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Thread started 11/04/07 4:00pm

lastdecember

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Mariah Carey EMANCIPATION tour DVD review from a UK screening...(Concert Photos Now Included )

It seems this DVD might only be issued overseas and not the US, i havent been able to confirm that the USA will get it.

Heres the review

Carlos writes his full review of "The Adventures Of Mimi" Tour DVD after attending an exclusive screening in the UK.


"I not only got my hands on the Anaheim recorded tour itself but also the impressive extras. So here's the lowdown and the official verdict.

It's not secret we've all suffered from poor releases from Sony when it comes to Mariah Carey DVDs. Universal has finally stepped up with not only a new offering but a genuinely good package with The Adventures Of Mimi Tour. Right from the word go, the presentation on the DVD is a class product. You're treated to a CGI rendition of the tour stage that lets you navigate the various different options.

Naturally, you'll want to jump right in and go for the concert itself - which features the ENTIRE concert. No edit verses, no cut songs - this is the full show as those thousands of fans experienced it. So that's nineteen Mariah hits. The full setlist:

1. Opening Video
2. It's Like That
3. Heartbreaker (Remix/Album version)
4. Dreamlover (Album version/Remix)
5. My All (Album version/Remix)
6. Shake It Off
7. Vision Of Love
8. Fly Like A Bird
9. I'll Be There (with Trey Lorenz)
10. Fantasy (O.D.B. Remix)
11. Don't Forget About Us
12. Always Be My Baby
13. Honey
14. I Wish You Knew
15. Can't Let Go
16. One Sweet Day (with Boyz II Men)
17. Hero
18. Make It Happen
19. We Belong Together
20. Butterfly Reprise

Now I never got to see this tour in the flesh. I had my chances but a trip from the UK to America (no matter how tempting) just wasn't financially viable for met last year. Having this DVD sorts all that. This is the full experience - you even get the exchanges with the crowd, including a touching description of why Mariah has to sing 'Hero' even if it isn't her favourite song or the moment when one lucky fan gets to come on stage for a hug. It's a blessed relief to enjoy the show as it was, not cut to pieces or stuffed with taped features that disrupt the flow of the concert.

The set list is safe but solid. It's all the hits that stormed the charts. Commercial, popular and what keeps the crowd cheering from start to finish. Sure, some of the album cuts would have been nice. But the tour was more a celebration of one of the greatest music comebacks in history. Mariah is pulling out the weapons that made her #1 and when times got tough, brought her back there. She knows it too. I was genuinely surprised by her improved stage presence. She's come a lot further from her 2003 days. She now seems more relaxed and happy on stage. She's still posing like a killer catwalk model of course - and looking fantastic while doing it. But she's absolutely radiant on stage, for the first time really loving being up on that stage performing for the audience.

Of course that audience came for 'The Voice' as will anyone watching at home. Fair play - these vocals (for my money anyway) are not dubbed. These are stripped right from the concert. They aren't her best vocals, they aren't her worst. They are more raw, more passionate and a little looser. Best example is her rendition of 'Vision Of Love'. To me, this record always sounds as fresh as the day it was first released. The word timeless doesn't do this classic justice. But Mariah experiments with her rendition. It's not entirely successful and demonstrates her weaker moments towards the climax but it shows her willing to shake things up for a more interesting listen.

Speaking of interesting, the camera has really tried to visually keep things interesting on the eye not just the ear. Filmed concerts can get quite boring without some good visuals to hold the attention. There are some excellent sweeps across both stages that take in the scope of the venue. Some nice cinematic ones too with 'Fly Like A Bird' as well, where the camera starts on the floor of the crowd, moves forward and upwards at the stage to Mariah and the army of gospel singers. Some missed opportunities on stuff like 'Heartbreaker' and 'Honey' I felt. When you've got a swarm of dancers coming down some elegant stairs, you want to see it and not crowd clips. Credit to them, they made it fun to watch and got as many varied camera angles as possible.

There's more than just the concert of course - we have extras! One of the more interesting ones is the Juke Box. Basically you have 12 credits and can create your own set list. You decide what order the songs will play in. Quite a novel feature and one I hadn't seen before. All the concert skits are included on 'Lovers & Haters' for some comedy value. There's the karaoke on six tracks, that you can have with or without Mariah singing. The Behind The Scenes feature is about ten minutes long, you get some interviews with the Tatums and Rachel, some Michael as well as Mariah herself on the tour bus.

The better features are on the second disc. The documentary is brilliant, you actually get some fresh information that aren't just the usual recycled sound bites. The set designs are discussed, proposed/rejected concepts, the whole thought process and experience of performing on the second stage, meeting Rachel and all the dancers, the backing singers (who are very playful in their interviews), rehearsals and bloopers on stage including her near costume malfunction.

There is a discussion on the set list for the concert. This is very insightful. Randy Jackson discussed 'Vanishing', what song Mariah likes to open the show with, how she experiments with merging certain remixed songs ('Heartbreaker', 'My All' and 'Dreamlover'). This part is brilliant - you hear Mariah discuss the history of the mixes, creatively, and she mentions she does want to go back to Australia. Good news for all loyal fans down under.

She also touches on celebrities in the audience, the tragic passing of O.D.B. (rest in peace), some of the moments from other tours (fighting Bianca on the Rainbow tour, etc), plus the experience of being on stage with Trey, Boyz II Men, Da Brat and Jay-Z across the various shows. Her discussion on 'Hero' is very, very interesting. She touches on the need to perform it. She makes it clear it's not her favourite (quote on quote "corny") but knows that it's helped her. Mostly it's helped her fans and many people are coming to hear just that song for the power of its message. She also discusses 'Make It Happen' returning to the set list through fan popularity and the thrill of performing 'We Belong Together' at the finale since it changed her career and is many couples anthem. Cute moment when she discusses Patti LaBelle and the 'Butterfly Outro' - she wants to leave the stage singing like she does to the song that most sums her up.

I cannot stress how great this documentary is. It's worth the price of the DVD alone. Mariah discusses pretty much all the songs she performs on the show. I find the creative process behind why what songs were chosen and what it feels like to perform those songs live. If you do, this 60 minutes of footage will have you enthralled. It's about the music and it's for the fans. Speaking of which, the fan messages near the end are cute. I love the girl who calls Mariah an angel from above, who helped her get through losing her father. Bless her.

This is - finally - the Mariah DVD we've all been waiting for. Excellent features, good, uninterrupted features, superb footage and decent vocals. This is worth the wait and what the fans have been waiting for. Universal, if you're listening - keep them coming!"


I'll post some photos from the show in a bit.....

Well here are some shots from the tour, OH MARIAH!
[Edited 11/5/07 12:11pm]



[Edited 11/5/07 12:30pm]

Heres a shot from the BREAKDOWN performance, it was HOT but almost never performed on the tour , even the costume got dropped from the tour


[Edited 11/5/07 12:43pm]

"We went where our music was appreciated, and that was everywhere but the USA, we knew we had fans, but there is only so much of the world you can play at once" Magne F
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Reply #1 posted 11/04/07 4:11pm

Harlepolis

Not one word about Spike Lee who did this shit? lol

I want to see the docu-film too nod
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Reply #2 posted 11/04/07 4:16pm

JackieBlue

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Off the top of my head I know five people who would love to have this. Sounds good.
Been gone for a minute, now I'm back with the jump off
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Reply #3 posted 11/04/07 5:53pm

lastdecember

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im hoping its issued here or else its going to be alot of import spending again. I wished that the concert was kind of a mixture from alot of shows, she did a KILLER performance of Breakdown one nite of the tour and then it got dropped from the setlist, but it was smoking HOT i caught it on YouTube. But its great to finally see this tour make it to DVD.

"We went where our music was appreciated, and that was everywhere but the USA, we knew we had fans, but there is only so much of the world you can play at once" Magne F
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Reply #4 posted 11/04/07 6:46pm

paisleypark4

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She did Cant Let Go at one of her shows?????

cry



she didnt do that in Florida
Straight Jacket Funk Affair
Album plays and love for vinyl records.
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Reply #5 posted 11/05/07 10:23am

daPrettyman

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paisleypark4 said:

She did Cant Let Go at one of her shows?????

cry



she didnt do that in Florida

She did a SNIPPET of it in Dallas.

I hope the DVD is a hell of a lot better than the Dallas show. It was HORRIBLE. It wasn't that she was bad, the show itself sucked. She had all of these hip-hop interludes then she would go into a ballad. You can read my blog on the show on my myspace page: http://www.myspace.com/nivlekbrad
**--••--**--••**--••--**--••**--••--**--••**--••-
U 'gon make me shake my doo loose!
http://www.twitter.com/nivlekbrad
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Reply #6 posted 11/05/07 11:26am

lastdecember

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daPrettyman said:

paisleypark4 said:

She did Cant Let Go at one of her shows?????

cry



she didnt do that in Florida

She did a SNIPPET of it in Dallas.

I hope the DVD is a hell of a lot better than the Dallas show. It was HORRIBLE. It wasn't that she was bad, the show itself sucked. She had all of these hip-hop interludes then she would go into a ballad. You can read my blog on the show on my myspace page: http://www.myspace.com/nivlekbrad


My main complaint about the concerts, i saw her 3 times on this tour, were the fact that she had an opening ACT!! Mariah doesnt need an opener, and to have to endure Sean Paul and/or Busta Rhymes was PAINFUL! Trust me the crowd didnt need to be "warmed up" for her, its not like she has 1 or 2 albums, she has a catlalog to choose from.

"We went where our music was appreciated, and that was everywhere but the USA, we knew we had fans, but there is only so much of the world you can play at once" Magne F
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Reply #7 posted 11/05/07 11:57am

VANITYSprisonB
YTCH

I was at the Anaheim show...it was a LOOOOONG night...it was a great show but you had to wait up to a half hour between breaks...it was getting really bad towards the end. Randy Jackson had come out and said they were filming so the breaks would be a little bit longer...they were long as hell..the part where she sings 'Always Be My Baby' in the boxing ring...I think she took about 25 minutes to go up there and sing ...i just remember saying 'get up there alreay!!!!!'

...
Every minute of last night is on my face today....
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Reply #8 posted 11/05/07 2:40pm

daPrettyman

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lastdecember said:

daPrettyman said:


She did a SNIPPET of it in Dallas.

I hope the DVD is a hell of a lot better than the Dallas show. It was HORRIBLE. It wasn't that she was bad, the show itself sucked. She had all of these hip-hop interludes then she would go into a ballad. You can read my blog on the show on my myspace page: http://www.myspace.com/nivlekbrad


My main complaint about the concerts, i saw her 3 times on this tour, were the fact that she had an opening ACT!! Mariah doesnt need an opener, and to have to endure Sean Paul and/or Busta Rhymes was PAINFUL! Trust me the crowd didnt need to be "warmed up" for her, its not like she has 1 or 2 albums, she has a catlalog to choose from.

I totally agree. Busta was HORRIBLE. Nevermind the fact that they attract 2 TOTALLY different fanbases. It was so bad to see parents escorting their children out of the arena when Busta performed and cursed and talked nasty and everything else.
**--••--**--••**--••--**--••**--••--**--••**--••-
U 'gon make me shake my doo loose!
http://www.twitter.com/nivlekbrad
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Forums > Music: Non-Prince > Mariah Carey EMANCIPATION tour DVD review from a UK screening...(Concert Photos Now Included )