Confirmed HIStory Tour release for 2021?

[Electro]

At the time, people did not seem to care about his lip-sync during the HIStory Tour.

I went back to that HIStory Tour era (1996-1997) and found many quotes that were overflowing with praise about those HIStory Tour concerts.

The interesting thing is that there were hardly any complaints at the time about his lip-sync during those shows.

Here are some quotes that come from people who actually watched those HIStory shows and then they wrote about the experience they had (these quotes were published at the time on press, magazines, newspapers, fan reports, etc.):

“King of Pop’s show an eye-popper”

“Savour the Moment”

“The best present to get anyone is a ticket to see Michael Jackson Live!”

“The concert is a multi-media experience so astonishing in its scope and professionalism that concertgoers will probably tell their children about it”

“Explosive”

“Michael was so ON!”

“The King of Pop reigns!”

“The concert of the century”

“The gloved one thrilled with explosive special effects, ultra-slick choreography and a string of self-penned hits”

“Michael proved that he really was the King of the stage, captivating the hearts and souls of his audience, dancing and evidently enjoying the whole spell-binding and enchanting performance”

“The entire experience was unforgettable to say the least”

“Music in a Crowd, Jackson in Great Form”

“The concert was brilliant”

“Michael - Thank You. Thank You for all the joy and inspiration you’ve given to me. I love you. Please come back”

There are of course many other similar quotes that praised his performance during the HIStory Tour concerts with hardly any reference to his lip-sync.

As always it depends on who you asked and who selected the quotes with what intention. I also remember some Czech tabloid magazin that had only horrible quotes about the Prague concert.

If you asked the fans that waited days / hours to get in first to be in the front area near the stage, you'll only hear happy reactions of course. Also, being anywhere near the front there, the music was B-R-U-T-A-L-L-Y loud and you didn't see him that close-up (as on TV) to be able to notice such a detail as lip-syncing. The whole experience was simply overpowering. Exhausted from waiting all day, dizzy from bad air of people smoking, squeezed by masses of people for hours, ears blown off, MICHAEL JACKSON dancing in front of you ......lip-W-H-A-T?!

I did experienced exactly that at some of the European HIStory concerts. Some other concerts I deliberately watched from farther back to reduce the stress. It was quite different there. Music was less deafening loud, Michael only visible on two little monitors far away. And people back there mostly seem to consist of less impressed "casual" fans, or local people who just came for the spectacle and to share some MJ jokes. Back there it was easier to make comparisons to the CD sound. But then again, not a lot of people are able to hear that detailed, would know the songs well enough or care about it at all.

It was also a different time back then. Today everyone loves to hate and complain on something. We're all spoiled by technology now. Back then it seemed the real fans simply appreciated things more or at least didn't have the platform to be so trigger happy with critizism as today.

 

[Snek]

In terms of the MSG shows, the September 7th performance was an outright mess. Missing cues, forgetting spots (Billie Jean moonwalk, The Way You Make Me Feel dance), often subpar and sometimes bad singing, bored Britney Spears, drowsy appearance and a downright TERRIBLE You Rock My World performance. It has to be one of his worst shows of his whole career, and that is because of the medication he was on at the time. The saving grace of this concert was his energy, even if it caused him to stumble a bit. Particularly the dance at the end of Billie Jean was quite good in my opinion.

In contrast, the September 10th show was much more in line with a regular MJ concert. It reminds me of an uninspired HIStory world tour show such as Johannesburg. MJ did not exactly do anything wrong in this show but there is a lack of energy even when compared to the previous MSG concert. YRMW was much better as is TWYMMF. The Billie Jean end dance is very reminiscent of a HIStory performance, if a bit short. I find this concert to be very enjoyable, makes me wish we saw a tour for his Invincible release.

In terms of the HIStory shows, I think the general public would love to see a new MJ concert released, even if mostly lip synced. The man’s dancing is legendary, and in some of these shows he has infectious energy reminiscent of the Bad and Dangerous eras.

 

[Robbsaber01]

Thank you thank you thank you.

The Jacksons shows sound like they are 8 bit. Especially the Victory Tour WBSS. Awful. Sharing stage space with the leech family of his too.

I somewhat agree that the instrumentation could of been better. Although I like WBSS on the victory tour. Dont forget that there would be no MJ without those "Leeches" lol.

 

[Michaels Lover]

As always it depends on who you asked and who selected the quotes with what intention. I also remember some Czech tabloid magazin that had only horrible quotes about the Prague concert.

If you asked the fans that waited days / hours to get in first to be in the front area near the stage, you'll only hear happy reactions of course. Also, being anywhere near the front there, the music was B-R-U-T-A-L-L-Y loud and you didn't see him that close-up (as on TV) to be able to notice such a detail as lip-syncing. The whole experience was simply overpowering. Exhausted from waiting all day, dizzy from bad air of people smoking, squeezed by masses of people for hours, ears blown off, MICHAEL JACKSON dancing in front of you ......lip-W-H-A-T?!

I did experienced exactly that at some of the European HIStory concerts. Some other concerts I deliberately watched from farther back to reduce the stress. It was quite different there. Music was less deafening loud, Michael only visible on two little monitors far away. And people back there mostly seem to consist of less impressed "casual" fans, or local people who just came for the spectacle and to share some MJ jokes. Back there it was easier to make comparisons to the CD sound. But then again, not a lot of people are able to hear that detailed, would know the songs well enough or care about it at all.

It was also a different time back then. Today everyone loves to hate and complain on something. We're all spoiled by technology now. Back then it seemed the real fans simply appreciated things more or at least didn't have the platform to be so trigger happy with critizism as today.

I've been to 4 MJ concerts myself, 3 of them HIStory tour where I was at the very front at 2 of them. The 4th one was MJ & Friends where I was also at the very front. So i can very much relate to your experiences

But I've never been bothered by the lip synch, whether at the concerts in real life or watching them on video. It wasn't until I started coming to forums and reading about people complaining about it that I knew some were not so happy with it. Never at the concerts I was at did anyone talk about it or anything, people were just happy to see Michael and that was it. The same when we watched the concerts on TV/VHS, and then around 2003 (I think?) I started coming to forums and that was the first time I became aware that some people didn't like it. No one I knew, whether they've been to the concerts themselves or just seen it on video, talked about it

I really couldn't care less about it myself. HIStory tour has always been my favorite tour

 

[NatureCriminal7896]

We all have opinions about the history tour and MSG performances.

 

[NatureCriminal7896]

I don't think it makes anyone less a fan if they don't like some of Michael tours and performances. We all love Michael that the point. we really need to stop fighting about these things because at the end of the day it's what you liked.

 

[mj_frenzy]

Yeah...the fans didn't really seem to care about the lip-syncing.

1:28 - 1:52

[video=youtube;LQBQzIFv2Dg]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LQBQzIFv2Dg[/video]

Thanks for that video.

The reason could be that most people didn't know that he was lip-syncing. I don't think they would have praised the concert that much if they had known that only few songs were live.

Most people who were there they knew that he was lip-syncing during the HIStory concerts.

Note that there were also giant screens (next to the stage) that quite often zoomed in his mouth, which also exposed his lip-sync.

As always it depends on who you asked and who selected the quotes with what intention. I also remember some Czech tabloid magazin that had only horrible quotes about the Prague concert.

The first HIStory concert in Prague had few technical issues, which were mentioned at the time by local press after the concert’s end.

Czech rock singer Michael Kocáb was also in the audience, and he later brought up an issue about the concert’s sound system.

But it was the very first concert of that tour, and these particular issues were later fixed for the subsequent HIStory concerts.

In terms of the MSG shows, the September 7th performance was an outright mess. Missing cues, forgetting spots (Billie Jean moonwalk, The Way You Make Me Feel dance), often subpar and sometimes bad singing, bored Britney Spears, drowsy appearance and a downright TERRIBLE You Rock My World performance. It has to be one of his worst shows of his whole career, and that is because of the medication he was on at the time. The saving grace of this concert was his energy, even if it caused him to stumble a bit. Particularly the dance at the end of Billie Jean was quite good in my opinion.

In contrast, the September 10th show was much more in line with a regular MJ concert. It reminds me of an uninspired HIStory world tour show such as Johannesburg. MJ did not exactly do anything wrong in this show but there is a lack of energy even when compared to the previous MSG concert. YRMW was much better as is TWYMMF. The Billie Jean end dance is very reminiscent of a HIStory performance, if a bit short. I find this concert to be very enjoyable, makes me wish we saw a tour for his Invincible release.

To be fair to Michael Jackson, he was a bit unlucky because just a few hours after he had finished his second MSG show (which was overall better than his first one) the September 11 terrorist attacks hit that neighborhood.

He would have received very positive feedback/attention by media and people (especially, for that second one) but the attention shifted to those terrorist attacks, and therefore his MSG shows were almost immediately forgotten.

 

[ChrisC]

Yeah I remember hearing about the airbrushing, but not with Michael (unless I've completely blocked it from my mind somehow). Whitney Houston got airbrushed because she looked horrendously skinny. I remember Entertainment Tonight claiming Michael's skin was "digitally lightened" but I don't know how much truth there is to that, especially since the press loved (and still loves) to mock him for his skin changing.

There is clearly blurring/smoothing on Michael's face. I imagine he requested as he felt he looked old or something. His skin wasn't lightened. It just smoothed out his cheek area.

 

[Themidwestcowboy]

I somewhat agree that the instrumentation could of been better. Although I like WBSS on the victory tour. Dont forget that there would be no MJ without those "Leeches" lol.

I agree with Dam2040 to an extent. I think that the later shows, especially the last shows in LA, sounded great!

 

[Electro]

Most people who were there they knew that he was lip-syncing during the HIStory concerts.

Note that there were also giant screens (next to the stage) that quite often zoomed in his mouth, which also exposed his lip-sync.

Jeeez.... how do you want to know what "most" people knew back then? Note that you don't.

And it sounds like you didn't attend any of those concerts.
Those big jumbotron monitors (that were not exactly HD) always had a little delay, so this and the things I mentioned before didn't really make it easy to spot the lip syncing when you where actually there.

It's way easier to tell by looking at the video footage with proper audio now.

The first HIStory concert in Prague had few technical issues, which were mentioned at the time by local press after the concert’s end.

Czech rock singer Michael Kocáb was also in the audience, and he later brought up an issue about the concert’s sound system.

But it was the very first concert of that tour, and these particular issues were later fixed for the subsequent HIStory concerts.

There was a full Czech tabloid media campaign against Michael before the concert. Also fueled by the MJ statue that was erected in the week before the concert in the former place of a removed Stalin monument. I remember there were news that Michael was about to sue some of those tabloids. So if you read the biased concert reviews and selected visitor quotes that those magazines published, you could have thought that Michael was over. It wasn't about sound system issues.

Just to say... it does depend on who you ask. As always with Michael.

 

[mjawb2009]

Wasn't there a rumor that a 96' show would be released some time ago? Any news on what show they are looking at?

 

[dam2040]

Wasn't there a rumor that a 96' show would be released some time ago? Any news on what show they are looking at?

Prague and Brunei 31st December have been rumoured.

Munich VHS was advertised in UK store magazined at one point too at the time.

 

[Carmour260]

Michael had lupus as well. Back then, watching the 30th Anniversary shows, I was wondering why Michael's face was red. Also, he broke his foot earlier that year, and he was getting older, so it took a while longer to heal. Also, he had a lot of "Yes" people around him, and fighting with the people at Sony at the time.

 

[NatureCriminal7896]

I thought lupus goes away. i don't think he had it for very long did he?

 

[NatureCriminal7896]

Also, he had a lot of "Yes" people around him, and fighting with the people at Sony at the time.

That is so true. and people was still lying on him like they still doing today. smh. poor Michael. his whole last of life was apart of this crap. so sad.

 

[mj_frenzy]

Jeeez.... how do you want to know what "most" people knew back then? Note that you don't.

And it sounds like you didn't attend any of those concerts.
Those big jumbotron monitors (that were not exactly HD) always had a little delay, so this and the things I mentioned before didn't really make it easy to spot the lip syncing when you where actually there.

It's way easier to tell by looking at the video footage with proper audio now.

There was a full Czech tabloid media campaign against Michael before the concert. Also fueled by the MJ statue that was erected in the week before the concert in the former place of a removed Stalin monument. I remember there were news that Michael was about to sue some of those tabloids. So if you read the biased concert reviews and selected visitor quotes that those magazines published, you could have thought that Michael was over. It wasn't about sound system issues.

Just to say... it does depend on who you ask. As always with Michael.

The quotes that I posted earlier (about the HIStory concerts) were published at the time also on tabloid press.

Like, the “Music in a Crowd, Jackson in Great Form” quote, which was published on the Polish tabloid newspaper Super Express right after his HIStory concert in Warsaw.

So, you cannot accuse of me being positively selective concerning the sources of these quotes about the HIStory Tour.

And that Hawaii video snippet also proves my point: although his fans were aware of his lip-sync, yet they did not really care about it.

Also, if there was a full Czech tabloid media campaign against Michael Jackson before his HIStory concert there, this does not really mean anything because that campaign was bent on saying only their pre-planned, negative things (about him and his concert) regardless of how well he would perform there.

 

[dam2040]

I always wonder if those who criticise the tour were even there or only have an opinion based on a YouTube video

 

[analogue]

I'm sure that being at the shows themselves in person was a whole different experience than watching it on Youtube. The excitement from the audience, the atmosphere and the fact you get to see MJ live in person would give a much better experience than watching it on a TV screen.

 

[JichaelMackson]

I'm sure that being at the shows themselves in person was a whole different experience than watching it on Youtube. The excitement from the audience, the atmosphere and the fact you get to see MJ live in person would give a much better experience than watching it on a TV screen.

I was there as a kid and I didn't notice the playback, I in fact didn't even understand that concept yet. It's only a couple of years later that I realized we were all been duped, ever since I hated the tour.

 

[dam2040]

I was there as a kid and I didn't notice the playback, I in fact didn't even understand that concept yet. It's only a couple of years later that I realized we were all been duped, ever since I hated the tour.

"duped" lmao it wasn't a bank heist it was a 40 year old man using a pre-recorded voice to give his audience the best show possible. Consider yourself lucky to have seen him live. There are millions who wish they had that luxury.

 

[Hess]

I saw him - the birthday concert - in Denmark. I was only 10 years old back then, so I didn't notice playback. I enjoyed the hell out the concer. I was only 10 and I remember it so very well. - Also all the exitement before the concert - the atmosphere and everyone was so happy. - When we walked out of the stadium after the concert people were screaming "I love you" - like MJ does many many times during the concert. So fun.

I also saw the HIStory concerts on TV1000 and was i TV3 that showed them on TV? - We had it recorded on VHS. My dad always said it was play-back, but I did not fully understand the concept - then being maybe 12-13 years old. So I was so sure MJ sang live. Like I thougt wrestling was real until I grew older...

BUT - the fact I enjoyed the concert tremendously in the past (still enjoy to watch HIStory concerts) does not mean that my entusiam is the same today... not at all.
I would prefer less dancing and more live vocals. - Hopefully all live vocals... Being there and seeing it live is a 360 degres experience - so at the momenst play-back is maybe not that important. But watching the concert on TV and seing MJ holding his mic all the time, holding his hand in front of the mouth to cover, it just looks wrong really. - Especially since he didn't even re-record "live" vocals with his 1997-97 voice... That would have helped a lot.

 

[ChrisC]

I always wonder if those who criticise the tour were even there or only have an opinion based on a YouTube video

I was there. I criticise it.

 

[Anna]

The amount of miming Michael did really is unfortunate. If you're going to do so much miming at least try and make it realistic. Should have recorded live versions to use during the shows.

 

[wonderouzmj]

I don't mind it because of the state his voice was in....its like fucck the 25years prior to the history tour when he & his brothers most sang live & from the age of 5? Give him a break. He was already established. The fact that ppl got a chance to actually see the man & ppl complain about him singing? Most ppl only got a glimpse of him from hotel to car & that was life for them. Fans happy because he waved hello let alone be in his presence for 2hrs. Smh cant please everybody!

 

[Robbsaber01]

This is exaclty why it shouldnt be released. It doesnt show him at his best. The amount of playback will be criticised. Being there in person is completely different than watching it on TV. Destiny, Triumph, and Victory should be released.

 

[Seldervi]

Should have recorded live versions to use during the shows.

I believe (not 100% certain) he tried recording new vocals for the songs he was lip-syncing, but gave up after "Stranger In Moscow". But I heard that a few years ago, so idk

 

[IMWhizzle]

I believe (not 100% certain) he tried recording new vocals for the songs he was lip-syncing, but gave up after "Stranger In Moscow". But I heard that a few years ago, so idk

Strange, Stranger in Moscow was “new” back then. Do you have a source?

 

[Carmour260]

I thought lupus goes away. i don't think he had it for very long did he?

No, unfortunately. He had it since the late 80s I believe. When I first watched the 30th anniversary shows, I always wondered why his cheeks were red, especially during "Billie Jean," "Beat It" and "You Rock My World," always covering his mouth.

 

[Michaels Lover]

No, unfortunately. He had it since the late 80s I believe

Early 80s

 

[Themidwestcowboy]

I believe (not 100% certain) he tried recording new vocals for the songs he was lip-syncing, but gave up after "Stranger In Moscow". But I heard that a few years ago, so idk

This was for This Is It not the History Tour.