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| Mariah Carey at Global Citizens Festival 2022 |
It's hard to believe I've been to gazillions of concerts in New York City and not one of them landed me on the Great Lawn in Central Park. I'd been to the SummerStage, but never the big show grounds where Simon & Garfunkel and Diana Ross made history. My day was finally here! I had the privilege of attending the Global Citizens Festival yesterday and want to share the good and not-so-good things about being part of the event.
My main motivation for going was the mighty Metallica. I arrived at the entrance at about 4:15pm just after the concert started, thinking that was safe enough that I wouldn't get barricade of course, but something decent at least. I didn't know I was in for a 6-block long line followed by a bit of a zig-zag through the park up to the stage area. By the time I went through all that, it was now 5:15. The place was super full and the Jonas Brothers were already playing. Whoops. Eventually I found a spot in the back where, although the people on the stage were small specks, I could see the stage screen and multiple TVs set up throughout the lawn for us latecomers.
While I wasn't walking in an avid listener of all the other acts aside from casually enjoying Mariah Carey over the years, I knew they wouldn't be boring. I was right. Mickey Guyton, Rosalia, Billy Porter, Måneskin, Charlie Puth and Angelique Kidjo were all great. However all of their sets were incredibly short due to the fact airtime had to be shared with a multitude of presenters.
The four hours on the field leading up to one of my favorite bands on Earth felt like part jubilation, part absolute depression. I appreciate what the festival is doing for awareness of atrocities happening around the world and trying to inspire people to act, as a good number of people on stage had accomplished good things to show change is possible. But by the time Mariah Carey hit the stage, the crowd was over being pelted with one sad story after another, at least around me. Maybe the frustration of being stuck in the back got to people, but there were noticeable groans and sarcastic comments every time a new person who was not performing was introduced. Not sure how this could have been fixed except maybe cut down the number of speakers or put together more packages. But, it was free, so it was hard to be genuinely upset.
Speaking of Mariah, that was a hugely confusing experience for me. I watched the livestream when I got home, but all the awkward stuff was edited out. For fear of getting attacked by Mariah's Lambs, I will just leave it at: Mariah seemed caught off guard by some things that we weren't privy to, which made some of her behavior and comments a bit odd. Why she brought up her Glam Squad to touch her up very soon into her short set, when she already looked stunning, is beyond me. But her fans could care less about any of these awkward moments and just want to see their lady happy. So if she thinks a hair is out of place, well then, her assistants better get to it.
While some people did bail after Mariah, it wasn't enough that it was noticeable. So there was still a large amount of people left who were ready to rock out to Måneskin and Metallica. Måneskin got to play 5 songs, while headliner Metallica were allotted 8 songs, including "Nothing Else Matters", which Mickey Guyton joined in on. I was especially psyched for "Creeping Death" and "Master Of Puppets," which are my absolute favorite Metallica songs.
Even though this was a very short set from Metallica than what I am used to from them, it was truly satisfying just be in the same airspace after 4 years of being without them in my face. They were a huge help to me getting through lockdown with their Metallica Mondays, posting a new concert every week from the archives with commentary from Lars. Plus, they did an online stream that was just great, and were very creative about getting fans involved as they played live (as opposed to pre-recorded like some chose to do during the crisis). The last time I saw them live was in the Fall of 2018, and it was so wonderful to see them again, even if they were ridiculously far away from where I was standing. A great show is a great show, even if the performers are the size of ants.
