Billie Marten on surviving the 'cesspit whirlwind of pop music'
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BBC News
16 hours ago
- BBC News
Brighton Pride director praises 'hugely successful weekend'
The organisers of Brighton Pride have praised a "hugely successful weekend", despite issues with entry to some of the 300,000 people flocked to the city for the celebrations, which included the Community Parade, Street Party in Marine Parade and Pride on the Park in Preston included five-time Grammy Award winner Mariah Carey on Saturday and the Sugababes on Kemp, managing director of Brighton Pride, said: "The overarching feeling I got was that people were having a fantastic time, that they love the events we put on and they love the city during pride." However, some attendees complained about the entry arrangements on Saturday, which prompted an apology from organisers regarding "longer than expected wait times" to enter the Kemp said changes were made for the Sunday events."It didn't work as well as we'd hoped," Mr Kemp said."We have to acknowledge it didn't work and we have to really look at that." But he labelled the event a "hugely successful weekend" overall, with Carey's performance receiving praise from P, who flew from India for the Pride on the Park performances, said Carey was the "queen of music" and said she "delivered beyond expectations". 'A disaster' The decision to move the Street Party from St James's Street to Marine Parade had been the subject of concern by residents and those to have opposed the change was the Kemptown Residents Association, whose founder Diane Messias argued that such a resident area was "completely unsuitable to be a party venue".She told BBC Radio Sussex: "This started on Thursday night when I had no sleep, because between 23:30 and 01:30 in the morning they were heavy lifting the barriers from St James Street into place, but they were doing it from Marine Parade. It's days and nights of upheaval."Responding to the alleged issues of overcrowding at the Street Party, local resident Diane - who left Brighton for the weekend - said the association "predicted" it would happen."We predicted that leaving St James Street open just to see what happened would be a disaster, as it was," she said.
The Guardian
a day ago
- The Guardian
Mariah Carey at Brighton Pride review – even the shirtless dancers can't distract from how stop-start this is
Mariah Carey famously said she doesn't acknowledge the 'passage of time', so true to form, she arrives to headline at Brighton Pride five years after she was originally scheduled to appear. The delay clearly hasn't put off the throngs of devoted Lambs (Carey's stans), displaying their fandom with T-shirts referencing other quotes from the diva such as 'I don't know her' and 'I don't have time for the rigmarole'. Carey appears wearing a trans flag-inspired pink, blue and white minidress and a leather jacket embroidered with the slogan 'Protect the Dolls'. The opening is relentless as she storms through snippets of Type Dangerous, Emotions, Make It Happen, I'll Be There, Vision of Love and Dreamlover. While her voice is not as pristine as it once was, her whistle register is still intact and thrills the crowd every time. After that promising start, the show falters with a setlist that hurries Carey – and the crowd – through some of her biggest hits. Fantasy is sloppy and rushed, with only one verse and chorus (plus the Ol' Dirty Bastard rap, piped in), while a Heartbreaker/Honey mashup is similarly cut short. The crowd are eager to carry her, but even with knowing every word they struggle to keep up with the stop-start pacing. After an outfit change, covered by the first of many drum fills and dance breaks, Carey returns for #Beautiful, her 2013 duet with Miguel, which she rarely performs, exciting those fans (and there seem to be many) who have been tracking her recent setlists. She follows it up with a swaggering rendition of Obsessed – widely understood as her diss track of Eminem – and a playful Touch My Body, which marks the show hitting its peak. A glam moment during Say Somethin', where the singer's hair and makeup team come on stage mid-performance to do touchups, is as camp and silly as you'd expect from a diva such as Carey. But after another leisurely outfit change (into the next of a series of sparkly minidresses), the interludes really start to drag, and people begin to drift away. There's no number of energetic shirtless male dancers who can keep the crowd entertained while Carey is frequently off stage and then, when she returns, increasingly going through the motions. It's a shame, as the closing numbers feature four of Carey's best songs from 2005's The Emancipation of Mimi, including We Belong Together and Fly Like a Bird, but by this point many have lost interest or legged it for the train home. To anyone who thought Brighton Pride would be too small a stage for her to bring her best, Carey proved that she's still got it, but she could have probably given a little more.
Times
a day ago
- Times
Mariah Carey review — dazzling vocals but a stiff performance
'Do you like the ensemble?' Mariah Carey asked the adoring crowd at her Brighton Pride headline concert, showing off a sparkly playsuit in the trans flag colours. 'The LGBTQ+ community has been there for me for so long through good times and bad. I want you to know I'll always be there for you,' she added, before launching into Hero. Phone lights came out, passionate screams drowned out the diva's voice and by the second verse several people around me were sobbing as dusk set in over Preston Park. 'Your voice saved my life,' one sign read — Carey is more than just the Queen of Christmas for her millions of fans. The singer is still able to hit that E7 high — holding her ear as she whipped it out for Emotions and Beautiful, backed by two female singers and a man dressed in white. She may be 56 but the six-time Grammy winner didn't disappoint with her vocals, even if they often weren't audible thanks to the word-perfect recitals from many in the audience. • Read more music reviews, interviews and guides on what to listen to next This could have been annoying, but the fans' devotion enhanced the atmosphere and added to what was otherwise a physically stiff performance. There has been much speculation online about why Carey barely moves on stage — is it a corset, her tottering heels and thigh-high boots, or a health problem? Whatever the answer, she is conspicuously immobile, dazzling instead with her vocal runs and perfect smile. Besides, she had a troupe of magnificent male dancers to do the moving. They filled the stage with their breakdancing, voguing and a burlesque chair routine. Some of these displays and a couple of instrumental interludes from her four-man band took place while Carey was off stage switching outfits, a process that took rather too long. • Mariah Carey: Ageing doesn't happen to me and I won't allow it But then she would make up for it with her big hitters such as Obsessed, Always Be My Baby and Touch My Body — the latter an especially appreciated offering from her mid 2000s comeback era and the song which made her break Elvis Presley's record for most Billboard No 1 singles in US history. For Say Somethin', her 2006 collaboration with Snoop Dogg, she had the dancers playfully touch up her make-up. It's a shame that after a show with many highs she chose to end on the rather dull Fly Like a Bird. 'One more song,' chanted a man in a Santa hat and jumpsuit with 'All I Want For Christmas' on the bum. August isn't the time for her biggest hit, but a more up-tempo finale wouldn't have gone amiss.★★★☆☆ Royal Sandringham Estate, Aug 15, Follow @timesculture to read the latest reviews
