The Rainbow World Tour was the fourth concert tour in 2000 by American singer-songwriter Mariah Carey, and supported her seventh studio album, Rainbow (1999). The tour started in Europe on February 14, in Antwerp, Belgium, also an itinerary that included North America, and ended on April 18, in Toronto. The tour's nine-date North American leg grossed $7.1 million according to Billboard.

The Rainbow World Tour received mixed reviews, with some reviewers criticizing Carey's vocal decline and confusing staging, while others praised it as a lively celebration of her career. Despite the divided reception, many critics felt the tour marked a bold shift in her image and performance style.

Background

The Rainbow World Tour was Carey's fourth headlining and third worldwide tour, consisting of nineteen shows across Europe, Asia, the United States, and Canada. While her previous two tours were limited to Europe and Asia following the lukewarm reception of her 1993 U.S. debut tour, the Music Box Tour, the overwhelming success of those international stops — marked by record-breaking ticket sales in Asia and rapid sellouts in Europe — gave Carey the confidence to return to her home country. The tour ultimately became her first U.S. trek in seven years, with tickets for the entire North American leg selling out within days. In addition to revisiting key international markets, Carey expanded her itinerary by performing in Singapore for the first time. The setlist blended songs from Rainbow with many of her earlier hits, offering fans a comprehensive showcase of her career. U.S. shows featured Missy Elliott and Da Brat as opening acts, while Trey Lorenz once again joined Carey as a backing vocalist. Notably, although Dallas, Texas, appeared on tour merchandise, the show was never scheduled.

The Toronto Star reported that the concert in Toronto was filmed for a future television special, but it never aired. Footage recorded from the tour was used for the music video for "Against All Odds (Take a Look at Me Now)".

Critical response

The tour received generally mixed reviews. Some critics and fans reproached her of having a "tired and hoarse voice," while others commented on Carey's choice of wardrobe. Despite these criticisms, several critics and many concert-goers praised the tour, calling it an intense celebration of Carey's career.Shapiro, Marc (2001), Mariah Carey: The Unauthorized Biography, Toronto: ECW Press, ISBN 978-1-55022-444-3

Phil Gallo of Variety said: "Mariah Carey's show begs for either simplicity or coherency", and called the show a visual "mess". While reflecting that this was the first time Mariah was scantily clad touring, Jim DeRogatis from the Chicago Sun-Times said that Carey had "been transformed from a wannabe Whitney to a wannabe Britney", and called her approach to concert performance "difficult to fathom" considering she was "the only artist to have scored a No. 1 hit in every year of the '90s, selling some 125 million records worldwide."

Set list The following set list is from the February 17 concert in Milan. It is not intended to represent all dates throughout the tour.

"Mariah & Bianca" (Introduction) (contains elements of "Rainbow (Interlude)" and "Butterfly") "Emotions" "My All" "Dreamlover" "X-Girlfriend" "Vulnerability" (Video interlude) "Against All Odds (Take a Look at Me Now)" "Without You" "Make It Happen" "Thank God I Found You" (performed with Trey Lorenz) (contains elements of the Make It Last Remix) "Make You Happy" (Interlude) (performed by Trey Lorenz) "Fantasy" (Bad Boy Remix) "Always Be My Baby" "Crybaby" "Close My Eyes" "Petals" "Can't Take That Away (Mariah's Theme)" "Money Ain't a Thang" (Dance Interlude) "Heartbreaker" (contains elements of the Desert Storm Remix) "Honey" (contains elements of the Bad Boy Remix) "Vision of Love" "Rainbow" (Interlude) "Hero" "Butterfly Reprise" (Outro)

Shows + List of concerts, showing date, city, country, venue, opening act, tickets sold, number of available tickets and amount of gross revenue Date City Country Venue Attendance Revenue Europe February 14, 2000 Antwerp Belgium Sportpaleis February 17, 2000 Milan Italy Fila Forum February 20, 2000 Cologne Germany Kölnarena February 23, 2000 Paris France Palais Omnisports de Paris-Bercy February 26, 2000 London England Wembley Arena February 29, 2000 Madrid Spain Palacio de Deportes Asia March 4, 2000 OsakaJapan Osaka Dome ~35,000 - ~40,000 / ? rowspan="4" March 7, 2000TokyoTokyo Dome 100,000 / 100,000 March 9, 2000 March 13, 2000 Singapore National Stadium North America March 16, 2000 Los AngelesUnited States Staples Center 15,627 / 15,627 $990,648 March 18, 2000 Las Vegas Thomas & Mack Center 13,591 / 13,591 $681,068 March 21, 2000 San Jose San Jose Arena 13,999 / 13,999 $862,170 March 25, 2000 Chicago United Center 14,892 / 14,892 $848,156 March 29, 2000 Miami American Airlines Arena 12,008 / 12,008 $662,514 April 1, 2000 Atlanta Philips Arena 12,956 / 12,956 $664,229 April 11, 2000 New York City Madison Square Garden 14,870 / 14,870 $1,066,413 April 13, 2000 Boston FleetCenter April 18, 2000 Toronto Canada Air Canada Centre 13,598 / 13,598 $606,118Total234,541 / 234,541 (100%)$6,381,316

Notes

Personnel Randy Jackson – musical director Eric Daniels – keyboards Sam Sims - bass Vernon Black – guitar Gregory "Gigi" Gonoway – drums Marquinho Brasil – percussion Melonie Daniels – background vocals Mary Ann Tatum – background vocals Tracy Harris - background vocals Lloyd Smith – background vocals Trey Lorenz – vocals, background vocals

References