Ok… so after 2 years, I saw Mariah Carey again… and this time with a heart-stopping surprise: a tearful performance of "One Sweet Day" with BoyzIIMen in the flesh! My cousin and I were just really fortunate enough to have chosen the Anaheim concert instead of the LA one.
I’ve only been to 4 major concerts my whole life, and two of them were of Mariah Carey (one was in Manila with my sister, and my friend Cam) and the other one last Sunday, at the Honda Center in Anaheim with my cousin Rochelle. Just to say the least, it was the best yet.
The other two concerts I went to, both have Freestyle in them. The very first was Freestyle live in Bustos with the Levites Priest I think… gosh I was in high school then so I can’t really recall… So anyway, they were great but they were not that famous yet that time. The second I went to was I think Valentine’s day of 2003. We went to watch Zsa Zsa Padilla, Lani Misalucha, and of course Freestyle. Lani was the best among them, but we couldn’t really enjoy the show because the people in front of us were standing even if we have seats and besides we were too far from the stage. Then came Mariah’s Charmbracelet tour in 2004 - Manila stop was at The Fort. I was just so overwhelmed at the sight of Mariah that time that for the first three songs I was just crying in between the line sof her songs… hehe… could not help it. But, because of the super high cost of tickets we could only afford the general admission that time… and all I could see was a pink dot that was Mariah. And I think the open space didn’t help much her tired voice… and we were standing the whole time and right towards the middle light showers started so everyone in front of us opened their unbrellas, thus seeing neither Mariah the dot nor the big screen that was there to magnify her for the poor people like us at the general admission section. And I thought that was going to be the end of it until my cousin told me about Mariah’s Anaheim stop of her Emancipation of Mimi Tour - The Adventures of Mimi. We bought the tickets right there and then.
The stage was set like all her stops. Stars background with 3 huge screens floating, a second level on stage, her MC emblem, lights and glitters, and stuff, and of course butterfly confettis at the end. Oh, and let’s not forget the mini stage (B Stage) at the center of the whole arena where she demonstrated the importance of her new lip gloss line - it has a mirror and light! So partygoers and hard core clubbing animals, you better go get one now, it will really benefit all you ladies out there who loves to party in the dark but still wants to make sure they stay pretty all night! hehehe So anyway, she had 5 costume changes:
1. Opening: Black bra, boy shorts (her legs were to kill for!) and cape. Yes, black chiffon cape. She got the crowd roaring when she opened with It’s Like That, then really got the crowd on their feet with Dreamlover. Then she came out again with her choir and sang Fly Like A Bird then went back inside to grab her shades and strut her stuff to Shake It Off.. with all the MIMI light thingy/background in her MTV. Then she went up the second level to do her trademark cutesy dance on Heartbreaker. Then the light came out to put the spotlight on the guest DJ for the next costume change. During the break, a healthy dos eof hardcore partying with Old School disco hits. Damn that was fun!
2. Yellow Dress. This was when she sang some of her slow romantic songs namely: My All, Vision of Love, Hero, and I’ll Be There with Trey Lorenz of course. Then Trey Lorenz took over the stage for her 3rd costume change.
3. Skimpy Capris and some sort of Midriff Top or whatever you call it. On the "B Stage", she sang Fantasy remix dedicated to ODB, then Don’t Forget About Us (including the disco ball lighting the whole arena - really really really awesome!!!!), then she demostrated the use of her lip gloss which she gave to a little girl in the audience, accepted a small lamb from the audience, then sang Always Be My Baby, then went back to the main stage halfway. Back on the main stage she sang Honey and snippet of Thank God I Found You. Then the DJ got the crowd up again with his mixes of current dance hits… was so much better than Club DV8!
4. Blue Green Dress. She came out in this dress halfway to I wish You Knew and sang a snippet. Then went on to thanking everyone and talking to the fans and stuff. Then sang snippet of Can’t Let Go then surprised everyone (apparently she was surprised herself) when BoyIIMen showed up to sing with her One Sweet Day. According to the boys, they were in the area and performed at the Angels Stadium and heard that Mariah was having a concert at it’s neighbor Honda Center and decided to surprise her and perform their song. That was really tearful, that was when I just cried and my heart was just beating with the song… damn that was really good. After the surprise was a mellow performace of Hero (I think the only time I actually sat down during the whole concert) and a jumpy rendition of Make It Happen (when I could not help but stand up again and sway with everyone). Then she said goodnight to everyone and was gone…. Some thought it was over… at least those who didn’t notice that she hadn’t sang We Belong Together yet. hehehe
5. Bronze/Brown See-Thru Dress. Encore. We Belong Together, Butterfly Reprise and tons of pink and purple butterfly confettis!!! The end of the magical night. We were in heaven.
So there. I’m dying to see her next concert. My cousin and I promised each other that we’ll buy front row tickets on her next tour. We’ll see about that… hehehe
On November 4th, we’re watching Gary Valenciano at the Pechanga Resort and Casino. I’m pretty sure it won’t beat Mariah’s spectacular, almost album version singing voice but better Concert, so we’ll see and I’ll probably share my piece about it 4 weeks from now. hehe… yun lang!
(pictures from www.mariahdaily.com … would’ve loved to take pictures but didn’t want to be evicted from the building! hehehe super bawal!)
