Mariah Carey – Sweet Sweet Fantasy Tour

Yes, we were there – and she was there, too! Luxembourg was well worth the trip. Not only for the concert but also because it’s a beautiful, very interesting city! The capital of this little country has a lot to offer and quite a few UNESCO sites!

As Luxembourg city is the only bigger city around, we were so sure that the concert would be taking place in the capital that we didn’t even have a look where exactly the venue was until a day before the show – just to find out that it was NOT in Luxembourg city but in Esch-sur-Alzette. Luckily the train connections were good and so we managed to get back and forth without any bigger complications.

The Rockhal is not a very big venue with a capacity of 6,500 people. Thanx to an Early Entry Ticket, we were able to make it to the front row easily. At half past seven, a DJ started to play for 1,5 hours. According to official information, Mariah was due on stage at 21.15. But it got later and later and the show didn’t start. Finally at a few minutes to 10, Mariah’s voice sounded through the hall – but only to tell us, that she had just arrived, delayed due to heavy rains in London. She asked us for another ten minutes to put on her ensemble and get ready. Well, of course she needed twice as long, but finally the show started with “Fantasy“.

This tour is a greatest hits tour, so unfortunatly there were no songs from her newer albums like “Me. I am Mariah“, which I like a lot. They tried to squeeze in as many hits as possible, ending up with a long medley of “I know what you want“, “Obsessed“, “It’s like that“, “Shake it off“, “Loverboy” and more that you couldn’t even breathe deeply – especially if you sang along as loud as we did in the first rows. Of course she also gave us some of her trademark ballads like “My all” or “Hero“. For “I’ll be there” she not only duetted with her traditional partner Trey Lorenz, but also let little Michael Jackson sing one of the verses while showing his videos and pictures on the screen. A second moving tribute was done for Whitney Houston for their duet “When you believe“.

Unfortunately, some songs that were part of her program during the UK leg of the tour like “One sweet day” were omitted – maybe because of the delay. But that way the show became really short. “Without you“, which probably was supposed to be an encore, was just played without a necessary encore break and the lights in the arena were switched on bascially the second Mariah was off stage after just 75 minutes. Good concerts always are too short but for this one I had the feeling I was just getting into it and then it was over again. I wish she had taken a little more time!

I could listen to Mariah forever because her voice is so unique and versatile! She never ceases to amaze me live with her vocal abilities. I wouldn’t even need these show elements during her concerts, she could just stand there and sing and that would be enough! Her songs are among my all-time favorites. I basically love all of her songs and some of them have accompanied me through difficult times. That’s why I think she’s really underrated as a songwriter because most people don’t even know she writes most of her songs herself. She’s one of those rare talents that we have so few left today, these legends that people start taking for granted until it’s too late… I’m soooo much looking forward to see her again in Munich in 2 weeks!

Good bye, Janet!

I haven’t posted in a long time and I’m sorry about this. The last half year has been an exciting one with a new workplace, but concert-wise pretty boring, so there was no real need in posting anything and I was too much into my new life that I didn’t want to dwell in the past.

This spring/summer looked like it would become one of the best concert times of my life! With Janet Jackson, Mariah Carey and Beyoncé on tour, three of my all-time favorite artists were scheduled to come to Europe and I got two or more tickets for each one of them.

Then, with excitement building especially for Janet’s tour, for which I had four tickets, the whole European leg of the tour was cancelled! What a letdown! I was so much looking forward to the shows, as I’ve always admired Janet as a live performer and I also love her new album “Unbreakable“. Additionally I looked forward to meeting a lot of Jackson-fans whom I hadn’t seen for years. And now all we’re left with are canceled tickets and flights.

I have to admit that apart from the disappointment I’m also angry. Angry because I feel there are some people who didn’t do their job properly and we are the ones to pay for it (Literally! I will lose a few hundred Euros and I know many others who will as well!). From the moment her shows went on sale, everyone I know was irritated that they had booked her for the huge arenas. With Janet not having had any hit in Europe for years and her new album not being promoted, we wondered how they wanted to sell enough tickets to fill these arenas. As there were seating maps available for most of the gigs, it was easy to see that our fear was justified. Everyone hoped that there would be some kind of promo like a TV performance or at least some new video clips before the tour started but there was nothing, nothing, nothing. My friends and me feared a cancellation of the tour, but as time went by and Janet already travelled to Europe and started posting videos to different cities saying that she was looking forward to the concerts, we had to believe that the tour was going ahead. So about three weeks before the first concert was supposed to take place, we booked our flights to Dublin, Düsseldorf and Copenhagen – only to find out a few days later that the tour was cancelled. “Scheduling problems” read the official excuse. “Scheduling problems” my ass! This tour had been set since October, it had been confirmed again after the rescheduling of the American leg due to Janet having an operation, Janet had already arrived in Europe… What a bullshit excuse! They didn’t even have the balls to admit their mistake. And Janet? – She didn’t have the balls either. For a few days she had no comment at all, after a shitstorm in the internet, she released a statement on her twitter page saying she would try her best to reschedule the shows as soon as possible. I believe in a rescheduling as much as I believe that the 2001 “All for you”-tour will ever be rescheduled as promised! There was some speculation that this cancellation had to do with her health problems earlier this year, but if that was the case, she wouldn’t be able to play her date in Dubai at the World Racing Cup on March 26th either. She has lost the trust of her European audience and I’m sure many will think twice to ever buy a ticket for Janet again. It’s a shame because she is such a great artist but right now all I feel is disappointment, anger and betrayal!

I’m just hoping the Mariah Carey’s shows will go ahead, because if I look at the seating maps, it doesn’t look much better! Her shows were not advertised either and her last charted songs are a few years ago as well. I don’t get this new concept of setting up a tour without any promotion. As we all know, a tour today is not the promotion for an album as it used to be but the album is more or less the promotion for the tour – but if you have no album out (like Mariah) or an album that is not selling well, does only have one single and there are no TV performances (like Janet), it’s difficult to market a tour all by itself – especially for artists that are legendary but not particularly “in” at the moment. Add the prices that they ask for, as for more and more concert you need to buy expensive seats, and you have half-empty arenas! Mariah’s ticket definitely was the most expensive one I ever bought with 235€ for a 3rd row ticket in Munich. I did this because I truly love her as an artist and can’t miss her, but I understand when people feel this is way too much and consequently don’t attend! As this is double the price I paid for Janet, I have hopes that the shows are going ahead because they will still earn more money. Plus the tour has already started. So please, have your fingers crossed – my first show will be on Easter Saturday in Luxembourg. Stay tuned!

Janet Jackson tickets for Copenhagen, Dublin and Düsseldorf – now useless…