30 years ago tonight, my mother took some friends and me to see the King of Pop, Michael Jackson and the Jacksons at the Gator Bowl. It was the second (and final) time that I saw him perform with his brothers in person. The first time being the very first concert I ever attended at the Front Row in Cleveland back in the Iron Age.
The Victory tour was an Event. It could have been called the Thriller tour; but Mike was being charitable. The brothers were more than capable, but everyone was there to see "Billie Jean" performed live. Period. Even as Thriller fever was about to be Purple Eclipsed and Borne out of the USA, MJ was still turning everything to gold with "P.Y.T.," "Say, Say, Say," "State of Shock" & "We Are The World" which made the globe mental the next year.
Michael did not disappoint even though he looked tiny from our seats. This wasn't my first stadium concert. I had already seen the Beach Boys at old Cleveland Municipal. This show however was a spectacle with sword in the stone ridiculousness and laserbeams and glittering costumes to match. It was fun to hear the full-tilt hits from Thriller as well as the old Jackson 5 revue. The Jacksons always knew how to pull out the stops for performances.
Somewhere in my archive reside my tour program and yes a tour tee shirt. My Mom put up a lot of dough for the show, I remember. Now, I have an even greater appreciation for our evening on the town with the Jacksons. We had a grand time and I look back and realize that my mother was younger then than I am now. Sh'mon!
Thanks, Mom.
#TheJacksons
#MichaelJackson
#Victory
#GatorBowl
#Jacksonville
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