Michael Jackson’s Bad Tour: The Peak of Stage Prowess
The 1984 Victory Tour saw MJ take on a more confident, captivating stage presence. He seemed more in control of his element, more confident. By 1987, Jackson showcased a new plateau of live performance. There’s an extra bounce in his step, and his passion for performance is more visually apparent than ever before. If Jackson never toured again after the Bad Tour, it would have been the perfect retirement from touring any superstar could ask for. For all intents and purposes, Bad Tour was Jackson’s prime of performance. His vocals and dancing never seem to outshine one another, but instead mesh for a mesmerizing and unbelievable spectacle. Just as he belts or executes a subtle but swift vocal run, he twists his knees at lightning speed, spins and gyrates his hips with enough breath to make the next line unceasingly for two hours. Never had he sang so passionately, never had he moved so unpredictably, never had he been so calculated; never had he (or anyone) been so dominant, commanding of a stage. The influence of James Brown had always been apparent in Jackson’s live performances, but unquestionably had Jackson surpassed his mentor and created his own legacy by 1988. By 1988, Jackson is emulating James Brown’s passion and dancing, David Ruffin’s raspy soul, and Jackie Wilson’s explosiveness in a way that is uniquely his own. What cannot be ignored is not only the difficulty of doing this at any level, but under the difficulty of material Jackson produced. Songs like Dirty Diana, Beat It, Human Nature, The Way You Make Me Feel, Bad and Man In The Mirror are hard enough to perfect in the studio, each taking Jackson to some form of his chest vocal limit. Michael’s ability and resolve to recreate these songs at a high level before a live audience on a nightly basis is unprecedented.
It’s a high energy performance through and through. From the moment he hits the stage opening the show, Jackson is filled with enthusiasm and swagger. He seemingly has an endless reserve of energy, drenched in sweat but never missing a step or seeming out of breath, even through his choreographed numbers like Thriller, Beat It and Smooth Criminal. As a show, The Bad Tour contains everything you want from Michael Jackson. It needs no saying the excitement Jackson created as he arrived to each stop on the tour, across Europe, Japan, Australia and The United States. The true pandemonium that would erupt when he hit the stage was legendary. By the time he performs the moonwalk, an already insane crowd kicks into overdriven uproar. There’s just enough of Michael as a pure performer, singing, dancing and capturing an audience as only he could. He even leaves time to vocally improvise acapella just before Rock With You, continuously a highlight of each show. He still knew how to put on a marvelous spectacle of a show, recreating his Beat It, Thriller, Smooth Criminal and The Way You Make Me Feel choreography with precision and thrill. Not to mention the setlist is packed with enormous hits, including Billie Jean, Dirty Diana, Rock With You, Bad and Man in The Mirror. The show is performed at an insane pace, with many of the songs, such as This Place Hotel, Billie Jean, Rock With You, performed at a faster pace to make the show more exciting and allow Jackson to perfectly preserve both his dancing and singing. Jackson does, however, leave soft and tender moments with I’ll Be There, Human Nature, I Just Can’t Stop Loving You, and She’s Out of My Life. By show’s end, Jackson rides on pure adrenaline as he pushes the crowd even further with the emotional closer, Man In The Mirror. The show even contains a segment where the band simply improvises and jams out with the audience. Jackson’s signature performance, Billie Jean, is such for a reason. It’s just Jackson, a microphone, spotlight and all his talent shining through. Honestly, it’s all the artist ever needed to captivate a crowd. His ambition, however, was always much greater and reflects in the flawless flow of the show. In an era where solo artists were overshadowed by huge rock bands, Michael Jackson controlled stadiums across the world and proved that a solo artist could take over the world all the same.
Even under medical advice that the exertions night-in and night-out could do permanent damage to his voice, Jackson’s perfectionism again proves a blessing and a curse. With an unceasing desire to bring the same quality and energy from show-to-show, and city-to-city, Jackson leaves it all on the stage each night of the Bad Tour. By late in the tour, one can see the toll it took on the artist. Keys are lowered, songs like Dirty Diana are removed from the set list, and by Los Angeles, Jackson is forced to rest his vocals completely due to swelling. He is also forced to lip-sync the beginning of certain numbers, turning his mic on at the end of the song to catch his breath and also rest his throat (though he likely continues singing under the backtrack). On an episode of the MJCast, Jackson’s long-time vocal director, Kevin Dorsey, noted that Jackson would signal to the crew if he could no longer continue a number then again if he was ready to turn his microphone back on. This can be seen during a performance of The Way You Make Me Feel at Wembley, June 15, 1988. Jackson briefly drops the backtrack to sing the line “I swear I’m keeping you satisfied, cuz you’re the one for me” and asks the crowd to sing along. The true damage is not felt by Jackson until the Dangerous album sessions, when he is unable to complete his song, Keep The Faith, in the key it was originally intended and realizes the range he possessed in the 80’s is not as strong. This is partially due to the poor sequencing of dates during the Bad Tour. More often than not, Jackson would perform on 3 back-to-back-to-nights. Though he often had a few days of rest before the next performances, Jackson was likely not getting proper rest due to this. After straining his vocals after the first stop in November 1988 in Los Angeles, Jackson is afforded almost a full month of rest. By the time he stops in Tokyo in December for nine shows, amateur audios reveal just how well the proper rest benefited him, as his voice is more powerful and he seems to have rebuilt his energy reserves. Another three weeks of rest (from December 27, 1988 to January 16, 1989) allows Jackson to finish the tour in Los Angeles with just as much ferociousness as the beginning of the tour in September 1987. Later in life, Jackson testified that performing on this level was very hard on his body and that he could no longer sustain such excellence.
It’s important to remember that The Bad Tour was Jackson’s first tour as a solo artist, but that the artist had been performing across the world since he was in grade school. By now, the star is 29–30 years old and had been touring and excelling as a live performer for over twenty years, an important detail sometimes forgotten in the shade of Jackson’s own shadow. By the Bad Tour, however, Jackson was in complete control of his career. Collaborators of the Bad Tour all consistently recall how Jackson structured and scrutinized every detail of the show, from the setlist, to choreography, special effects, stage, lights and even the band segment. It’s the first time Jackson’s complete creative vision comes to light on his own terms, and that only makes the tour all the more special.
In a world where amazing talents such as Janet Jackson, Prince, Beyoncé, Usher and countless others have brought enigmatic presence to the music stage, The Bad Tour set a standard of entertainment that has not yet been outdone. Naturally, production technology has sailed to new heights complimenting entertainers in ways never seen before. Jackson was ahead of his time on a productive level, though by now what was innovative in 1988 looks amateur-ish to a casual viewer. But it was The Bad Tour that makes people look back and remember that Michael Jackson was and is the greatest entertainer to ever live. It’s the magic that only he could bring to a stage, never before or after reproduced with such prowess. Not yet has a performer been able to out-sing, out-dance, out-hit, AND out-produce all-in-one the way Michael Jackson did for 123 shows. Michael Jackson was a legend long before Bad, and even before Thriller. For any other performer, a Bad Tour would be where their legends were made. For Michael Jackson, The Bad Tour solidified an already indestructible legacy and created a standard entertainers today endlessly strive for.
