Associated album Dangerous End date November 11, 1993 | Start date June 27, 1992 No. of shows 69 played | |
The Dangerous World Tour was the second worldwide solo tour by American recording artist Michael Jackson. The tour, sponsored by Pepsi-Cola, included 69 performances. All profits were donated to various charities including Jackson's own "Heal the World Foundation". The tour ran from June 27, 1992, to November 11, 1993.
Contents
Overview
Following the huge success of the Bad world tour, Jackson's first solo world tour, where he earned over $125 million, the star claimed that he would not tour again, and would instead concentrate on making films and records. On February 3, 1992 in a Pepsi press conference, it was announced that Jackson would be touring again. The announcement coincided with a new deal between Jackson and Pepsi, with a reported $20 million deal to sponsor the tour.
In an interview, Jackson stated, "The only reason I am going on tour is to raise funds for the newly formed Heal the World Foundation, an international children's charity, that I am spearheading to assist children and the ecology. My goal is to gross $100 million by Christmas 1993. I urge every corporation and individual who cares about this planet and the future of the children to help raise money for the charity. The Heal the World Foundation will contribute funds to paediatric AIDS in honour of my friend, Ryan White. I am looking forward to this tour because it will allow me to devote time to visiting children all around the world, as well as spread the message of global love, in the hope that others will be moved to do their share to help heal the world."
Preparations and set designs
The stage used for the tour required more time to set up than before. Equipment, which in total weighed over 100 tons, required two Boeing 747 jet aircraft and multiple lorries to transport to each venue.
For the tour's design, Jackson was influenced by the uniform worn by the military. For "Jam", the first performance on the set list, Jackson wore two variations of a faux-military uniform. During the 1992 leg, the uniform was a grey-green jacket with a one bolted strap which sparkled with multicolour. For the Tokyo and 1993 leg, Jackson wore a black uniform with three gold bolted straps, one going from his collar to his waist in one direction and the other two in another; he also used similar costume at the first Dangerous tour concert in Munich, the Super Bowl XXVII halftime show in 1993, and later at the Royal Brunei Concert in 1996.
The tour also incorporated several stage illusions. The Dangerous era was considered one of Jackson's best. Each concert on the tour ended by a stuntman, Kinnie Gibson, who secretly switched with Jackson as he kneels down a trap hole in the stage, dressed in a full astronaut costume (therefore appearing as Jackson), flying out of the arena using a rocket belt. Each concert also began with an illusion-like stunt dubbed "the Toaster" in which following the ringing of bells and the roar of a panther, Jackson catapults on to the stage through a trap door in the front, sending off pyrotechnics that electrified the crowd. "That opening was kick-ass", admired Janet Jackson. "I'm sitting in the sound tower and all the kids are everywhere. And when he jumped out of whatever the hell that thing was, I was yelling so loud, the kids in front of me were looking back and I didn't even know it. My friend Tina is saying, Jan, they're looking at you. Because I was going, **** yeah, Mike! That was the **** to me. That was so bad-ass. Why didn't I think of that? When he thought of that ****, he hit it." A similar version of "the Toaster" stunt was used in the beginning of Jackson's Super Bowl XXVII Halftime Show performance in 1993.
During the 1992 leg, the transition from "Thriller" to "Billie Jean" was another stage trick. When Jackson walks into two pillars, he secretly switches with a werewolf-masked backup dancer while he changes for Billie Jean. The backup dancer posing as Jackson is placed into a coffin which disappears when dancers posing as skeletons and zombies drape a cloth over the coffin and pull it out. Jackson appears fully dressed for Billie Jean in the upper stage level as it lowers down. The coffin portion of this stage illusion was removed in some of the 1992 leg shows and the entire 1993 leg of the tour, and replaced with the Jackson impersonator and the backup dancers performing an encore of the "Monster Breakdown" (the dance sequence in "Thriller").
The show
The original set list for the 1992 leg featured "The Way You Make Me Feel" and "Bad", but these were taken out after the eighth concert in Oslo, Norway. However, these two songs were returned for the first six performances in Tokyo, Japan.
During the Europe leg in 1992, MTV was allowed to film backstage and broadcast six fifteen-minute episodes of the tour. The show was called The Dangerous Diaries and was presented by Sonya Saul. MTV released footage of "Billie Jean" and "Black Or White" at the first show in Munich. "Billie Jean" was released with 2 different versions, one by MTV as a special, and the other on the Dangerous Diaries documentary. Both versions have placed a snippet of Jackson's original a cappella recording for "Billie Jean" over the live vocals when Jackson throws his fedora.
Jackson sold the film rights to his October 1, 1992 concert in Bucharest, Romania to HBO for $21 million. The deal was the highest ever paid for a live concert. The concert was broadcast live on radio and shown on television across 61 countries, and received the highest TV ratings in the history of the HBO network, in which Jackson was honoured with a CableACE Award. In 2004, the concert was released on DVD as part of Jackson's The Ultimate Collection box set. It was released again in 2005 as the separate DVD Live in Bucharest: The Dangerous Tour. The footage used on the released version is actually a mixture of footage from Bucharest – The BBC Broadcast, HBO live telecast (pay per view) and the HBO TV version. The Dangerous tour was met with some backlash by music critics and fans because of Jackson's increased habit of lip syncing his live performances. The Toulouse, France concert performed on September 16, 1992 featured a special instrumental performance of the first half of the song "In the Closet" as an interlude between the songs "Heal the World" and "Man in the Mirror". Princess Stéphanie of Monaco, who was the "Mystery Girl" in the actual song, was in attendance at this concert. This concert marked the first and only time that this song was performed during this tour.
On December 31, 1992 during the New Year's Eve concert in Tokyo, Japan, Slash made a special guest appearance for the performance of "Black or White". Slash also made a special appearance for "Black or White" at the concert in Oviedo, Spain in September 1992.
On 29 August, Jackson performed in front of 47,000 on his 35th birthday in Singapore.
During his visit to Moscow in September, Jackson came up with the song "Stranger in Moscow" which would be released on his 1995 album HIStory: Past, Present and Future, Book I. It was during a time when Jackson felt very alone, far away from his family and friends, yet every night throughout his tours fans would stay by his hotel and support him.
1996 Royal Brunei Concert
Jackson performed a free, one-off concert at the Jerudong Park Amphitheatre in Bandar Seri Begawan, Brunei on 16 July 1996. The concert was in celebration of the fiftieth birthday of Hassanal Bolkiah, the Sultan of Brunei and was attended by some members the Brunei royal family, the Sultan himself did not attend however, due to official duties. This concert resembled the Dangerous tour with the addition of two HIStory album songs, "You Are Not Alone" and "Earth Song".
Just as with The Dangerous Tour; Wanna Be Startin' Somethin, Human Nature, I Just Can't Stop Loving You, She's Out Of My Life, The Jackson Five Medley, Billie Jean, and Beat It were all sung fully live. This concert marked the last time Jackson sang these songs live during a concert. The remaining songs from the concert's set list were extensively lip-synced to background tracks, with the only live vocals consisting of ad libs, usually sung towards the beginning or end of each song. Only Black Or White and Dangerous were entirely lip-synced and did not include any live vocals or ad libs at all. It was also the last time the songs Jam, Human Nature, I Just Can't Stop Loving You and She's Out Of My Life were part of the set list of any public performance by Jackson.
Super Bowl XXVII halftime show
Unlike many previous years, Jackson was the only performer in the entire Super Bowl XXVII halftime show. The show started with Jackson dancing on certain jumbotrons, followed by impersonators that posed on top of the screen, which gave the illusion of Jackson moving from one side of the stadium to the other. Then Jackson himself catapulted on stage and simply stood frozen in front of the audience.
Jackson's set consist of a medley: "Jam" (with the beginning of "Why You Wanna Trip on Me"), "Billie Jean" and "Black or White". The finale featured an audience card stunt, a video montage showing Jackson participating in various humanitarian efforts around the world, and a choir of 3,500 local Los Angeles area children singing "We Are the World", later joining Jackson as he sang his single "Heal the World".
It was the first Super Bowl where the audience figures actually increased during the half-time show. The selection of Jackson for the halftime show was in response to sagging interest in recent performances, notably in the two years immediately prior. The NFL and FOX network officials decided it was necessary to sign top acts for the halftime in future years to boost future viewership and interest. The NFL donated $100,000 to Jackson's Heal the World Foundation.
Opening acts
Broadcasts and recordings
All concerts were professionally filmed by Nocturne Productions Inc., which filmed all of Jackson's tours and private affairs. During the 1992 European leg of the tour, MTV was given permission to film backstage reports, interview the cast and film live performance. The mini-show was hosted by Sonya Saul and had six, 15-minute mini-episodes of concerts in Munich, Werchter, Dublin, Hamburg, Cardiff, London, Leeds, Berlin, Oviedo and Madrid. Performances include Billie Jean, Black or White, Jam, Wanna Be Startin' Somethin', and Will You Be There. The concert in Bucharest on October 1, 1992, was filmed and broadcast on television all across the world Giving HBO the highest rating garnered in cable TV History, with an unedited version airing on the BBC. The concert film titled Live in Bucharest: The Dangerous Tour was officially released on DVD on July 25, 2005.