Concert Review: Two Thumbs Up for Mimi

Last week I attend Mariah Carey’s “Adventures of Mimi Tour” and had a fabulous time. As I entered the Houston Toyota Center, I quickly realized what I diverse fan base Mariah has. There were people of all ages and races in attendance. And then I thought about it… When she first started her career, Carey’s sound was definitely in the adult R&B category and her image was cute but conservative. So, there were a lot of older couples there. And then there were people who are closer to my age who heard her earlier work, but really jumped on the bandwagon when the Daydream album came out. And then she was exposed to a whole new audience when her 1st post divorce album, Butterfly, included not only beautiful ballads but also great collabs with hip hop heavy hitters. We’ll quickly pass over her “slump” which brings us to the comeback of the decade, The Emancipation of Mimi. Mariah’s back on the scene in a big way and now has the attention of a whole new teeny-bopper & pre-teen crowd.

Now, I can’t write the entry without talking about the “hot mess moments” of the night… First stop was at the concession stand. Sounds pretty simple, right? Well, I asked for a bottle of water and the lady said, “Okay, but I just want to let you know that I’ll have to pour your water into a glass.” Excuse me? Are you serious? Apparently she was and this was something per Mimi’s request. I guess in the past she’s had bottles thrown at her. But really, what are the chances of that happening now? I mean, really! Who would pay $150 for a floor seat ticket so they could throw a bottle at her? And if someone really wanted to throw something, they wouldn’t have to buy a bottle of water to do it. On another note, many people know that I think there’s virtually no worse fashion crime than wearing sunglasses inside at night time (unless you’re a celebrity being attacked by paparazzi). Well, I stand correct. I saw a couple at the concert who were both wearing their shades inside.

So, we get to our seats and Busta Rymes comes out. I knew he was going to put on a great show because I’ve seen him before, but I didn’t expect one of my hot mess moments to come from him. He didn’t censor himself one bit. Which is fine for a rap concert, but as I mentioned before, there were ALL kinds of people there to see MC. I can’t count how many parents had brought their little kids. And maybe it wouldn’t have been that bad with a word here and a word there, but 1 word was spelled out on the big screen and he performed the uncensored version of “The Whisper Song”. I think Busta could have censored himself a little bit, but on the other hand it’s the parents’ bad too. They should have found out about the opening act if they didn’t know. Because if they had, they might have just shown up late for the concert.

But Busta got the crowd hyped and was a great opener. Then it was time for Ms. Carey’s performance. She appeared on her beautiful set singing “It’s Like That” and I’m sitting there wondering where the rest of her clothes are. Her costume was basically a sequined 2 piece swimsuit. Which I guess wouldn't have been too bad, but the floor-length see-through black “nighty” robe that she wore with it definitely gave it a lingerie feel. A little much if you ask me. But her 4 other costume changes were much more what I expected.

Besides her wardrobe, I must say that Mariah’s vocals were on point that night. My understanding is that she isn’t necessarily able to hit all of those high notes every day that she wakes up. Lucky for us, she was able to hit them several times during the performance. She sang all of her great hits, including the Jackson 5’s “I’ll Be There” that was performed as a duet on MTV Unplugged. Trey Lorenz who originally performed it with her is still one of her back up singers. So it was a real treat to see them perform together. (He even did a few songs during 1 of her wardrobe changes and informed us that his solo album is dropping on September 19th.)

Being an avid concert-goer, I’ve learned that part of a good show is having smooth transitions. There’s nothing more awkward feeling at a concert than everyone staring at the empty stage for 10 minutes while the singer is changing their costume. Well, they had it so crunk while Mariah was off stage, you forget for a couple of minutes that you were at the concert to see her. Why you ask? Those “breaks” not only included a performance by Trey, but the world famous DJ Clue was there spinning all of the hottest club jams. And to everyone’s surprise, including Mariah’s, Mike Jones took the stage for an impromptu performance!

At the end of the show, Mariah sang her very moving “take it to church” song from her latest album, “Fly Like A Bird” and bid everyone good night. And then I said to myself “Wait a minute. Did she sing We Belong Together? No, she didn’t.” People are already starting to make their way to the exits, but being the true fan that I am, I knew she wasn’t done. I turned to Kristle and said “As much as I paid for this ticket, she’s gonna be singing that song tonight if it’s in front of the entire audience or just a private performance for me.” LoL. And as if on queue, she came back out and everyone was scrambling to get back to their seats. It was great show and I’d definitely see her again!