Two of Carey's "lambs" ruin concert experience
For a while, I was supportive of the two freaky fans who screamed throughout Mariah Carey's concert on Saturday. On the one hand, I sympathized with them when people asked them to sit, not stand. Spending $200 on a seat should allow someone to get up and dance. I even appreciated it when they exaggerated their mouth openings to express how well they knew the words to each song as they swayed in the fourth row at the Aladdin Theatre. That was just living it up.
But man, those two women, who looked to be in their early 20s, were The Most Annoying Fans of the Year. They ear-piercingly squealed "Whoo-hooo" and "Whah!" constantly. This wasn't merely the level of earsplitting that 'N Sync used to stir. It seemed to me they shrieked every 10 seconds during the entire hour and 45 minutes. These two fans apparently had seen enough Carey concerts to memorize the segment when Carey sang the names of her band members. They sang-screamed every name along with her, like this: "Lionel Cole! Woo-hoo!" Then they jumped up and down, and they waved their arms, and they hugged.
Shortly after that, Carey was half-singing a supposedly true story about something or another, and the two fans screamed along to the words of Carey's story: "We had a total and complete mess! Wooo!" Then they jumped up and down, and they waved their arms, and they hugged. For a moment, I thought Carey was peeved at them. She cautioned them several times not to scream out her punch lines before she got to the lines herself. They did so anyway. Then I realized that Carey couldn't be mad with the people she calls her "lambs". After all, she's the one who took a bath in her house on MTV and invited fans to show up at her home, which some of them did.
Sure enough, near the end of this night, right before Carey hit the climax in "Vision of Love", she saw one of these two freaky women trying to reach her but who kept getting stopped by a security guard. Carey reached out and grabbed her hand. Carey even thanked them and "all the real, die-hard fans in the audience". That was nice and smart of her, I thought. But she wasn't subjected to those two women's screaming next to her all night.
If you are wondering why I have spent so many words on the behavior of this happy twosome, it is because pop concerts are an interactive experience, unlike movies. And in rare instances, I get stuck seated next to a horror show such as this one, making me feel unable to evaluate the performer fairly. Fortunately, I had seen Carey perform in July at Caesars Palace. I was lured to Saturday's show at the Aladdin because it was said to be a holiday concert. This was not so. It was the same show as in July, except Carey threw in a few Christmas tunes.
In July, the 33-year-old Carey wore eight tight costumes, including a rhinestone skirt and bra ensemble, pink short-shorts and a Harley Davidson T-shirt. This time, there were her eight outfits, plus a ninth, a slutty-Santa thing she wore for "All I Want For Christmas Is You". Carey used fewer dancers this go-round. Last time, she had 11, this time six. Once again, five band members and four back-up, gospel-trained singers breezed through her pop hits, inspirationals and ballads, from the good "Fantasy" and "Daydreamer" to the palatable "I'll Be There" and "Hero".
Carey went over well enough with most of the rest of the crowd to merit several standing ovations. I'm guessing they were surrounded by saner types. (Las Vegas Review-Journal)
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