Damn Right I Got Michael Jackson Tickets
A few weeks back Michael Jackson -- without question the greatest performer of a generation -- announced he was setting up his circus tent in London for a last-ever stint of fifty concerts.
My reaction: pure, liquid joy.
Bad was the first tape I ever bought, closely followed by Thriller. I spent an entire Christmas check from my grandma -- twenty-five dollars -- on a VHS copy of Moonwalker, which features the 45-minute cut of the "Smooth Criminal" video and which I still keep at home today. During little-league play, I carved out a reputation for Michael Jackson-style dancing in the outfield. I helped set the Guinness World Record for people dancing "Thriller" simultaneously. And I count among the happiest moments of my life the time my mom met me at the airport after returning from the Peace Corps with a copy of the as-then-unheard Invincible CD.
MJ has also been the white whale of live performances if you happen to live in the United States. In the past twenty years, the King of Pop has headlined a grand total of four shows in the US. That counts two shows in Honolulu on the HIStory tour, and two mega-birthday-parties-slash-celebrity-fests at Madison Square Garden, for an average of one show every five years, all of which I managed to miss.
Add in how the British pound is plunging, international airfare's bottoming out. And who needs an excuse to go to London?
With three laptops and two iPhones I assaulted Ticketmaster at midnight, when tickets went on sale in London. Forty minutes later I scored four pricey tickets, then did a little dance when the confirmation email came through.
Look. I hear you. Dude's weird. I wouldn't let him order a pizza, much less let him look at my kid for more than two seconds. He looks fake and deranged and acts like a guy who has way too much money and way too few people saying no. He's a full fifty years old, meaning there's a good chance he's going to sit out some songs or employ a squad of impersonators to lip-synch "Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'" and the other sweat-stinking dance tunes. Who knows if the pipes are still there.
And there's a good chance he'll flake, or cancel, or get lost in a zoo, or die of an extremely rare genetic disorder. Nothing would surprise me.
But I'm not going to hang out with MJ. I'm not going for his babysitting services. I don't expect him to move around like the superhuman robot panther he used to be. And if he's not going to dial up some primo Michael Jackson strangeness, really what's the point?
Like the million other people who bought tickets, it came down to simple joys. I want to see one of the planet's great shows with my own two eyes, to hear childhood anthems with people I love, to absorb the theatrics of this man's fairytale life, to scream out at his irresistible impossible stardom.
You've seen the crowds at his concerts. They're on the edge of rapture and system failure, ecstatic fainting and orgiastic song and holy crap that guy can move and this was the song I heard on the van to summer camp and do you remember that awesome part of the video where they do the forty-five degree lean?
Same reason people go to the Rolling Stones every year. Same reason Clint Eastwood keeps taking home award-show hardware. Same reason dads take their kids to major league baseball games.
The sweet elixir of nostalgia supported by a still-terrific-if-not-quite-as-good-as-you-remember-it experience.
"Thriller"? "Billie Jean"? "Man in the Mirror"? Hell, "Captain Eo"?
Come on. I'm biased, but also one-thousand percent certain there's no recent musical showmanship -- though Kanye comes closest -- that matches MJ's majestic scale of spectacle.
And for one night in London this fall, I get to witness his last great grasp at glory. As Mike would say: a-hee-hee!
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I am a huge MJ fan as well. I love nearly all his songs and love some of them far more than I love the others but my favorites, which I think are classics are, Heal The World and Will You Be There.
And I still believe that when a man is found Not Guilty in this country, it ought to mean something. I closely followed the case and though MJ may have checked his judgement at the door, it seems to me to be a very creative and opportunistic mother using her child to pick up some extra cash, just as she did with him before.
As for the wierdess and freakishness factor, it seems to go with the territory.
Matt, I'm willing to bet, when these concerts will have been sold out and the performances reviewed, Mike might actually consider sticking around. For what it's worth, I think these concerts are "feelers" to gauge the chance of a comeback. I would love a comeback and there is even a chance that he could pick up some young fans. My 13 year old daughter loves those two songs that I mention. She even has them on her MP3 and don't blame me. I only play his CD's sometimes.
There is no substitute for a great performer. Wish I could be there!
Gap 1, you forgot to introduce "Earth Song" to your daughter.
It is simply AMAZING this Michael Jackson's performances.
Allow me to have the honor of introducing Michael Jackson
performing Live "Earth Song" at the "World Music Awards" in Monacco, 1996:
Watch the Video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QfKgaeVGwJM&feature=related
I loved Michael Jackson. Still love his records, especially 'Off The Wall'. And I do agree that, once upon a time, he was one of the greatest performers standing, but he hasn't been that person for looooooooooooooooooooooooong time. I doubt it'd be worth it to see him now, although i'd gladly go with you. Regardless of his "circus" of a life and the fact that he may or may not be a pederast...he was one of the greatest gifts to musicology ever, Kanye on the other hand...Hope it's all you want it to be.
I understand the love of Mr. Jackson's performance. His songs and performances are unmatched. Yet, with each passing note a sick feeling rises from my stomach because he is likely a pedophile who got away with the crime as many so often do. I can not reconcile this feeling. Too bad, he is a great talent and probably was such a nice little kid. Poor Michael.
Sorry, can't abide giving money to a creep. No matter how talented. Some of us have standards.
My standards include the love for Michael Jackson, and music:
Watch the magic:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UF6soVu_UlA
Ditto! Funny how easily people forgive that in favor of nostalgia.
Right on, Showstopper!
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OK, I can understand not rewarding creepdom, but implying I don't have standards AND that your standards attain some objective quality? BULLSHIT, and represents the worst of web anonymity.
Touchy, touchy.
There are two concerts that I have attended that I will never forget: Michael Jackson and George Michael. Michael Jackson's show was a spectacular event, part Broadway/part MTV. When I left, I felt as if I hadn't paid enough....that I was a winner for having been there. The Geoge Michael concert was basically a no-frills show, but it was excellent.
I AM A LIFETIME MICHAEL JACKSON FAN!!!!!
Watch and enjoy the VIDEO, folks, the impossibly SEXY Michael Jackson from 1980.
ROCK WITH YOU!!!!
CLICK HERE:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-phzPlA__0U&feature=related
There's one thing that is in MIchael's blood, and it's performing. He could outperform most people on a bad day.
Good for you !
We are so judgemental these days, perhaps from the overflow of personal informations, that we miss out the good music . I never have attended MJ`s concerts from those days, but my friends always comes back from it so fulfilled.
I have also downloaded "dance with you " , one of the earlier songs !
Maybe I'll see you there, Matt. I'm flying in from Chicago to see him! Long live the King of Pop!
I'd love to be able to be in England and have bought tickets.
I got dragged to a Jackson Five concert and really hated it.
Years later after Thriller I went to see him and was absolutely impressed. The guy lived up near me until recently ( I live in Santa Ynez Valley) and I wouldn't have walked across the street to look at him in a store but I would have gone to a concert.
Interesting perspective.
I will say the guy probably will put on a great show, lots of pyrotechnics, dancing, glam, etc.
Sad watching his talent - voice, dancing, presence, musicality, etc - get marred by his wackiness, inability to stay current with the times or have an ability to carve out his own style during the 90's and 00's (see how Prince did it...and still does it - new album ROCKS).
You are spot on with the comment that MJ did not have too many people around him that said NO.
Oh well....have fun at the concert
I was with you right up to the Kanye comparison. If Kanye performs till he's 100 years old, he won't reach the level of pure talent MJ had when he was 12.
Btw, I want to rub it in that I got tix for seven dates. Whooot! :-D
See Matt Stewart's Profile
NICELY done!
Give him his due for the right reasons. His complete synthesis of the best of the best is his singular accomplishment. He is firmly in the tradition. From Little Richard, James Brown to Jackie Wilson and everyone you can stick in between, he has crafted a complete approach to doing a show. The spawn of acolytes across the rainbow spectrum is both a triumph and a curse for MJ.
He will do enough now to take his people deep into their memories. Like Michael Jordan, it was the work he did in the studio behind closed doors that made the live performance the drama that it was. He was as disciplined an artist as ever. His personal life is profoundly tragic. There is no excusing the flaws of character. He is hardly the first and clearly will not be the last. Normal people never really excite and inspire anyone, not even themselves.
So we can't demand that he be like us or even our best imagination of ourselves. There is price to pay for fame and influence. Some pay well and some do not.
Michael is not a sensation? Wow, please let me know how many other acts and artists sold out 50 concerts at the O2 arena, much less any other arena. And Michael is not weird or degraded, as much as Matt might want to think so, in order to defend his purchasing of MJ tickets. And by the way, Kanye is NOTHING compared to Michael. He has ZERO, zip, nada, nyet stage presence. If you want to know if Michael is still relevant musically, just look for a couple of leaked songs on the internet. Escape/Xscape, which was recorded for Invincible (best song to never make an album), or Hold My Hand, the song he did with Akon recently, but was leaked last year. For the folks who think Michael is washed up, just go back to your "cool" and "relevant" artists, like Coldplay and West. Yeah, those guys will be remembered 50 years from now. Not.
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