Mariah's show: short & sweet
Before singing a single note at the Mohegan Sun Arena on Friday night, Mariah Carey addressed fans with a prerecorded message, explaining that life is like a roller coaster, full of thrilling climbs and terrifying dips. However true that sentiment, Carey's prologue felt like a warning, or at least an advance justification for whatever bizarre antics the singer - known in recent years for her erratic behavior - might unleash.
As it happened, though, it was a relatively poised and with-it Carey who turned up for the show. Her brief greatest-hits set, which centered on her more hip-hop-oriented material, was lacking in the kind of meltdown moments and diva freakouts that train-wreck spotters might have been hoping for.
Even so, Carey was off in her own world - a pink, glittery place where black underwear and stilettos constitute an outfit. Throughout the show, she held fast to a desire to be sexy in an over-the-top way, prancing around in costumes that didn't always flatter her sturdy figure.
Exhibitionism notwithstanding, Carey was on her game. She could make her voice go low, then high, then really high, occasionally reaching up into the canine-whistle register that, before near nudity, was her trademark. On tunes such as "Dreamlover" and "Always Be My Baby", she conjured images of sweet summers gone by, paying more attention to the songs' melodies than any vocal feats of strength.
It was these airy pop songs from early in her career that translated best, even if the harder-edged, rap-collaboration stuff - Ol' Dirty Bastard spitting garbled rhymes on "Fantasy", Mase mumbling on "Honey" - is closer to who Carey has really been all along.
Since none of the rappers she's worked with were at the show, their verses were piped in via video, robbing the show of spontaneity. More problematic, though, was Carey's insistence on ducking offstage after almost every song, typically to change clothes. Her DJ did his best to keep the party going in her absence, but there's only so long an audience will go along with hearing Bell Biv Devoe hits and being told to "make some noise for MC".
Plus, for all its noisemaking, the crowd couldn't get Carey to come back for an encore. She did 11 songs total, and when she got to the end of "Hero", she disappeared behind the curtains, the houselights flicking on almost immediately. Only a roller coaster ride could have ended more abruptly. (CT Now)
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