Live from Miami, it's Mariah Carey
Saturday August 5, 2006 really was like a dream come true. After months of anticipation, I had the priviledge of seeing Mariah Carey in all her glory as she opened her new Adventures tour in Miami, Florida. It was the first time I've ever seen Mariah in person, in the flesh. It's all still pretty surreal at this point. It's now the day after, and I still can't believe that I was able to actually see Mimi perform for a good two hours. I've admired this woman for so long (I've been a fan for over 10 years), and to see her standing before me, sometimes just feet away from where I was standing, seems simply crazy to me, but absolutely wonderful.
The show was great. It was well rehearsed, the set was beautiful, and Mariah's voice was on point all night. Busta Rhymes opened. That was amusing. I had seats in the floor section 1, halfway between the stage and the "stage B" where she later performed "Don't Forget About Us", "Fantasy (Remix)", "Always Be My Baby", and a small part of "Your Girl". Anyways, as Busta was trying to get the crowd riled up, he noticed that a lot of people sitting in the floor section (in front of me), where sitting down. He tried to get them to stand up and have some fun, but to no avail. So in classic Busta style, he took a bottle of water, opened it, and sprayed those who were sitting down with it. It was hilarious! I was just far enough away to not get wet, but to laugh at those who did. Busta was very entertaining. He rapped to his new hit "Touch It", but he made sure to visit the "classics" (dare I say that Busta Rhymes has classics). The list includes "I Love My Chick", and "Pass The Courvoisier Part 2 (Remix)". He got all the girls in the audience to sing the female part of "I Know What You Want". Surprisingly though, when Mariah later performed a snippet of that song about an hour later, Busta did not show up on stage to help her. I really don't know why. It's not often that the two of them are even together.
Regardless, I really enjoyed the show. I sang along to every word of every song and danced all night (well, where dancing was appropriate). I have to admit that some of the best songs of the night were the new ones. "Shake It Off", "Stay The Night", and "I Wish You Knew", were amazing to hear live. I found "Make It Happen" a little predictable, because, like always, she says the same thing about believing in yourself that she always does, and while that's very nice and all, she even ran across the stage in the same fashion as I've seen her do a million times on TV and on the DVDs of her past tours. The remix of "My All" was equally predictable. I did like the fact that she made sure the concert was focused on having fun, and instead, did not dwell on "deep moments" (as she might say) like when she sang "Hero", although that was one moment I will never, ever forget.
She closed the show with a stirring and heartfelt rendition of the song that put her back on top of the charts and on top of the world, "We Belong Together". In my opinion, this song has morphed into an anthem for all of us true fans, those of us who have stayed with Mariah through the rollercoaster life that she has led. Mariah Carey is happy and content with herself, and it really shows through. Writing music and singing is what she does best, and she does it not just for herself, she does it for all of us. I hope you all have a great time this fall watching Mariah Carey around the United States, as she reminds all of us that we are bound together in atleast one inseparable fashion, through her music. (John Vincent)
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