three backup vocalists, a drummer and a DJ, was mostly solid. Yet there was one major problem -- Carey's breathtaking five-octave voice frequently was buried in a place that was harder to find than Jimmy Hoffa's body.
When you could hear her famously melismatic voice, such as on ``Heartbreaker,'' you didn't really want to -- the diva hit high notes that probably had dogs howling all over nearby San Leandro. Not that there is anything wrong with a good high note, but Carey's vocal gymnastics came across as merely for show.
After only 25 minutes onstage, the star made an exceedingly early exit and left the set in the hands of her DJ, bringing the concert to a halt. Carey returned, wearing a golden gown that was nearly as revealing as the bikini, and produced a few good moments with ``Vision of Love'' and a duet with backing vocalist Trey Lorenz on the Jackson 5's ``I'll Be There.''
She then turned the set over to Lorenz for a three-song segment that had people sitting down faster than when the music stops in a game of musical chairs. That was the second time in roughly 45 minutes that the show completely lost momentum.
The second half was full of badly planned moments, including one of those nauseating medleys.
Again, it's about potential. By closing the main set with a gorgeous and moving version of ``Hero,'' minus all the theatrics, Carey showed how good this concert should have been.
From The San Francisco Chronicle: Carey fans hang on her thrill ride of highs and lows
It wasn't just Mariah Carey's dancers who were doing backflips at Monday's sold-out show at the Arena in Oakland. By the opening number, the diva-in-absentia had the crowd on its feet, as she time-traveled back to some of the messier moments in her personal history.
It's not as if she didn't warn the 19,000 faithful, kicking off her 90-minute set with a short, thrill-inducing cinematic climb up a roller coaster, with Carey narrating platitudes about her opulent soap opera come to life.
"When I was little I was so scared of roller coasters, but you learn you have to face your fears," she said breathlessly. "But just when I thought the scariest part was over, something more terrifying would happen."
Like detonating her marriage to music mogul Tommy Mottola, being released from her recording contract, the failure of 2001's "Glitter" album and quasi-autobiographical movie of the same name and attendant canceled tour dates, the hospital stays and the famous glass- and dish-throwing episode in a London hotel room, all documented in tabloids and by Carey on her own Web site.
To the singer's continuing credit, she doesn't try to conceal any of those tawdry details from fans, as if she could in her barely there outfits. Instead, she used them as rather touching fodder to detail many of the two dozen songs she performed. "How many times have I had to apply this song to my own life?" Carey mused mid-verse during "Hero," her self-penned 1993 song that became one of the unofficial anthems of 9/11.
After the conclusion of the short film, the singer ascended from beneath the stage, like a goddess rising from the depths of the ocean, screaming over the din, "San Francisco, how ya feeling?"
Oozing down a lavish spiral staircase in her mile-high Christian Louboutin stilettos, all jutting hips, tossed curls and purring vocals, Carey effortlessly slid into "It's Like That," the first single from her Grammy-winning 2005 album "The Emancipation of Mimi," opening her show with a mighty leonine roar. It was more Victoria's Secret TV spot than pop music show, and in the first of five costume changes, Carey looked resplendent -- albeit a little more zaftig than in recent years -- in a black peignoir set that revealed more than it concealed. "It takes a lot of guts to dress like that with that body," one reveler gushed to a friend.
While not a trained dancer by anyone's stretch of the imagination, Carey sensuously moved in half-time down the frighteningly steep staircase once again, stumbling on the fourth step, all the while caressing her prodigious curves and running long, manicured fingers through her imposing hair in time to "Heartbreaker's" disco beat. But the stumble, like the extra weight, humanizes her even more to fans, eliciting a small gasp among the faithful.
A wounded sex kitten, Carey coos, pouts, then goes for broke, emitting sounds that you'd think only dolphins could utter at the close of "Dreamlover," one of the 17 No. 1 hits that allowed her to become one of the wealthiest stars of the 1990s.
"What do you want, Frisco?" she demanded as she plunged into "My All," before someone in her cadre undoubtedly gave her a geography lesson.
"I know we're in Oakland," she said a little defensively, flashing only a little of her diva ire. "Some of my friends are here from San Francisco, so I can say that, you know. I love me some Oakland.
"Anyway, this is one of the first places that played my first single when I was little," cooed the 36-year old singer in appeasement, before asking permission to take a small sip of her ever-present Fiji water, a far from her halcyon days swilling Cristal Champagne.
The newly emancipated Carey is all business, down to the strategically placed cutouts in her Barbie doll gowns, to the mirrored "Mimi" that descended from the ceiling before "Shake It Off," a clever kiss-off with the perfect intersection of high concept and low culture: "I gotta shake it off/ Just like the Calgon commercial." All the better when you know that nothing less than Chanel really touches her golden skin.
During the tune, Carey put on a pair of expensive hit-man sunglasses. Why? Because of the high-wattage sign or because her future really is so bright again she does needs shades? "The Emancipation of Mimi" has already racked up 5 million in sales, she's taking guitar lessons, and it looks as if there's another movie on the horizon.
Some of that momentum was lost during the chanteuse's five costume changes. Sometimes the breaks were so long that it allowed the DJ to romp through decades of rap and R&B tunes, such as Bell Biv DeVoe's "Poison" and the Digital Underground's "The Humpty Dance."
In the meanwhile, longtime backup singer Trey Lorenz stepped out into the stoplight to sing the Jackson 5's "I'll Be There," with Carey, then to finish up alone with a rather weak and dispirited three-song medley, culminating in an anemic version of Gnarls Barkley's "Crazy." The only thing crazy was Carey allowing this singer so much face time.
All of that was forgiven when the singer came back for the second half of the set, slowing the pace just a bit with "Fantasy," a song that pairs her pop vocals with a hip-hop beat, a winning formula that the singer has been employing since she left the controlling clutches of her record-exec husband. She performed the song as a duet with the disembodied video of the late rapper Ol' Dirty Bastard, which was as disconcerting as it was affecting.
But that sentiment colored the entire night. At times, as cameras flashed over the audience, fans could be seen with tears in their eyes, wrapping their arms around themselves as they sang along to hits like "Always Be My Baby" or the feisty heart-tugger "We Belong Together," only equaled by Carey herself, whose immaculate made-up eyes welled up with tears during the latter song.
But that is the true gift of this singer. While Jennifer Lopez may claim to be Jenny From the Block, Carey shows that she still lives there, even if she gets there in a chauffeur-driven roller coaster. |
Fan Reviews:
By LauraLuvsMC:
The experience of my first FRONT ROW show was like "W---hoa!!!". Originally before i had actually won my tickets I was planning to buy more tickets to this show show of eBay or just lambs on the mc boards but as my luck as had it something had come up some friends needed the money and i lived up to Mariah's own song "Anytime You Need A Friend" so i helped out a friend in need. Anywho, I guess God himself seen what a good deed I had done because not long after that, a HBF Team Member called me and told me the GREATEST News of the Month of September "Congrats Laura I am calling you to confirm that you just won a pair of FRONT ROW tickets to see Mariah Carey in Concert on October 2nd at the Oakland Arena."
I swear I have never cried faster in my lifetime ever before... Usually it take me a sec or two to process what has been said to me but to me my tears came from the heart..Tears of Love, Tears of Happiness. With tears this fast gosh, I know the show is going to Rock My World.
Monday, October 2nd, 2006 show in the Oakland Arena. i was attending the show with my sorority sister Raquel, my lil sis actually, who has always like early Mariah material but i myself was not too sure if she had heard newer Mariah Style. If i could describe the atmosphere i'd have to say INCREDIBLE i enjoyed every minute of it, in FRONT ROW Baby!!! of course. Being there, was GREAT!!!.
Busta Rhymes opened the show. He was soooo great. He really got the crowd warmed-up. He and his Flip Mode Squad, and DJ Scratch were all cool. Busta was sooo sweet when he started to sing "I Know What You Want" he did his own thing of course in the song, but when it came down to Mariah's part he had asked the Ladies to sign it. Unfortunately, he thought the audience wasn't living up to Mariah part so he was like: "Ok, Ok Hold up everybody... Now this is a very important part... if you are not going to SING IT then let's go to another song..." To me that was really sweet of him to respect Mimi like that.
The security on hand was very super tight they were not allowing anything to occur. There was absolutely No Cameras, No Cell Phone Cameras, or Audio Digital Recorders, No Signs (on the floor, because the fans on the higher levels obviously had and were snapping pictures left and right and had sings). So i thought it should have been fair for all but it was cool because in the end i did managed to sneak in a few snaps with my cell phone, but yeah was really upset because it reminded me of the Pepsi Smash incident were they took my camera away . And then yes some Lamb was tried taking pictures with his digital camera and sure enough he was warned the first time, but he continued to try and try and finally the guards asked to see he camera (my guess to either delete the pictures or take it away for good) the Lamb refused so the guards took him away and he DID NOT RETURN.
I also i quickly improvised and made little 8X10 generic sign using the paper i found under my seat that just said "I Love You" verse the one i had been working on this past weekend using tons of glitter, markers, paint the works which read "Hi MIMI, I Ditched Work And School For You!!!" but they did not allow me to even bring it in the arena. To me i felt like they were going a little over board, i mean it is just a sign right? I guess their defense was that they wanted to ensure that no one's view would be blocked, which makes sense, but for me i though they should have allowed me to have it since i was at FRONT ROW. But i guess the sign thing was not all that bad because Mariah got to see my little generic "I Love You" sing and get this you guys MARIAH TALKED TO ME!!! She had just preformed finished singing "Dreamlover" and it all suddenly happen, my crazy Lamb instincts kicked in to 5th gear and i had no control of my "Emotions" while Mariah was taking a little breather and to quickly take a little sip of water, she the tried to introduce a song and sure enough there i was just yelling out from the top of my lungs saying "I Love You Mariah!!! I was sooo interrupting her and she then seen me and saw my little sign and said "Why I Love You Too!!!" while she pointed to me and smiled... At that very moment i swear if i would have died it would have been alright because 1. i was in Lamb Heaven FRONT ROW at a Mariah concert and 2. because Mariah had talked/acknowledged/pointed at me and said she LOVED ME TOO!!! I was proud of myself for not fainting, because in my mind i always end up fainting when Mariah talks to me.
Now on the BEST part of the show which was My Mariah singing on stage, dancing, or just having her Diva momnets she made it all goood.. OMG you guys she was sooooooooooooooooooooooooooo ummm.... words can't even begin to explain. Mariah totally worked the show. She had many of us folks crying, singing, feeling every lyric as she sang it. She also looked so GORGEOUS. I know for myself i have always thought Mariah was very pretty because i see her on TV or on Magazines but being like literally 2 feet way I was like "W-hoa Sexy Mama..." truly HOT TAMALE!!!
The lambs i met were sooo cool. I met young and young at heart folks who were also there for all the same reason to see/hear our beloved MIMI I had a chance to briefly talk to some HBFlyers as well such as Overfifty which was really sweet nice meeting ya girl and then a crazy lambie all the way from Australia named Jessica. To me she was the craziest lamb i have ever met. And before i used to think that i was the craziest of the all, but now after meeting her i know i have nothing on her. Jessica sooo cute. From what she told me she was a college student from Australia who, get this you guys, took out a $10,000 loan to come all the way to California and see a few Mariah shows since has been a fan for 14 years and never before has seen a show. She also mentioned that her wallet was stolen and she had no money until some three other lambs gave her $20 each. Jessica was sooo cool, and sneaky i should add. She had floor seats for this show i think she said like on letter I 9th row, but this girl has guts she went to seat all the way near me, FRONT ROW. She even made friends with the security guards who were going to try and have her even met Mariah. I don't actually know she if did but if she had that great chance then i am happy for her because she did go through a lot just to get here and see MIMI. Jessica inspires me she had $60 in her pocket and a dream to see Mariah. She just proves to me that when love is at stake we would do pretty much anything. Her love and dedication allowed her to achieve all her dreams good for her, I know next time if ever in Australia i need to call that girl up.
To wrap my review up i just want to say Thanks to HBF Again for the FREE tickets... My luck is turned from ice cold to double-T-HOT. First Pepsi Smash, and Now FRONT ROW.... Thank You, Thank You, Thank You sooooo very much from the bottom of my heart.... I really do Love, Respect, Appreciate Ya and Enjoy Ya... Consider me not only a Lamb, but a Member for Life!!!! Looking forward to see much much more of Ms. Mariah in your future shows. I Love, Respect You Soooo Much!!!
By Daniel:
I flew back to Northern California and caught MC's show in Oakland. The statium was sold out, and Busta Rhymes opened. He had the place pumpin, and then when MC came out later, 9:30ish, the Arena was ready. She turned it out. The energy was like, over the top. The Arena responded crazy to the DJ (Clue was not in Oakland), the other DJ (can't remember his name) played the same mixes, but Oakland really responded. Everyone was out of ther seats. There didn't seem to be any awkwardness when MC stepped out for a change of costume because the energy maintained. Oakland was the better show, but I was closer to MC in Vegas. Loved it!!!!
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Back in 2003, a concert date in Oakland at the Oakland Paramount Theater was scheduled as a part of the Charmbracelet tour but had to be cancelled.
