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When park hailed birthday boy Jackson
As his millions of fans around the world come to terms with the shock news that Michael Jackson has died, Ian Rosser takes a look back at the King of Pop's two unforgettable shows in Roundhay Park, Leeds.
WHEN most people reach 30, they celebrate the day with family, friends and maybe a few drinks.
Of course, if you're the King of Pop and arguably the most famous person on the planet, that birthday bash is going to be somewhat grander.
So it was no surprise that Michael Jackson marked his third decade by performing a concert regarded at the time as one of the most high-tech ever staged.
Luckily for the people of Yorkshire, Jackson chose to mark his personal landmark in Leeds.
The sprawling Roundhay Park in the east of the city was the location and fans rushed to buy tickets for the show.
Within days, 80,000 tickets had been snapped up. When 10,000 more went on sale shortly after, they quickly disappeared too.
The gig took place on August 29, 1988, which was also Bank Holiday Monday.
The scale of the production was enormous, with 3,000 lights illuminating a huge stage flanked by four giant video screens.
At the centre of it all was a 5ft 10in music phenomenon who would sell 170 million albums during a 40-year career.
As he took to the stage, the crowd immediately burst into a rendition of Happy Birthday To You.
"I was hoping you'd forget," he responded. "Thank you. That's very, very kind of you. I love you all."
He then proceeded to perform songs from his latest album, Bad, plus hits from his earlier releases, including Thriller, which remains the best-selling album of all time.
The concert was hailed by critics as "perhaps the most dazzling two hours of showmanship ever witnessed in Britain".
One reviewer wrote: "When the opening fanfare reached a climax he shot out of the stage in a Jack-in-a-box and stood motionless in front of a sea of adoring faces for a full two minutes. One regal turn of the head brought a mighty roar from the crowd and he was off."
It was estimated that the city council, which hosted the concert, made 100,000 from the event. A further 70,000 was handed over to Give for Life children's charity.
Many of the 90,000 in the crowd had assumed it was a once-in-a-lifetime chance to see their pop idol in their own backyard. They were wrong.
Four years later, Jackson was back, and this time the show was even more spectacular.
He graced the stage again at Roundhay Park on August 16 1992.
It had taken six days to build the stage, about 15 miles of cables had been laid, 33 lorries had been used to carry the equipment and 13 tour buses ferried around his 245-strong entourage.
Promoting his next album, Dangerous, Jackson again thrilled the crowd, which was this time limited to 60,000.
A highlight was the moment he plucked a female fan out of the audience and sang She's Out Of My Life to her.
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Thursday 24 May 2012
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