Live Report: Mariah Carey at 3Arena

Music
23 May 19

NO FEE PICTURES Global superstar, Mariah Carey’s Caution World Tour opened at Dublin's 3Arena tonight, 22 May 2019 before takeing over the prestigious Royal Albert Hall for a rare 3-day residency after which she’ll make stops in Paris, Hamburg, Aalborg, Barcelona, Bordeaux and Amsterdam as part of her European tour off the back of the release of her critically acclaimed 15th studio album, Caution. . Picture: Arthur Carron

Lucas Dean

Mariah Carey has once again proven that there's no such thing as too many outfit changes.

Mariah Carey took the stage at 3Arena last night nearly an hour and a half after her estimated start time, and almost immediately proved why she was worth the wait.

Carey, who’s touring her latest album Caution, began the show with ‘A No No’ and ‘Dreamlover’. The singer has been cranking out hits and performing for the past three decades, and her years of experience were quickly evident in her charismatic stage presence and effortless handling of acrobatic vocals.

Following ‘You Don’t Know What To Do’, ‘Emotions’ and ‘Anytime You Need A Friend’, Carey disappeared from the stage to shed her golden, glittery dress for a black gown with glowing, pink stripes. When one of the stripes didn’t light up, she seemed unbothered. “That’s not… that’s not how it works,” she shrugs it off. “We’ll make it work.”

One of the most memorable moments of the entire concert came during her performance of ‘Always Be My Baby’. The screens behind her played videos of her adorable children, culminating in their emergence from backstage to greet the audience briefly before Carey asked if they’d wake her up with breakfast in bed in the morning.

Carey then sang ‘Caution’, the title track of the tour and her album, and hit impossibly high notes with ease. Before going on to ‘GTFO’, her glam team came out on stage to refresh her make-up. “Since, we’ve been out here on the stage, I need a little touch up,” she explained. “It’s just a diva moment… is that okay?” Cheers from the audience indicated that it was more than acceptable.

Her setlist was generous and spanned her career, including ‘My All’, ‘Last Night A DJ Saved My Life’, ‘Never Too Far’ and ‘Heartbreaker’. She finished off her performance with fan favourites ‘We Belong Together’, ‘Hero’ and ‘Without You’, each met with resounding applause.

Throughout her entire show, Carey maintained vocal perfection and held the audience’s attention with amusing asides and moments (including an incredibly campy fake fight in which she knocked out a background dancer). I personally am already looking forward to seeing her again.