Thread originally created by strutboy:

Despite the usual cynical reaction by orgers - perhaps sadness that our man's record run will be broken - as a person who has been directly attached to both ground events, I can confirm that this summer's comeback will go ahead. There is no rumour element to this. AEG Live and Outside Organisation are handling it - just like Prince.

What's more is that Mr. Jackson was in perfect health last week, just a few training sessions short of tour readiness.

He is chomping at the bit to get back out there, and it's not just the money or proving people wrong. Jackson lives for his fans and the live performance. He has been through very difficult times, which made getting the best out of him was unlikely in recent years. He is very eloquent on the subject. Being the consumate professional and perfectionist, Jackson now feels in the right state of mind, with the right energy and motivation to produce his very best.

You can doubt all you like, but 2009 will go down as the year that the improbable happened, the year when Michael Jackson restored his mantle as one of history's greatest and most reputed live performers.

I will post some more details about the shows themselves at a later date.

If 2007 was the year of Prince, 2009 heralds the return of a King.


1st sticky http://prince.org/msg/8/298553

[Ok folks. I've the above link. It was getting off topic, baity, flamey and trolley so I that one up! I have created this new sticky.

Be warned that if the baity, flamey, trolley drama continues on this sticky that it could be up with the swiftness of MJ's glove - luv4u]

Forget the Sun setlist! MichaelJacksonLive.com has it's own setlist poll:

http://www.michaeljackson...aylist.php

Here is my setlist.... I've left off his usual hit songs (as in songs he plays on ever tour), as he's gonna play them anyway... in alphabetical order:

1. 2 Bad
2. Another Part of Me
3. Baby Be Mine
4. Dirty Diana
5. Don't Walk Away
6. Get on the Floor
7. Give In to Me
8. Heartbreaker
9. HIStory
10. Leave Me Alone
11. Liberian Girl
12. Man in the Mirror
13. Off the Wall
14. Rock with You
15. Scream
16. Speed Demon
17. Tabloid Junkie
18. The Lady in My Life
19. Whatever Happens
20. Who Is It
21. Why You Wanna Trip on Me
[Edited 3/20/09 13:21pm]

i think we should start one of them poll/betting things about which will be his last gig. the person who picks the last gig he plays before cancelling wins the prize

i'll start with the third show

the winner gets a copy of planet earth cd

PatrickS77 said:

Thanks for that.....here's mine.....

1. Another Part of Me
2. Bad
3. Billie Jean
4. Beat It
5. Break of Dawn
6. Butterflies
7. Don't Stop 'til You Get Enough
8. Dirty Diana
9. Girlfriend
10. Give In to Me
11. Human Nature
12. Jam
13. P.Y.T. (Pretty Young Thing)
14. Off the Wall
15. Rock with You
16. Man in the Mirror
17. She's out of My Life
18. Smooth Criminal
19. Stranger in Moscow
20. The Girl Is Mine
22. Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'
23. Who Is It
24. You Are Not Alone
25. You Rock My World

unique said:

Wow! And the baiting and flaming starts anew!

PatrickS77 said:

Don't worry he never got tickets .... but wanted to go ... 1 million did not get the chance unique was one off them...

LondonStyle said:

if i really wanted to go i'd have no problem getting tickets. i'll just wait until i'm next in london and then see about getting a ticket instead of making a special trip down and finding out the show was cancelled

i'm serious when i say i think he will cancel the tour part way through, and i think it could be so early on. he could potentially hate the first show, be persuaded to try again on the second nite and then cancel after that, so that's the theory behind my estimate. he gets paid whether he plays or not, and he's obviously only interested in money

unique said:

could you please lay off with the negativity and yes indeed, baiting with your 'theory'. . You are attempting to induce arguments.

Perhaps you should lay off the MJ threads for the above reasons. And respect luv4u's request at the top of this thread.

unique said:

I'm curious to know why everybody is so convinced he's a flake for shows? I know he has a tendency to try to back out of business deals, but he rarely pulls out of a performance once he's confirmed to perform. He hasn't actually cancelled that many performances in the greater scheme of things (not ones he was confirmed to do, anyway), and rarely ever tour dates without rescheduling or a very good reason (e.g. being accused of child molestation).

I wonder whether he'll be able to make it through too, but I think if he can't, the reason will be physical, not because he didn't feel like it.

my list was in random order


1. You Rock My World
2. Who Is It
3. Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'
4. The Lady in My Life
5. Stranger in Moscow
6. Smooth Criminal
7. Scream
8. Remember the Time
9. P.Y.T. (Pretty Young Thing)
10. Off the Wall
11. I Can't Help It
12. Heaven Can Wait
13. Don't Walk Away
14. Don't Stop 'til You Get Enough
15. Butterflies
16. Billie Jean
17. Bad
18. Earth Song
19. Just Good Friends
20. Keep the Faith
21. Man in the Mirror
22. Black or White
23. Break of Dawn
24. Beat It
25. Liberian Girl

Annika said:

That's what I was thinking

As long as he rests and eats well between shows he'll be fine.

Annika said:

he hasn't toured or played a proper concert in 12 years, which for a singer suggests he has no interest in playing live. considering he appears to have a massive ego if you think of his massive statues going down the thames etc for the history album, and wanting to be called the prince of pop, it's unuusual to say the least that someone who "loves thier fans" doesn't play live. considering his greatly reported financial issues, it's clear to even stevie wonder that he is only playing the shows as he is forced to for financial reasons, and not because he wants to perform

if you consider recent years, he tried to avoid court appearances due to "illness" and has been seen in wheelchairs and looking particularly awful, which to some may suggest he is ill, and to others suggests he will use any excuse to avoid attending things he doesn't want to

it's already been made public that the agreement with AEG means he will be paid even if he is unable to perform, presumably this is fairly standard insurance cover for major events, so the promotor doesn't lose a fortune if a gig is cancelled due to illness, they will claim insurance isntead. thus if he is sick and unable to perform he will still be paid, so why do the shows if he can prove he is unfit to perform and will still be paid

thus if he doesn't like performing and will still be paid, there is a strong possibility that the shows will be cancelled at some point, and my estimate is that this will happen very early on

Not in order:

1. Bad
2. Beat It
3. Billie Jean
4. Black or White
5. Break of Dawn
6. Butterflies
7. Dirty Diana
8. Another Part of Me
9. Get on the Floor
10. Give In to Me
11. Heaven Can Wait
12. Human Nature
13. I Can't Help It
14. Don't Stop 'til You Get Enough
15. Rock with You
16. Man in the Mirror
17. Workin' Day and Night
18. Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'
19. Stranger in Moscow
20. Off the Wall
21. You Rock My World
22. Earth Song
23. Remember the Time
24. The Lady in My Life
25. Who Is It

And again you're baiting!

unique said:

Well, the past 8 years... and I say 8 years, because he always has a 3 to 4 year touring break after he had completed a tour, haven't really been rosy! First he was fighting with his record company, then he was accused of being a childmolester, which almost put him into jail and on top of that he has been a single father of three! So him not touring the past 8 years doesn't really mean that much! Stevie Wonder also didn't go on tour for many, many years, without facing the problems MJ was facing!


Court appearances are not concerts and like Annika said... once he's confirmed for concerts and tickets went on sale he usually does them, unless he has very good reasons for not doing them (e.g. being ill)


If he would be in that bad a shape, that he is not capable of doing those shows, he wouldn't have passed that medical test! And if he happens to become sick in those 3 months of doing shows, then he has every right to postpone a show or two... people do get sick from time to time and stay in bed, instead of going to the office! And I doubt it will be that easy as just to say "Oooh, I'm sick!" to get the money from the insurance company!


But to assume from the getgo, that he won't follow through on his comittement to do these 50 shows is just silly and unnessesary negativity... and baiting!
[Edited 3/20/09 15:27pm]

bboy87 said:

Damn how could i forget that one.....yes...of course....

unique said:

Yeah sure Unique you and 1 million others.....look i got a spare ticket you want it for free ? you would jump at the chance ....yeah you would....

The hottest ticket in London....man...shit ....everyone you know is going right...or tried to get tickets....DON'T FRONT....

unique said:

As well as the trial, he's been concentrating on raising his family, he took time out. No albums, no performances.

The blowup statue thing was a promotional gimmick, it worked. You remember it, long time ago, but you're bitter about it still?.I thought it was hilarious, much like him in facemask and wheelchair since the mid-eighties. He's taking the piss and having a laugh.

The massive interest in his London gigs isn't off the back of any so-called ego stunts, it's purely on who he is.

The bloke is a legend. no matter how detractors want to portray him, These gigs prove that Michael Jackson as an entertainer, performer, important industry figure, far outweighs the 'strange' behaviour and so-called ego.

Oh, and he has no financial problems as drastic as you might think, or nothing like what most people believe, he's been broke since the last fifteen years according to most of the press, and there he was in the press conference in a 50k Jacket. Still selling his back-catalogue like crazy on a daily basis, Still in control of half the Sony/ATV catalogue, still getting radio and club play, merchandising rights, yep, no money.

Riiight!

unique said:

Suffice to say, I find you're making a pretty big leap here:

1) Before his break, he had been performing almost non-stop since the age of 11. If he really didn't like it, wouldn't he have stopped before then? The man was clearly burnt out by 2000 and needed a proper rest and time to be a father to his kids. Now that he's done that, is it so inconceivable that he feels ready to enjoy performing again?

2) You act like he's tried to get out of innumerable court appearances due to illness. Off the top of my head, I can count two occassions - one during an emotionally and physically exhausting period in his life, where he was literally fighting for his life, and one more recently, where his appearance was clearly completely unnecessary, and which would have garnered him large amounts of bad publicity in a city where he was (as we now see) planning to make a comeback. Should he have done it? No. Does him reacting this way equal him cancelling concerts he's legally and ethically obliged to perform? I hope not.

3) The wheelchair thing: He's actually been doing this since the 80's, and it didn't seem to impact his performance back then. In case you hadn't noticed, Michael Jackson is just kind of weird sometimes.

Marrk said:

Look mike's short of a few bucks sure but he's not broke...he's working to pay the bills this tour and new CD and a few t-shirts and he's back in the red...

LondonStyle said:

I think you mean out of the red!

LondonStyle said:

in all seriousness, if you had a free ticket when i was in london i would take it, but i wouldn't travel to london especially for it, as the travel is twice the price of the cheapest ticket, which is why i'd only go if i was down there. there are 50 gigs scheduled, so if he does play them there is plenty of chance to see him, but i think he's bitten off a bit more than he can chew with 50 shows

Annika said:

you obviously don't know much about his touring history as he has only done 3 solo tours, the last of which was in 1997. whilst his first tour with the jacksons was in 1971 and they did 10 tours, prince has done far more tours and shows in a shorter period of time and still shows no end to touring. george michael hates touring, which is why it took him so long to get round to his last tour(s), but he at least did a fair number of live performances at one off gigs. MJ hasn't done a proper live performance at all in 12 years. if he enjoyed playing live he could have at least done the odd one off show. even when prince isn't on tour he still does one off shows for example. don't you find it off that someone who considers themself the king of pop has not done even a one off small show in 12 years?

and i'm not suggesting he tried to get out of court appearances due to illness. far from it. my personal view is that he was faking it, or at least hamming it up. in other words he wasn't too ill to attend court, he was just making excuses, and i think if he would do such a thing at such an important court appearance, then it's possible he will do it again. the alternate view some may think is that he was ill, and thus if he was too ill then, he could be too ill to do these shows. i personally think the wheelchair stunt is him faking it or hamming it up. or maybe he had a hip replacement like prince and can't dance anymore

unique said:

He did plenty of shows from 1970 until 1997... that's 27 years... who cares how many tours he did... it's not a competition! And he did those 2 MJ & Friends and 2 30th Anniversary shows! So it isn't like he didn't do anything!


Jeez, he's lined up 50 shows so obviously he will be able to dance!!!

Again, sitting in a courtroom listening to bs (most of the time) or doing concerts are totally different things! So what, if he faked illness to not have to sit in a courtroom... who can blame him? That has nothing to do with his comittement to do those 50 concerts!

And MJ is not Prince! Prince has a different kind of show, which makes it much easier to do the odd one-off shows... besides, Prince has no life besides music.. Michael does!

PatrickS77 said:

mj and friends wasn't a proper show, it was mainly other people performing, and still it was in 1999 (the year they named after a prince album, they didn't name any years after thriller or off the wall, although i think george bush thought last year was bad) so 10 years ago

and just cuz he has 50 shows lined up doesn't mean he will be able to dance. most 50 year olds still performing these days won't dance anymore (usually too fat though), at least not like they used to. he doesn't need to dance, he just needs to get on stage and sing, that's what most 50 year old singers would do. i don't see what the fascination is with people wanting to see prince or MJ dance, just get on stage and sing the fucking songs and stop farting around with theatrics. that's the great thing about prince in that he does the big shows for joe bloggs, and then the real show for the fans afterwards

and if you think "so what" if he didn't attend a court appearance regarding numerous child molestation charges, then that's a pretty weird way of thinking. he could have been put away for 20 years and tried to worm out of attending court. it's not like it was anything serious was it? i suppose he got away with attending court the first time around, so he must have thought he could do it again. pity OJ wasn't so lucky the second time around. cheapskate shouldn't have skimped on the lawyer that second time

and yeah mj is different to prince, but he's just a singer, so it would make it far easier for him to play live than prince. he just needs to turn up and sing a song. even i can do that

PatrickS77 said:

[Bait snip - luv4u]

cream72 said:

did you even read the 1st post on this thread? Maybe you're the lazy one.

And 'Bum boy' is a derogatory, homophobic saying (in the UK at least), maybe you deserve a ban.

unique said:

Tickets were sold, he performed a couple of songs in front of 50.000 and 70.000 people, it was a one-off show! If it's up to your standards, who cares?


He wouldn't line them up if he couldn't... again, if it's up to your standards or not, who cares?


And yet he showed up every day in court... there was only one day, where he was late due to medical reasons... and who knows, maybe he indeed had back problems that day... maybe the stress of facing life in jail caught up to him! Again, concerts are not court dates and not comparable!


No... he's a singer and a dancer, who has big shows that doesn't just rely on some people playing music!

Seriously... you're only trolling and baiting, I will stop responding to you now, as you clearly made up your mind, which is, MJ won't do these shows and hates performing, without even considering anything else... I do not even know why you waste your time in this thread, when you think like that!

And another troller, baiter and flamer! And it's the MJ Fans that don't behave... yeah right!

cream72 said:

Sure, he only went on the Destiny, Triumph, Victory, Bad, Dangerous and HIStory tours because he needed money! Oh, and all the work you do is for free!

cream72 said:

silly, unfunny, dumb comment, utterly ridiclous.

you can't really come into this thread with something productive to say.

every fuckin artist on this fuckin planet tours for money, No artist does concerts for free.

who else picked "Don't Walk Away"?