Although she didn’t graduate from St. John’s, she wouldn’t be Mariah “The Scientist” without her experience at St. John’s. And she made her impact here in the 3 years she spent here, giving the school props for some of her earliest projects, pointing out memories she made here in tracks like “Beetlejuice” and even shouting out the school at her latest New York City sold-out concert at Radio City Music Hall. This may not be my first time seeing Mariah live, it surely was my favorite and truly a concert I have no regrets about.
There is a lot to say about this experience. For starters, Mariah is one of my best friend’s favorite artists. Besides that, she’s an insanely talented singer. So when I saw the tour dates drop, I immediately knew I had to secure tickets for my best friend and I. And that’s exactly what I did. It was going to be my first time going to a concert at the iconic Radio City Music Hall, and it surely lived up to its hype. Even though our seats were high up, everyone had a good view. It was a stunning venue, from a beautiful ceiling in the auditorium itself, to stunning stairwells and elegant lobbies – I felt so fancy at this venue. I would 100% go back for more shows there. The security was mostly efficient, and was very polite, and was overall an amazing concert venue. The only issues I had was that the crowd was so loud there were points that we couldn’t fully hear her sing, and yes, that goes to show how much the crowd loves her, but the mics simply could’ve been turned up more in my opinion.
Onto the music. I went into this show knowing basically just the choruses of a good handful of the setlist. I didn’t study to my fullest potential. But it was okay because I just wanted to be there with my bestie. And that’s what happened. Not only that, but I fell more in love with her music after hearing it live and enjoying them in concert. Songs like “More”, “All For Me”, and “United Nations + 1000 Ways to Die” would never be on my radar had I not loved hearing them live. Other than my knowledge on her music, like I mentioned prior, she is an insanely talented singer and has astonishing vocals. On the musicality, there’s truly nothing I can complain about. I left that concert falling even more in love with her music and that’s all I can ask for.
Other than that, her merch was cute. As I’ve gotten older and concert merch prices have gone up, I’ve gotten less and less concert merch over the past couple of years. Yet, this show was an exception. She had a limited selection, and there were far more knock off options outside the venue for much cheaper, yet her t-shirt drew me in. Although $40 is steep for a t-shirt, it is fairly affordable compared to most artists today. Not only that, but it’s equally as rare to find an affordable first as it is to find one that’s cute. So when I saw her shirt for $40 AND it was one of the cutest shirts period, I knew I had to get it. And it also helps that my best friend covered most of it as my birthday present.
Overall, the concert was amazing. The music was great, the fans and atmosphere was even better, the merch was super cute and great quality and I ultimately had such a great time. Going with my best friend was such a great decision and seeing her in concert was an even better one.