No other performer has made a holiday part of their brand quite like Mariah Carey. It's an impressive feat. Imagine making the entire institution of Christmas a part of your image? The only other major player to have done that is Santa Claus, and he isn't even real (spoilers)!
Those who get annoyed at stores stocking holiday decorations right after Halloween would have fumed at the droves of people decked out in Santa hats and holiday regalia for Mariah Carey's Christmastime at Moody Center on Sunday. It's not even Thanksgiving yet, but screw a Scrooge. This was Mariah Carey's first time ever performing in Austin and young and old screamed holiday shanties throughout the 90-minute show.
The Cleopatra of Christmas descended onto the stage from a huge snowflake throne suspended in mid-air. Wearing a white mermaid dress with puffy sleeves, Carey looked like Glinda the Good on her wedding day while glitter rained down on the crowd like incandescent silver snow. She was joined onstage by a troupe of break dancers wearing double-breasted toy soldier uniforms and gospel-leaning backup singers.
This being a Christmastime show, Carey performed holiday classics like "Joy to the World" and "Silent Night" with a modern spin. Her powerhouse vocals were the highlight, with vibrato so effortless that it almost looked like she was lip syncing. She even sprinkled in a handful of her signature whistle notes.
"I'll tell you a bit about the Christmas times I spend with my kids. We go on a sleigh ride in Aspen, it's the best," the ever-relatable Carey said before launching into "Sleigh Ride", a 1948 song by Leroy Anderson.
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Carey involved her kids in the live performance too. Her 13-year-old twins, Moroccan "Roc" Scott Cannon and Monroe "Roe" Carey Cannon, whom she shares with ex Nick Cannon, trotted onto the stage for an interlude while their mother went backstage for one of her four 15-minute costume changes. Suffice it to say, celebrities are currently in a golden age of nepotism and these kids did not match their mother's polish.
Carey came back on stage in a sparkly red mini dress decorated with bedazzled snowflakes. She let her backup dancers do the heavy lifting throughout the performance, only walking back and forth around the stage, waving to the crowd and taking intermittent sips of tea from a candy cane-patterned Christmas cup. Nevertheless the fans went wild, especially when an old guy dressed as St. Nick came out with a big red bag and began throwing gifts out to the audience. I'm positive some people were bitter that he wasn't equipped with an air cannon launcher to shoot some farther back into the arena.
"When I first started doing these Christmas shows, I only did Christmas songs because I love Christmas and that's just the way it is," Carey said after another costume change, now dressed in a glittering silver gown and cape. "But my agent said maybe I should give them the hits as well, so we'll do a couple of the hits. That sounds like fun."
The singer launched into "Hero" from her third album "Music Box" (1993) and "Always Be My Baby" from her fifth album "Daydream" (1995). Carey interrupted the concert to bring a toddler onstage from the audience, who caught her attention with an "I'm named after you Mariah" sign.
The crowd roared for "We Belong Together", her second most recognizable song, but the big moment was the obvious encore: "All I Want For Christmas Is You".
Red-robed carolers sang on a suspended catwalk as Carey came back onto the stage, pushed out in a red sleigh. Sporting a sparkling red toy soldier-inspired bodysuit, she sang her holiday classic surrounded by a circus of costumed dancers. Glittery snow once again washed over the crowd as she ended her set wishing everyone a happy holiday season.
Even though Christmas is still 37 days away, Mariah Carey proved it's never too early to start spiking the eggnog.
(Austin American-Statesman)
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