Mariah gives it her all
A Mariah Carey show is a big date night. Last night's near sell-out crowd at GM Place show boasted plenty of paired-up boys and girls. But girlfriend couples ruled. Repping expensive clubbing ensembles, they left their b-boys at home to get all hard with their Fiddy CDs and headed out for some of that fine, five-octave range romantic R&B. It's the sound that made Carey the best-selling female performer of the '90s and the first act to chart in each year of the decade, breaking the Beatles' record as the artist with the most cumulative weeks spent in the Hot 100 singles chart.
That was almost 10 years ago. The screams filling GM Place when the lights went down and the seven-piece band kicked in made it seem like yesterday. Rising up from under the stage, Carey appeared in the flesh, mostly, surrounded by six fully-attired dancers. Dancing is not her thing. Unless you call that body-rubbing manoeuvre choreography. Whatever. It looked great on the five big screens.
Her voice sounded fine as well. By "My All" from 1997's Butterfly, she appeared to be nailing the highs, lows and points in between. Plus, the tune's disco refrain that accompanied the dancers' backflips is totally retro cool. New material such as The Emancipation of Mimi's "Fly Like a Bird" went over extremely well, if not quite as immediately as older hits. This song, in particular, showcased the vocal gymnastics that are a Carey signature and, sadly, have influenced a generation of Idol contestants to mimic. The thing they forget is you still need to strike a fine figure on stage and have some top-ranked material. She's got a lot of it, and the stage design was also tasty, particularly on the centre stage take on "Fantasy".
Toss in the cover of the Jackson 5's "I'll Be There" and you might be wishing you had been. (The Vancouver Province)
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