Grammy Award-winning artist and power vocalist Mariah Carey soared through several octaves in her “1 to Infinity” concert at The Colosseum at Caesars Palace Sunday night. Carey conquered the intergenerational crowd, beginning with her ‘90s debut hit, “Vision of Love.”
When the long red curtains opened, Carey stood at center stage, resplendent in a long black gown, singing her memorable first hit with a soulful, gospel-tinged melody. Her voice delved into a lower register not heard often in her more recent work. Notably, her career has spanned three decades, and her rendition of her 18 hits showed off her creative versatility and seamless movement between her more soulful, inspiring singer-songwriter talents evident in “Vision of Love” and “Love Takes Time” to the popular R&B/hip-hop flavor of “Fantasy” and “Heartbreaker.” During this concert, Carey reached a high soprano in several instances, and the audience roared with loud applause for her signature glass-shattering vocal styling.
Carey continued effortlessly with renditions of her 18 chart toppers that outpaced Elvis Presley and now made her the second recording artist with the highest total of Billboard #1 hits. Framed by large butterfly wings and lavish lighting effects, Carey began by saying, “I’m about to take you on a journey from #1 to Infinity.” She thanked her many fans and told a short anecdote about the making of her first album when her producers told her that they needed a pop ballad. At the time, she admitted, she did not know exactly what they meant, but she took a try at writing one, which resulted in “Love Takes Time.”
The next upbeat song featured a corps of dancers with Carey as she delivered the bouncy scorned-lover tune, “Someday.” She sustained her low-to-high riffs in “Emotions” and welcomed Trey Lorenz to the stage to sing their popular duet, “I’ll Be There.” On the large screen behind them, a montage of photos from her childhood flashed, continuing with a video clip of a very young Michael Jackson singing his stylized remake of the classic number with the Jackson Five and ending with a photo Carey’s onstage embrace of the late King of Pop.
Concert highlights included Carey being rolled onstage in a vintage pink convertible, surrounded by five muscle-bound male mechanic-dancers as she sang “Dream Lover.” Carey even showed off a few dance moves in a performance with a small cadre of dancers. Another upbeat favorite was “Always Be My Baby,” during which she left the stage to sing and mingle with audience members. A lucky fan was plucked from the crowd and lay next to Mariah on a bed as she performed her “Touch My Body” reprise.
This beautiful songstress conquered the Vegas strip in classic stand-and-deliver style. Her “#1 to Infinity” concert, named after the recent release of her greatest-hits album, demonstrated her talents as a unique songwriter and power vocalist delivering multi-octave inimitable riffs that lesser talents try to emulate. Surely her best songwriting talents have yet to return to the level of her earlier hits. Perhaps Carey will return to her soulful, gospel-flavored roots to mark her blazing path further into the 21st century.
Her summer concert dates for The Colosseum at Caesars Palace are July 8, 11-12, 15, 18-19, 22, 25 and 26, with winter dates scheduled for February of next year.
