Music Box Tour

Mariah Carey embarked on her first ever tour in 1993 to celebrate her third studio album, Music Box. The tour, spanning six cities in the United States, kicked off at Miami's Arena on November 3 and wrapped up at New York City's Madison Square Garden on December 10.

Having sold more than 10 million records before ever stepping onto a live concert stage, Mariah remained strictly a studio artist — with the exception of TV shows and MTV Unplugged — through her first three hit releases. “I should have been doing clubs when I was coming up, but I was really afraid, because you hear so many horror stories and you see these horror stories yourself,” she told The Boston Globe. “You'll go into a club and there will be an unknown singer or band playing and no one pays attention. Nobody really cares. And it's so hard. I think it would have been too hard for me. I don't know if I would have been able to continue doing what I was doing if I had that kind of rejection. I had to learn about performing by doing Arsenio Hall and The Tonight Show, which was very frightening. I don't think many people learn about performing by going in front of millions of people like that.”

“I feel a lot more comfortable onstage,” she continued. “Doing Unplugged really helped me get more confident. I've learned that I don't have to be anything but who I am. And the people who are my fans, that's all they want from me. Anybody else who's not into me, they're never going to really be into me. I can't focus on them. I have to focus on giving something back to the people who have supported me since the beginning.”

Mariah made her tour debut in front of 15,000 people at the Miami Arena. “I was OK until I had to walk up this ramp on to the stage and I heard this deafening scream and it was kinda like everything in my life, this whole incredible whirlwind I'd been going through, it had all been leading up to that insane moment — and there I was,” she explained. “And then they killed me. Not the audience — they knew it was my first show, they were very supportive. I got really bad reviews, though. Well, there were a lot of critics out to get me: this girl's sold all these albums, she's never toured, let's get her. So they did. I turned on the TV in bed that night and the CNN guy was saying, ‘The reviews are in and it's bad news for Mariah Carey.’ It really hurt me a lot. Still, I learnt. The next show I did, in Worcester, Massachusetts, I put all my anger into it, let go all my inhibitions and just lost myself in performing. Not like this is what matters to me, but the reviews were rave.”

Mariah performed songs from her first three albums — including “I'll Be There,” from her MTV Unplugged Show — and a cover of The S.O.S. Band's “Just Be Good To Me.” The last show, which took place at New York City's Madison Square Garden on December 10, also included a very special rendition of “Santa Claus Is Comin' To Town,” which she would cover on her Merry Christmas album the following year.

Setlist

Emotions
Love Takes Time
Now That I Know
Without You
Dreamlover
Someday
I Don't Wanna Cry
Vanishing
Make It Happen
Hero
All In Your Mind
Just Be Good To Me
Anytime You Need A Friend
I'll Be There
Vision Of Love

Tour Dates