Concert Review: Mariah Carey, Christina Aguilera and P!nk.

Hey readers.
I haven't posted anything, obviously, since the Grammy update. I was experimenting with Tumblr (d1esel6.tumblr) and wrote some quick music reviews there. And than I was contemplating closing this blog out, but maybe I just need to revamp how I go about this.

So anyway, I thought maybe I should start by reviewing what I saw this weekend. This past Sunday, the LOGO network had a cool little Pop Diva marathon. They were showing Behind the Music when I woke up (Eve and Jennifer Hudson), and than after that they showed 4 concerts in a row. Concerts that I actually had on my Netflix Q, Mariah Carey's "Adventures of Mimi Tour", Christina Aguilera's "Back to Basics Tour" and P!nk's recent "Funhouse Tour". I'm pretty sure most of the shows were edited down for time and commercial breaks (I know, for instance, that P!nk not doing "Stupid Girls" or Christina not doing "Genie in a Bottle" was more of an editing thing because to not perform those hits seems strange) but they gave a good indication on whether or not the shows were any good.

Mariah's show, well I give her an A for effort.
"The Adventures of Mimi" came after her big comeback with the album "Emancipation of Mimi" and I think she felt like she had to pull out all the stops. So there were big dance numbers and elaborate set pieces, and her scantily clad throughout. Mariah is great with her interaction with the crowd, that's definitely where she excels. She was fun and funny, and at times genuinely heartfelt. Her voice, at times, was still phenomenal although not flawless. There were times when she kind of fell off the melodies, or just hit the wrong notes, but those were few and far between. And her stage presence, well it ain't that great. I feel like her problem is that she's too overly conscious of every move she makes. Though sometimes she busted out some dance moves that looked really natural on her. At the end of the show, I was satisfied with the concert. She ran through pretty much ALL her big hits and it was fun taking a trip down memory lane (I hadn't listened to "Dream Lover" in I don't know how long and I forgot how much I love it), she even brought out Boyz II Men (well three of the four original members) to do her gigantic mid-90's hit "One Sweet Day". Mariah really did give her all, she really tried and you can't really fault her for the mis-steps, just comparatively it wasn't the best show out there. Obviously great for True Mariah fans like myself.

Rating: 7 of 10

Christina Aguilera's "Back to Basics Tour" faltered only because she pretty much sang nothing but "Back to Basics" material, and that's not my favorite Christina album.

I respect the album because she truly did go for the sound that she was into and didn't get persuaded to change it, however that R&B meets Old School Jazz meets Pop sound doesn't lend itself well for a big arena tour. I also should add, I think this was the most edited show of the three I watched. I just kept feeling like "Okay, WHEN is she gonna sing a song I know" and it didn't come until the end. (I also got the feeling she was lipping big chunks of her show... I just never heard her BREATHE which is an indication) Where Christina excelled on this show was her confidence and her stage presence blew me away. She was ripping up the stage, and not that she was doing intricate dance moves or anything like that, she just was all over the stage with sass and attitude that was necessary for the material. Even the overall staging of the show was superb, "Makes Me Wanna Pray" and "Candyman" specifically were really well thought out as far as look and utilizing the stage. Towards the end, Aguilera lost some steam it seemed like. She ended with her classic "Beautiful" (terribly oversung) and "Fighter" which I felt was an ODD closer, but it worked. Overall, the show seemed a little disjointed and out of sync (and I think it's because of the LOGO editing) but she LOOKED great, and her stage presence was on point. Better than I expected, but still not all that impressive.

Rating: 6 of 10 (based on the LOGO broadcast which I still think was heavily edited)

Now I saw P!nk's tour in support of "I'm Not Dead" on DVD a few years ago, and it blew me away. I always knew she was a great singer and great performer but that concert was just EVERYTHING you'd want in a show.

Her most recent "Funhouse Tour" took it up a bunch of notches. The stage presence that Christina had, and the interaction with the crowds that Mariah had, combined with some real Cirque du Soleil stunts, true musicality, and wonderful costume and set design really OWNS both the other concerts. I guess the thing that P!nk has is pure energy and not taking herself too seriously. And I should add, true versatility. She goes from Rock Anthems (the excellent cover of "Bohemian Rhapsody") to slower acoustic sets ("I Don't Believe You") to pure Pop extravaganzas (a great rendition of "Get the Party Started") all while joking with the crowd, making fun of her dancing, and being playful with her band. Of the three shows (there was a 30 minute Lady GaGa show I didn't watch) P!nk really just seemed like she was the one actually having fun up on stage, and of course the audience and the viewer enjoyed it more because of it. Immediately after watching, I added the show to my Amazon playlist because I could definitely imagine myself giving that more than 10 viewings.

Rating: 9.5 of 10

Concert Review: Beyoncé "I Am... Tour" Oakland, July 10th

A Few things before I start.
I Love Beyoncé, I'm not a total Stan but I'm a pretty fanatical admirer. I definitely look out for flaws in her performances and music, but even being as critical as I can be it seems I love everything she does. So I knew I'd have the time of my life at her "I Am... Tour" which touched down in Oakland, CA this past Friday July 10th.
Another thing I wanted to mention before I post my review, somehow I was blessed with an amazing ticket upgrade that literally had me interacting and Touching Mrs. Jay-Z!!! It was a concert experience I never had before and one I'm sure I'll never forget.

Now, on to the show. When I say Beyoncé is THE best entertainer in the industry we have right now, Believe it. I don't think I've ever seen any pop performer rip through so many songs within a 2 hour set, singing live, doing high energy dance routines and genuinely engaging the crowd at the same time. Which is par for the course for Beyoncé, being that this is her third solo headlining tour since 2003. The "I Am... Tour" shows that she has been learning with all those previous tours how to give the perfect show. One that shows off her vocal talents, showcases her now pretty extensive catalogue, and entertains everybody in the arena. She did it, and did it well in Oakland. What amazed me is she was able to do a big spectacle of a pop show, with explosives, video montages, and stunts like her flying through the air to "Baby Boy". However, somehow she was able to have this huge show but still make the show totally personal to her fans. There were several instances where she talked to the crowd and had them participate in the songs that they made successful. And the video imagining during her stellar performance of "At Last" showed the African American struggle in the US and culminated with images of our first black president Barack Obama, (where she emphasized the "At Last". I have to admit, I found it a little self-centered and egotistical for her to repeatedly show pics of herself in "Cadillac Records" and her singing to the Obama's at their Inauguration, but I'll give her a pass). Since that was an experience all of us lived through, we all could relate in a very personal way.
Same goes for when she had the crowd sing a verse and hook of her #1 hit "Irreplaceable" or when she actually went into the audience to touch her fans during the show closer "Halo". Beyoncé did an excellent job of making you feel that she's both a Superstar Celebrity Entertainer as well as just a regular 27 old woman sharing the same experiences as everybody in the arena.

I honestly don't know what more to say about the show. Like I said before she basically went through all of her big solo hits but mainly focused on a lot of the material from her latest album "I Am... Sasha Fierce". Her "Ave Maria" mixed with Sarah McLachlan's "Angel" was as breathtaking live as it was on the BET Awards last month. "Smash Into You" and "Broken Hearted Girl" sandwiched that performance, and she put a lot of dramatics into the performances of her ballads and it worked to keep the crowd interested. Of course she had loads of uptempos, including her Electro'd out "Radio", 2007's dance ready "Get me Bodied", her first huge solo hit "Crazy in Love" and her mega-Iconic recent #1 "Single Ladies". One thing I did notice, it seemed like every song she performed was a performance that was prepared for an award show. Her performance of "If I were a boy" was probably my highlight of the night.It's a great song to sing along with, and it was the only song at the show where she got to Rock Out. With some of the interesting poses and moves she was doing with the mic stand she really reminded me of the great Tina Turner in her "What's Love Got to Do With It" heyday. During that performance she mixed in Alanis Morrissette's hit single "You Oughta Know" and did a number of head bangs. Again, her performances of each song were all like Award show performances in that she devoted 110% to make each song pitch perfect, perfect choreography and entertaining. Yet it's still amazing that she was able to do that with each song... back to back... for as long as she did.

The sad thing is, she performed on stage for a good 2 hours and the show was so much fun and so lively and entertaining that it only felt like half of that. I would definitely go again if that was an option. And if anybody is ever contemplating seeing her live, GO! You won't see a live Pop show better, no matter where you look.