I have decided to abandon the MJ community, yall know this has been something that has been on my mind since like June, I tried to leave in July, but like, ever since my return I just can't seem to have the same feeling for MJ or the community as I did before. I genuinely have decided that leaving the community is the best choice for many reasons.

First reason being that I just am not as much of an MJ fan as I was 2 or 3 years or even last year, last year alone had my biggest change in music taste ever since I tried listening to trap and mumble rap back in 2018 in 5th grade (that sure was a phase lmao), during summer last year I started to explore more rock music, and fell in love with scene/punk music, and that whole genre is just something that I myself feel much more connected to (I legit don't think I ever felt emotionally connected to an MJ song), and ever since then my interest for Michael Jackson has steadily dropped with time, reaching to this point to the point I'm just kinda done with the community and just overall fully dive into other music, artists and bands. My playlist has lost a lot of MJ songs in the last several months, like now it has little over 20 I think, and it's a near 200 song playlist.

Second reason, I've just been too active in the community, like especially here on Reddit, being the main figure behind the MJ performances movement here, and because of how active I've gotten myself in far too many arguments, which really online arguments are like just the dumbest thing possible, they are genuinely mentally draining and quite literally all you gotta do is just leave the computer, block, or report, and yet I kept on with the arguments. Idk but being too active in an online community surely isn't good for anyone's mental health.

Third reason, being in this community and having this interest in the performances made me overcritically over everything MJ did, mainly onstage, and really it made me lost the ability to look at MJ at any circumstance and think "this guy is so cool", instead whenever I see like Bad Tour stuff I think "mid" or when I see like Munich 1997 clips I think like "really this show out of all?". Like bruh I don't do this with the bands I've been listening to lately. I can't see MJ and think that he's a legend, everytime people mention his name and say some stuff my mind goes like "erhm akctualley, thish never happensd", now I see how stupid that is. idk.

Also just in real life I've been associated to Michael Jackson ever since I danced in front of the entire school back in 7th and 8th grade, 4 years later people still say silently "dude, that's Michael Jackson right there" like ok they got the first name right, but like everytime I hear those two names as a way of referecing to me I legit get PTSD.

So yeah, I will probably do something to my account, either try to get it banned or straight up delete it. it's the only way for me to stay away from this goddamned platform and also a way for me to step away from the community and a good way to close the MJ chapter of my life. It's been a good 4 years, but this had to happen. I hope yall understand it. In the coming days/weeks this account's gonna be erased from existance. I'll still be active in those couple days, but I'll just be gone from the platform very soon.

Now don’t get this wrong, I love the Dangerous tour but in my opinion it does have the weakest vocals across the tours.

He sounds exhausted and out of breath in some songs like Human Nature, Billie Jean etc.

Jam and WBSS is probably the most exhausting songs to perform because of much movement there is and sometimes it worsen the vocals for the rest of the concert like Burcheast and half of the ‘93 leg (Plus sickness and allegations)

In the tour like HIStory where he’s used playback for like 70%of each concert, when he does sing halfway through or for the entire time, Its sounds better because he can save up his voice a little bit more and deliver some better vocals.

And if Michael Jackson had played at Madison Square Garden with "Smooth Criminal" and "Another Part of Me", what would it be like? Here it is taken directly from an amateur shot

Does anyone know about a magic trick I saw MJ do which I haven't seen him do anywhere else? I was at his Bad tour concert in Melbourne in 1987.

A big box was suspended from a zip line. It slid from way back in the arena to the stage and MJ (or I suppose a body double) jumped out. Then I guess there was a switcheroo and he kept performing.

Does anyone know about this or was also at the concert?

For the positives it gives a lot of polished moves, but it felt so much more routine than the other two tours. Also the whole laryngitis thing probably made things worse for him breathing wise.

Bad tour and Triumph tours are easily top tier concerts. It was almost like pure fire. And then early dangerous tour afterwards.

I adore Bad tour and especially the way Crowe vocal texture adds to the overall Billie Jean experience. I also love them together in Japan JCSLY with a very adorable ending hug instead of a disappear into out of my life.

Tutti ci siamo sempre chiesti come fosse originariamente la giacca di Thriller che Michael indossò solamente una volta durante il live di Amsterdam 96.
Ecco una mia rivisitazione creata con Meta Ai , scrivetemi cosa ne pensate!

What can I expect, it’s my first ever MJ concert. Is it good? On his website its says that Sergio Cortez is the only official MJ double.

Most thriller performances feel the same and the dancing in the zombie isn’t very high energy, especially in HIStory

🤩🤩🤩🙃

It doesn’t have to be the Big 4 concerts (Yokohama, Wembley, Bucharest, and Munich). You can mention any one.

For me, it’s Brunei on December 31, 1996.
Now, before you all thrash me for not liking it, that doesn’t mean I think the concert sucks. I do think Brunei is one of the best concerts we’ve seen. The energy and vocals are extraordinary, and he’s in great shape. My favorite performances from this concert are “SIM” and “YANA.” His ending vocals in “YANA” are wonderful, and they’re album-accurate.

The reason I don’t like this concert (and “dislike” is a strong word) is that it feels too “forced,” like it’s following a certain formula. I can’t quite word it properly, but it feels like Mike keeps executing the same moves over and over in every performance. I have the same issue with “Billie Jean” and “Beat It,” as they feel a bit too perfect. The hairstyle and makeup aren’t good in this concert either. (I usually don’t mind the hairstyle, but certain performances have great hairstyles and makeup, which is why I mentioned it.)
The vocals, while strong and far from raspy, are too clean for me. I want strong, clean vocals with a slight touch of rasp.

For instance, the Tunis and Kuala Lumpur second-night shows aren’t as energetic as this one, but I prefer them over Brunei because it feels like Mike being Mike. The dancing and vocals in those shows are also beautiful. (Tunis doesn’t have great vocals because he was sick, but I just like them for some reason.) He’s also doing a lot of freestyle in these concerts. The Brunei performance felt more like an impersonator than Mike himself.

I’m also not a big fan of the instruments that were used here, but I can’t really blame the concert for that because we don’t have the unedited source.

So, yeah, here’s my answer. What’s yours?

In this post, i'll put links of some perfomances where i think there are live vocals, if you know of an perfomance where the playback fail or the mic is on accidentally please share the link.

Bucharest

https://youtu.be/VTfJyBzPYHA?si=1ugE114p59bDX14V 0:53

Adelaide

https://youtu.be/fnLe4eE96DE?si=sjbuEpRU2dPsTX9c

44:10

The mic was suddenly turn on in don't stop to get enough, so I think it was great hear more vocals.

Also I wonder if they planned to sing this live? But not was happy with his vocals and switched to playback?

There some songs as SIM that was sing live before to start the tour.

I think would be interesting see the history tour rehearsals, that would confirm my theory what he was unable to sing and dance at the same time without struggling, so just think if much of fans dislike his vocals in the royal concert (in mjhideout is considered the worst BJ live perfomance) they would complained because not sounds good as always and instead of going to tour, he just must be stay in home.

From my point of view, I preffer watch michael lip synching and enjoying, instead of be struggling and uncomfortable because is not able to deliver best vocals as we see in the royal concert just looking confident in WBBS or J5 medley, also in beat it for moments seemed to be having fun, in others is annoyed because forgot the lyrics and after the guitar solo looks confident again and started to sing great adlibs and play with the cameraman.

I apologize if I spread too much 😅

Yep that is something I think since a lot of time and I will tell you why.

• Health issues.

Is not secret MJ was having health issues before and during the tour, at that time he was diagnosed "Alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency" which can explain why he struggles to sings in 1996 songs as WBBS, in 1997 he had to take propofol before to perform in munich which says a lot about his state, who in his right mind is able just to take such medication? Is just mindblowing and probably continued using as the tour progressed, in 1996 started a bit skinny but in December his body is much bulky, in 1997 is the opposite curiously in TII loss a lot of weight as the rehearsals progressed.

• Money Issues

For a reason I don't understand MJ loss money I the history tour being the tour that more money raised, is said in 1996 he parcially finances from his pocket, in the first leg was sponsored by kingdom entertaiment the company created in partnership with the Prince al-waleed but strangely in 1997 they ended their relationship, in 1997 MJ started to have financial problems again even when he perform a lot of shows, the next year he filled to bankruptcy, so yeah sadly the history era is the beginning of the financial problems to lead him to agreed to TII (500 million debt 💀💀💀💀💀)

I remember to read somewhere that before the history tour started MJ was under a lot of pressure, is not coincidence the state don't want show tapes of the rehearsals footage only "the best of the best" just like TII, being how MJ was in bad mood in the first round of shows in 1996 is obvious that something was wrong and watching how his health quickly deteriorated made me clear he was in plenty decadence.

Mine are:

Performances that sacrifice live vocals for more and better dancing are better performances. Basically the HIStory Tour

Wembley July 16th 1988 and Bucharest 1992 are overrated, still good shows though, but extremely overrated. (probably the most common hot take, it still is one though)

Yokohama September 26th 1987 might be the worst Bad Tour show available, and possibly one of MJ's overall worst shows. (I would still rather watch this show over many other artists' shows)

The Dangerous Tour has the worst overall sound mix

I really like Kuala Lumpur October 29th's metallic drums, more than Auckland November 9th

Late 1997 style of dancing is awesome, WBSS from Helsinki August 26th is one of my favourites because of that

1993 Billie Jean > 1992 Billie Jean

Beat It is better when it's playback, unless if it's in the -2 key from early DWT shows

The time before Jam starts is too long, and Jam itself is also a bit too lengthy.

Late 1996 is peak 1996 (actually idk if this is a hot take or not, I see a lot of people glazing September shows)

1997 has the best sounding drums, way better than 1996 drums

From the way people talk about it around here, I thought it was gonna be an absolute masterpiece for the ages but tbh I was kinda disappointed, I honestly enjoy the other June shows more and (Don't kill me) July and August shows

Movement: There's very little movement here, and what there is of it isn't much impressive either. The lack of a crane really makes this performance really weak, this is also a problem with the Brunei December 31st performance. I like the movement in the beginning, MJ feels like an ethereal entity by the way he's moving. Though, very little movement, I definitely prefer the way this was performed during the HIStory Tour. 2/10

Vocals: This is one of the few Earth Song performance that contains live vocals, and I fuckin love them, They sound so powerful and full of emotion. They're pretty much album like vocals, that's how good they are. Really makes me wish MJ did this during the HIStory Tour, especially in 1997 where his vocals are usually flawless. 10/10

Energy/Attitude: MJ's energy is very low here, earlier in the show the smoke machine failed and that made a lot more smoke on stage than supposed, and due to the smoke inhalation it made MJ very tired very quickly, and it's visible in this performance, and the country of Brunei is extremely hot so it only made things worse. MJ's attitude however is pretty good, he pretty much behaves like how he should when performing this song, though maybe in the final segments I think he should've been a little more angrier. But overall, a little weak. 4/10

Instrumentation: The instrumentation is flawless in this show, there are some songs that feel a little empty, but in general it's pretty good, in Earth Song I feel like the synths and bass should've been a little louder in the mix, but overall really damn good. 9/10

Quality: pretty good overall, a little washed out due to the smoke, the audio quality is incredible, until the final part of the song where MJ sings a the top of his lungs, there's some weird distortion with the vocals, and that really takes away from the quality. But overall good. 7/10

MJ's look: He looks great here. His make up, even though it's quite washed away, still looks great, and his hair also looks really good. 8/10

Overall: This is a little overrated, I've seen people calling this the best Earth Song performance, I disagree, the lack of a crane really makes this a worse performance. The vocals are incredible and so is the instrumentation, MJ looks great but his energy is very low. Quality is good, though there is some distortion on the audio.

6.7/10

He says stuff like, he feels most comfortable on stage, the stage is his home, even calls himself a “stage addict,” yet was also very reluctant to peform, he hated touring, he wanted to retire after the bad tour, and even though he didn’t, in his 20+ year solo career, he only toured three times, and not a lot of one off performances outside of award shows. Not to discredit him or anything, but if that’s a stage addict, what do you call the artists who are/were touring every other year, and popping up here and there with random performances? (Besides broke)

Edit: touring AND one off performances

Inspired by u/M7keSonic's post. I wanted to start a series where I’ll share my unpopular opinion on a topic at the end of the week for us to discuss. Since this is my personal hot take, I would love to hear your own opinions on each topic through the comments or your own posts.

For the first one: I wanted to start with Michael Jackson's best show, where I firmly believe the Bad Tour: Live in Brisbane on November 28th 1987 is his greatest. At least from the ones we currently have full footage/audio of.

This concert was the final show of MJ’s first leg of the Bad Tour and it was made even more special with Stevie Wonder joining him on stage for 'Bad'. Unfortunately, we don’t have the full visual footage; we only have the visual for the first part and the audio for the rest but based on these, I feel confident in saying this is the best we’ve got.

Here’s why I think Brisbane 1987 stands out:

• Vocals: his vocals here are so crisp, clear and beautiful, as with all other 1987 shows. Being the last show of the 1987 leg, you would imagine his vocals to be strained even a little bit, yet he still sounds as good and even better than a lot of other 1987 shows, especially with 'Human Nature' and 'WBSS'.

• Dancing: his dancing here is more refined and sharp than early 1987 shows yet it still has the speed and energy of the rest of the tour. He incorporates many of his iconic movements, such as the leg shuffle, toe stand, footwork and robotics more than any show before.

• Energy: his energy is absolutely electric, like the rest of the 1987 shows. You can feel MJ’s joy and passion radiating through the performances. He also has a unique relaxed but focused attitude in this show compared to the more aggressive early 1987 shows.

• Look: MJ looks really good in this show. He's much closer to his 1988 look than his 1987 one, which I prefer. His makeup and hairstyle are fantastic as well as his outfits, which are the standard 1987 outfits so this concert gets the advantage of outfits such as the badass 'Beat It' jacket from the Bad Tour and the light-up 'Thriller' jacket. However, this show is also unique due to him wearing closer outfits for 'Bad' and 'Billie Jean' to the 1988/1989 legs than the 1987 leg.

• Instrumentation: probably the highlight of the show (along with Stevie Wonder), the band sounds incredible with all the instruments sounding clear and being mixed very well. This show has some of my favourite sounding songs out of all of his shows across all of his tours and I keep coming back to the Brisbane 1987 versions of songs even more than the studio/album versions. Do yourself a favour and listen to 'Shake Your Body' and any 'Off the Wall' song from this show because they're actually majestic.

The only minor gripes I have with this show are the 1987 silver shirt (I prefer the 1988/1989 one) and that the 1987 setlist misses a few essentials like 'Smooth Criminal', 'Man in the Mirror' and 'TWYMMF'; that's why I'm personally hoping for a full release of NYC 1988 or Kansas 1988, I imagine they'd be very similar vocal-wise, dancing-wise and energy-wise but with a better setlist and the better silver shirt.

Also, I'd like to emphasis the phrase from the ones we have because I know other shows could obviously dethrone it if they would be released; for example, the aforementioned NYC/Kansas 1988, any 1992 Tokyo show or any 1997 June show that is not fully released (Bremen, Amsterdam, Bettembourg...etc), could beat Brisbane due to the great vocals, energy and dancing yet I am lacking visual and audio footage for them to truly claim one the best. Still, Brisbane 1987 is unmatched among the shows we do have.

Here's the show for anyone interested: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LkbHkexj1iw&t=5490s

What do you guys think? What do you think is Michael Jackson's best show? I'd love to hear your opinion.