Live Performances
Carey promoted "Anytime You Need a Friend" on several live televised performances throughout the United States, Europe and Asia. Carey's performance of the song at an intimate concert at Proctor's Theatre on July 15, 1993 was filmed and released as the VHS Here Is Mariah Carey. Carey performed the song during a live appearance on the Late Show with David Letterman, which was followed by an interview regarding the album. During the performance, a live band and several male and female background vocalists were featured. Promotion through Europe included a visit and performance on the British music chart program Top of the Pops, German entertainment show Wetten, dass..?, Hey Hey It's Saturday in Australia, and the 1993 Japanese Music Fair. Aside from the several televised appearances, Carey performed the song throughout her Music Box Tour (1993) and Daydream World Tour (1996). During the shows in 1993, Carey featured the song as the fifteenth song on the set-list, and was performed in a similar fashion as on her televised appearances.
Prior to beginning the song, Carey urged the crowd to "never be lonely" and "always try and find that special person in your life." Following the show in Chicago, Chicago Tribune critic Greg Kot felt that her performance of the song truly "demonstrated that her multi-octave voice is no studio fabrication." During her shows at the Tokyo Dome during 1996, Carey sported a long and wavy hairstyle, while wearing a long black gown. She sang the original version of the song, up until half way through the last chorus, until merging into the C+C remix. Several background vocalists were once again featured on stage, all donning black garbs. However, once the remix began, six male dancers made their way to the right and left sides of the stage, performing heavy dance routines as Carey walked around the stage. Once the remix began, the lighting was altered. Aside from the usual florescent lighting that was used throughout the show, additional pink and purple lighting was added for the number, as it served for the shows closing and final song. During her succeeding shows in Europe, Carey's outfits altered as well as her hairstyle. She wore a long, white strapless gown and sported her hair in a straightened ponytail style. Since 1996, Carey has not performed the song live on television or on her tours.
Read more about this topic: Anytime You Need A Friend
Famous quotes containing the words live and/or performances:
“The Stage but echoes back the publick Voice.
The Drama’s Laws the Drama’s Patrons give,
For we that live to please, must please to live.”
—Samuel Johnson (1709–1784)
“At one of the later performances you asked why they called it a “miracle,”
Since nothing ever happened. That, of course, was the miracle
But you wanted to know why so much action took on so much life
And still managed to remain itself, aloof, smiling and courteous.”
—John Ashbery (b. 1927)