In the assesses the avett brothers lyrics end, though, avett brothers spells out flowing gowns and sequins won out over booty shorts, which was wise, since it's the warmth she brings to awe-inspiring glamour that makes Carey's fans love her. From the moment she entered in a black bikini with boy-cut bottom and a chiffon cape, offering up her trademark high notes and striking poses with her masked male dancers, Carey treated the evening like a qualifying round that she was determined to win. Preoccupied with the inevitable glitches of a fledgling tour, she revealed her emotions through a running patter that could have seemed neurotic but actually served to create intimacy within an otherwise dauntingly big-scale event. It's an old showbiz trick to interrupt major production numbers with asides that humanize the goings-on, and whether that or basic nerves motivated Carey's asides, it worked: When she did stumble, as on the unusually challenging mix of big dance moves and rapid-fire vocalizing during the reggae-inflected "Shake It Out," it made the show feel alive, not unprofessional. Some elements will surely be tightened up as the tour commences toward the West, where it concludes in October. DJ Clue's expert spinning got the party-hearty Miami crowd hopping during costume changes, but the frequency of these intermissions affected the night's pacing. The dancers haven't quite figured out how to assert themselves within a show inevitably ruled by Carey's voice; unlike most of today's concert spectacles, this one was best when the interplay was limited to the singer and her sympathetic backing band (Carey's musical director, incidentally, is that singer's champion, "American Idol's" Randy Jackson). Especially satisfying were the duets Carey shared with backing vocalist Trey Lorenz; when these longtime singing partners traded high notes on the ballads "I'll Be There" and "One Sweet Day," Carey really eased into her performance. She was happiest simply expressing her gifts and, in doing so, allowing her fans to consider their own perhaps unemancipated potential. It's a function singers have served at least since the coloratura came into style in opera -- the female voice, reaching far beyond the confines of ordinary speech, carries the listener beyond the humdrum of her daily imaginings.

As Carey put it in the song she described as the most personal on her latest album, great singing makes the soul "Fly Like a Bird. " Carey's Miami audience, a wide-ranging mix including grade-schoolers with their parents, South Beach clubbers and pregnant women with husbands in tow, grooved to DJ Clue's beats, but they really got excited on the midtempo numbers whose climaxes gave Carey room to soar the avett brothers mignonette . When Carey moved to a small stage mid-arena, she got the crowd climbing on seats, not to check out her "Charlie's Angels" sunglasses but to cheer her holding one last note on the poignant "Don't Forget About Us" until it seemed like she would break. She never broke, no matter how fretfully she muttered about not being able to hear the band or apologized for taking sips of water avett brothers live . Like the silver-screen queens she admires, Carey's not just a femme fatale but also a trouper, and her years of delivering hits, even with a midcareer dip, have resulted in hard-won consistency the evett brothers . On this anxious night, she proved herself a solid talent and was best when she allowed herself the pleasure of her own strengths. Busta Rhymes, one notable rapper with whom Carey once dueted, opened the show with a strong, funny set that betrayed not a bead of worried sweat the avitt brothers . Delivered with the assistance of a sparse crew (one other MC and a DJ), the voluble Mr. Rhymes flirted obscenely with women in the front rows, pulled out hits from his long career and relentlessly plugged his new album, "The Big Bang. " It's too bad Carey didn't invite Rhymes to share in her set's rendition of "Give It to Me," the song they recorded together; it could have made for another fun, relaxed moment. But perhaps the rapper had found and fled with another female friend by that point. *Mariah CareyWhere: Staples Center, 1111 S Figueroa St. , Los AngelesWhen: 8 p. m Oct .

6Price: $19. 50 to $129Contact: (213) 742-7340AlsoWhere: Arrowhead Pond, 2695 E Katella Ave The Avett Brothers - theavettbrothers . , AnaheimWhen: 7:30 p. m Oct 8Price: $19. 50 to $129Contact: (714) 704-2500 . SKYWALKER RANCH, MARIN COUNTY — There may be nothing that George Lucas enjoys more than watching someone's jaw drop in an expression of marvel avett The Avett Brothers - theavettbrothers . The Avett Brothers tickets That explains the existence of this leafy 5,200-acre retreat, which has a hilltop observatory, a vineyard (the grapes are trucked over to Francis Ford Coppola's winery) and its own fire department, which presumably blares heroic scores by John Williams on its way to brush fires. And then there's his stunning collection of pop-culture artifacts avett brothers house of blues . The man who once aspired to be an anthropologist now has a personal Smithsonian of sorts here in Marin County . In the Victorian-style main house, for instance, you can find Charlie Chaplin's cane and slightly dimpled bowler sharing a bookcase with the badges worn by the Keystone Kops. Norman Rockwell paintings hang on the walls and Rudolph Valentino's whip is perched on a shelf near the parlor. Remember how hard it was for Indiana Jones to track down the Ark of the Covenant and the Holy Grail? Now they're safe and sound here in an immaculate warehouse along with R2-D2 and C-3PO, all museum pieces in a museum that never opens to the public The Avett Brothers . But the loneliest artifact of Skywalker Ranch -- or, to be more precise, the most underappreciated treasure that belongs to Lucas -- is the one that could be seen a few weeks ago flickering on the screen of the plush theater inside the main house.