The Daydream World Tour was a tour by American pop/R&B singer Mariah Carey. The tour took place during early to mid-1996, and kicked-off at the Tokyo Dome in Tokyo, Japan, and ended at London, England's Wembley Arena.
History
The Daydream World Tour was Carey's second tour (after the U.S. Music Box Tour in 1993), and her first tour to have dates out of the United States. The tour was held in honor of the success of her new album at the time, Daydream; the album had spawned three of Carey's eighteen number one singles ("Fantasy," "One Sweet Day," and "Always Be My Baby"), became her second album to sell in excess of |ten million copies in the US, and is one of her most critically acclaimed albums. It was also held to promote the album across Europe and Asia (specifically Japan). The tour is her second shortest tour to date, with the shortest being the Music Box Tour.
This tour established Carey's concert-going fan base in Japan; all of her subsequent tours would also visit that country, a regularity unusual for an American artist.
The show
The stage set for the tour is perhaps the largest Carey has performed on. It contained three sections: center stage, left flank, and right flank. Center stage contained two platforms where the band and backup singers were situated, a center set of stairs, a curved staircase to the right, a giant screen at the center, a huge chandelier that hung from the ceiling, and a giant cylindrical cage with an elevating platform in the middle for Mariah to make her entrance at the start of the show, which can me moved aside when not needed. The left and right flanks were both the same: they had long runways extending outwards in opposite directions, the walls were giant screens which changed colors throughout the show for ambiance, and at the end were saller screens so the audience could see Carey performing.
The concert began with "Daydream Interlude (Sweet Fantasy Dub Mix)," with Carey being taken down the cage on the elevating platform. She ad libed the words to the song quietly over the microphone, and the song stopped when she opened the cage's doors, and the lights flicked on and off rapidly as she greeted the audience. The band then started playing "Emotions." The intro to the song was cut in half, and the ending skipped from the last chorus to the famous whistle register notes at the song's end. She then sang her rendition of the Journey classic "Open Arms." The next song she performed was her then-single at the time, "Forever." She moved over to the set of stairs on the right side of center stage and surprised her fans by singing "I Don't Wanna Cry," a move most unexpected, since she has stated that she tries to sing the song as rarely as possible. After her song ended, the band continued playing an instrumental version of the song while Carey was offstage, changing costumes for the next section of the concert.
Music began playing again; it was a soft, and almost sci-fi sounding, combining synths and chimes, which turned out to be an extended version of the intro to the lead single of Daydream, "Fantasy." Carey performed the original version of the song, as opposed to singing the " Bad Boy Remix" of the song as she did during the Butterfly and other later tours. A group of dancers joined Carey during the performance, using the same dance moves seen in the song's music video. She then spoke briefly with the audience, telling them that she wanted them to sing with her during the next song, "Always Be My Baby." The part she taught with them was "Do Do Doop," and told them that it was a competition between each section of the stadium on who could sing it the loudest. She then exited the stage to change outfits yet again.
The lights dimmed a dark blue and purple color, and on screen appeared stock footage of Boyz II Men from the Fantasy: Mariah Carey at Madison Square Garden concert in October 1995. The band began playing "One Sweet Day." Because of conflicting time schedules between Carey and Boyz II Men, Boyz II Men was unable to tour with her, so during the song at all the concerts, Boyz II Men's parts from the album cut were played over the speakers and footage of them appeared on the center screen, while Carey continued to sing live. After the song was over, the curtains fell, and Carey sang her "favorite song from the new album," "Underneath the Stars," followed by her rendition of the Badfinger song "Without You." She was then accompanied by the Chapel of Hope Choir in singing " Make it Happen." After the lights went down at the end of the song, she left the stage for yet another costume change.
The lights suddenly flickered on, and a pop/rock instrumental played, while a dancer appeared and started brakedancing. He was them joined by a group of other dancers, followed by Carey, who began singing a cover of The SOS Band's "Just Be Good to Me." She then sang "Dreamlover," and then left the stage for one final costume change.
A familiar synth intro started playing, and Carey began singing her first single, "Vision of Love" as she appeared at the top of the winding staircase. She continued singing as she slowly made her way down the stairs. Once the song was over, she sang her signature song, "Hero." The last song of the show, "Anytime You Need a Friend," she dedicated to the audience. She was accompanied once again by the Chapel of Hope choir, and started off with the album version. She then surprised the audience by transitioning into the more upbeat "C&C Remix" version of the song, and she exited the stage via the spiraling staircase, while the choir, band, and dancers continued the song, thus ending the concert.
During the Tokyo Dome concerts, following the performance of "Anytime You Need a Friend," Carey returned to the stage for one last encore by performing her biggest Japanese hit, "All I Want for Christmas is You" specially for her Japanese fans. Footage of the home video version of the music video played, while she wore the red dress and go-go boots from the back and white 1960s music video. She exited the stage through the elevator cage, ending the concert with one last kiss to her fans over the microphone.
Set list
- Opening Interlude: (Fantasy Sweet Dub Mix)
- "Emotions"
- "Open Arms"
- "Forever"
- "I Don't Wanna Cry"
- "Fantasy"
- "Always Be My Baby"
- "One Sweet Day" (with pre-recorded Boyz II Men)
- "Underneath the Stars"
- "Without You"
- "Make It Happen"
- "Just Be Good to Me"
- "Dreamlover"
- "Vision of Love"
- "Hero"
- "Anytime You Need a Friend" (Album Version / C&C Remix)
- "All I Want For Christmas Is You" (encore) (performed only in Japan)
Tour dates
| Asia | |||
| Date | City | Country | Venue |
|---|---|---|---|
| March 7, 1996 | Tokyo | Japan | Tokyo Dome |
| March 10, 1996 | Tokyo | Japan | Tokyo Dome |
| March 14, 1996 | Tokyo | Japan | Tokyo Dome |
| Europe | |||
| Date | City | Country | Venue |
| June 14, 1996 | Frankfurt | Germany | Festhalle |
| June 17, 1996 | Rotterdam | Netherlands | Ahoy' Rotterdam |
| June 20, 1996 | Paris | France | Palais Omnisports de Paris-Bercy |
| June 23, 1996 | London | England | Wembley Arena |
Broadcasts and recordings
- The performance of "Forever" at the Tokyo Dome is the official music video for that song. The video took footage from the performance, and is intercut with black and white footage of Carey exploring Japan that was handpicked by Mariah herself.
- Carey announced during the Ahoy' Rotterdam concert that the performance of "Underneath the Stars" was going to be the official music video for the song, but that video never came to fruition.
- The performances from "Fantasy," "Always Be My Baby," "Underneath the Stars," "Make it Happen, "Dreamlover," "Hero," and "Anytime You Need a Friend" from the Tokyo Dome concert were used in the 1996 FOX special "Mariah Carey: New York to Tokyo."