Michael Jackson’s Dangerous World Tour 1992

Michael Jackson’s DANGEROUS world tour kicked off in Munich in 1992 and is probably my favourite Michael Jackson tour! I just think it was the perfect combination of song, dance and staging. This was Michael’s second solo tour, after his record breaking Bad Tour. He performed to nearly 4 million fans over 69 concerts. The tours profits were directed to his “Heal the World foundation” and the tour apparently grossed $125 million. Just like the Bad tour the tour was split into two legs, where Michael incorporated changes, and right at the end added songs like “Dangerous” and unfortunately had to cut short the tour before he proceeded to the United States. The Dangerous tour was sponsored, again, by Pepsi.

Michael had previously stated that the Bad tour would be his last tour but a performer has to perform and in a massive press conference organised by Pepsi, February 1992, Michael announced the tour and a $20 Million deal with Pepsi was also announced. Pretty memorably, Michael arrived straight off the plane and walked straight to the press conference. Classic MJ! Sunglasses, Military Jacket and a few words about the Heal the World charity and then off he goes! Leaving it to the Pepsi officials to do the talking…very reminiscent to the original Pepsi Bad tour launch press conference. He really was a man of few words! Adds to the mystery and adds to the show!

This time the stage set needed TWO Boeing jets to transport all of the equipment which weighed over 100 tons. Michael’s stages have always been inspired in a Brechtian Epic theatre way… you see the costume changes, you see the crane rising, coffins lowering, see the lighting… it is basically just him on an open stage being a star. Michael doesn’t need a lot of nonsense like modern artists. He can literally stand still on stage and do nothing and the crowd will still go crazy… in fact… that’s how he opened the show! Blasting out of the stage and just standing still before his explosive performance of “JAM”. Jam was probably my favourite performance growing up, the crowd went crazy for Michael whilst he performs half the song solo, then his 4 backing dancers jump out from 4 trampolines in front of the band and perform a military style cadence and back into Jam…a classic performance. Costume wise, he started off with the black military and gold belts, onto the Blue shiny light filled jacket, and back, by the end of the tour he returned to the Black to open the show. Probably better visually from a distance.

Another interesting point for Michael Jackson fans to note is that the rehearsals of this tour have been leaked online (you can find the Dangerous tour rehearsals on youtube) live from his house (Yes… only Michael Jackson can build a full size set and stage in his house!). You can see and hear Michael actually conceive the changes of smooth criminal and the insertion of the “LEAN”, and planning misdirection with dancer Taco. You can also find songs and performances that didn’t make it into the final show, like “Remember the time” and “The way you make me feel”, which only featured in select concerts, just as the song “Bad” and later “Dangerous”.

Musically, the concerts did change significantly from the rehearsals to the first date. More of an emphasis (and rightly so) on pre recorded MJ Backing vocals, and samples to supplement the band (although on occasion they would remove sounds, or reduce them, like the bells in “Jam” from rehearsal to show). The key of songs would also change, like Thriller (up), where Michael would go on to use pre recorded vocals for the live performance. Greg Phillinganes did a perfect job in mixing the pre recorded vocals, with the live vocals… even the mixing of the vocals were so similar to the live microphone that it is at times it’s impossible to tell the difference (see first line Heal the World, Dangerous tour Bucharest or clever fading up of the first line of “Smooth Criminal” of the same show). I would also add that, especially on the first part of the tour compared to the second leg, the music was based very much on guitar sounds and especially Rhythm guitar. Listen to “Jam” in Bucharest and then go and listen to “Jam” in Mexico or Argentina for a clear example.

On the other hand, the tracker backing tape can cause trouble for the band and Michael when it skips or is triggered at the wrong time, like in Belgium during Jam, most visibly and later like in the first line of Billie Jean Bucharest History tour, end of Heal the World History tour Taiwan, and on lots of other occasions. You can see Michael visually annoyed but Michael’s band were on form during the Dangerous tour and these moments were few and far between!

The staging and illusions were taken to the next level. The “Lean” in Smooth Criminal was incorporated live for the first time, with an explosive pyrotechnic which was one of the highlights of the show. The workings of the act can be seen, especially in the Nordic countries where it was basically daylight throughout the whole show and again with Thriller and the floating coffins and the switch to his decoy. It’s a pity that the coffins were dropped from the second leg of the tour as I felt it was Michael’s best performance of Thriller. It would seem that technically the coffins could not drop in the first place because the stage did not split into two, in the second leg, which means that there is no need for Michael to come down on the stage, or the coffins that have nowhere to drop/hang down from. In addition the dancers just walk on, which is a lot less exciting than blasting out of coffins (Fun Fact: Count the coffins and dancers in The Dangerous tour, Bucharest Thriller, and then count the number of explosions per dancer that pop out… fun editing indeed!).

The change in staging also had a massive impact on the final illusion, as Michael appears on the same stage, in the same place he disappeared from, as opposed to a totally new outfit 30 feet in the air, in a totally different place for a classic rendition of Billie Jean. Same with Heal the World. The dynamics of the stage split added a totally new level (literally). It would seem like a budget cut, but who knows? In addition, the amazing “Rocket Man” ending was an ending that will never be topped! I’m sure you’ve noticed the switch, but if you haven’t, go and watch “Man in the Mirror” a few more times! (Why didn’t they tint the helmet, I don’t know…safety possibly?) It’s my understanding that the Rocket Man ending was NOT utilised in EVERY Dangerous tour concert but I’ll have to get back to you about that (I can’t imagine him flying through the roof off the Tokyo dome!)

“Working Day and Night” to “Beat it”, is the greatest illusion… the speed of that costume change with or without the illusion is amazing! It’s also interesting that the Thriller dance…the main dance is repeated twice on the second leg of the tour, with a decoy standing in for Michael, the second time around, the difference is interesting, the decoy energy was disproportionate to the rest of the show and in addition it’s a mystery to me how anybody can sing so clearly, through a rubber werewolf mask without a hole for the mouth….but that’s the magic of show business! ☺

There was a lot of televised worldwide footage released of the Dangerous tour but the main edit of the show is the HBO Bucharest performance recorded on October 1st, 1992. In the UK it was preceded by Michael’s Oprah interview and broadcast on the BBC. The edit is a different edit and the HBO version has footage from various dates including London. If you look closely at the DVD version you will be able to spot lot’s of fun bit’s that got through the edit. See, “Billie Jean”, first line and microphone nearly knocking Michael out (originally BBC, moment cut from HBO….looks like they cut into Munich possibly), “She’s out of my life”, hair and pony tail magic, “Man in the Mirror” words coming out without a microphone and backing singers clothing changing colour and back mid spin!

The final edit worked well because it does elevate the atmosphere to the next level and gives more of a live feel with the addition of the crowd into the mix. If you listen to the BBC Radio’s original version (actually broadcast live) you will get a totally different experience of the show. (Yes… there are about 4, at least, different edits to this show!). HBO did a great job and the concert went on to become the highest viewed concert ever on HBO after purchased the rights for $21 million.

The Dangerous tour also has guest appearances by “Slash” in the live performance of “Black or White” on a number of occasions. The tour was televised in parts, from Mexico to Japan and you can find lots of footage on youtube. Def 2 on BBC 2 had a great TV show on the opening night of the Dangerous tour (and they also premiered the “Who is it” video if I remember correctly) with an amazing performance of “Billie Jean” and later “Black or White”. Try and take a look at these performance, amazing crowd shots for the first and Black or White was basically totally sang live (with low level pre recorded vocals)… a unique performance.

I must mention one more thing: Dangerous!

Michael incorporated Dangerous in the tour right at the very end in South America. In my opinion this was the best ever version. The music was perfect, real live drums, less sampling, included the verses and best parts of the songs…. You really get a chance to sing the song and get a sense of wholeness. The later versions were perfect for award shows or TV but I feel that the spirit is easily dispelled in large stadium with too many stops and starts throughout the song, not enough continuity… he really nailed it. Have a look on youtube for “Dangerous tour, Dangerous Mexico” and you should be able to find it and take a look and see how you feel yourself. He even had a “Dangerous” looking girl pop up on stage too, for good measure!

DANGEROUS TOUR PERFORMERS

Dancers: Lavelle Smith, Eddie Garcia, Randy Alaire, Michelle Berube, Bruno “Taco” Falcon and Yoko Sumida

The Band: Greg Phillinganes, Brad Buxer, Ricky Lawson, Don Boyette , Jennifer Batten and David Williams.

Backing Vocals: Kevin Dorsey, Dorian Holley, Darryl Phinnesse and Siedah Garrett

DANGEROUS TOUR SONG LIST:

Carmina Burana
Jam
Wanna Be Starting Somethin’
Human Nature
Smooth Criminal
I Just Can’t Stop Loving You
She’s Out Of My Life
Jackson 5 Medley [I Want You Back, The Love You Save, I'll Be There]
Thriller
Billie Jean
Working Day and Night
Beat It
Will You Be There
Black or White
We Are the World (interlude)
Heal the World
Man in the Mirror

*Plus “The way you make me feel”, “Bad” and “Dangerous” on a select number of concerts.

By Anthony King ©

On to the HISTORY WORLD TOUR

How To DVDS! Dance Like Michael Jackson! anthony-king.com

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MICHAEL JACKSON DANGEROUS TOUR MUNICH, JUNE 27, 1992
MICHAEL JACKSON HISTORY TOUR LIVE IN SEOUL, KOREA
MICHAEL JACKSON DANGEROUS TOUR BUCHAREST LIVE CONCERT/DVD
MICHAEL JACKSON AND FRIENDS 1999 CHARITY CONCERTS
MICHAEL JACKSON’S HISTORY WORLD TOUR 1996
MICHAEL JACKSON’S DANGEROUS WORLD TOUR 1992
MICHAEL JACKSON’S BAD TOUR 1988

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