Victory Tour

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Victory Tour
Jacksons-victory.jpg
Tour by The Jacksons
Start date July 6, 1984
End date December 9, 1984
Legs 1
Shows 55
Michael Jackson tour chronology
Triumph Tour
(1981)		 Victory Tour
(1984)		 Bad Tour
(1987-89)

The Victory Tour was the biggest and final concert tour of the United States and Canada in 1984 by The Jacksons. Beginning July 6 and ending on December 9, the tour included 100 concerts to an audience of approximately 2 million. It was named after the newly released Jacksons' album Victory although none of the album's songs appear on the tour's set list. The tour reportedly grossed $175 million and set a new record for the then-largest grossing tour.

Following a controversy with the way tickets were purchased, lead-singer Michael Jackson donated his proceeds (approx. $5 million) from the tour to three charities, including the T.J. Martell Foundation for Leukemia and Cancer Research, The United Negro College Fund, and the Ronald McDonald Camp for Good Times.

Contents

[edit] Ticket controversy

Fans wanting to see the concert had to buy the tickets in blocks of four (at a cost of $30 per ticket), with a limit of one block of four per address. In addition, tickets had to be paid for using a US Post Office money order, using the original application form found in participating newspapers; copies of forms not allowed. Because of these requirements, some post offices had run out of money orders, and some enterprising entrepreneurs bought extra copies of newspapers with an application form, for cities that don't have a participating newspaper.[citation needed]

According to J Randy Taraborelli's "Michael Jackson: the Magic and the Madness", Michael Jackson, already reluctant to perform on the tour, was against this policy but was outvoted by his brothers. However, being the most famous member, Michael Jackson became the focus of intense media scrutiny because of this.

On July 5, 1984, after receiving a letter from eleven-year-old fan Ladonna Jones, in which she accuses the Jacksons and the promoters of being 'selfish and just out for money,' Michael held a major press conference to announce changes in the tour's organization and also to announce that the whole of his share of the proceeds from the tour will be donated to charity. Jones later received VIP treatment at the concert in Dallas, Texas.

The following is Michael's speech at a press conference on July 5, 1984, the day before the tour began:

"We're beginning our tour tomorrow and I wanted to talk to you about something of great concern to me. We've worked a long time to make this show the best it can be. But we know a lot of kids are having trouble getting tickets. The other day I got a letter from a girl in Texas named Ladonna Jones. She'd been saving her money from odd jobs to buy a ticket, but with the current tour system, she'd have to buy four tickets and she couldn't afford that. So, I've asked our promoter to work out a new way of distributing tickets, a way that no longer requires a $120.00 money order. There has also been a lot of talk about the promoter holding money for tickets that didn't sell. I've asked our promoter to end the mail order ticket system as soon as possible so that no one will pay money unless they get a ticket. Finally, and most importantly, there's something else I am going to announce today. I want you to know that when I first agreed to tour, I decided to donate all the money I make from our performances to charity."

[edit] Set list

The set list included songs from the Jacksons albums Destiny and Triumph. Ironically the Victory album was not represented. There were also songs on the list from Jermaine's and Michael's solo careers. Michael's albums Off The Wall and Thriller were both represented.

It is worth noting that the set list did not include "Thriller" itself. Despite rumours suggesting Thriller was not included for spiritual reasons, Michael reportedly was not satisfied with the way the song sounded live. Eddie Van Halen joined Michael and his brothers onstage in Dallas, TX during the tour to perform his signature solo on the song "Beat It".

  1. "Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'"
  2. "Things I Do for You"
  3. "Off the Wall"
  4. "Human Nature" (with "Ben" introduction)
  5. "This Place Hotel"
  6. "She's out of My Life"
  7. Jermaine Jackson Medley
  8. Jackson 5 Medley
  9. "Rock with You"
  10. "Lovely One"
  11. Interlude
  12. "Workin' Day and Night"
  13. "Beat It"
  14. "Billie Jean"
  15. "Shake Your Body (Down to the Ground)"

[edit] Tour dates

[edit] Trivia

  • The tour reunited all Jackson brothers including Michael, who had just released the highly successful Thriller album in 1982, two years previous to the tour, and Jermaine, who had not recorded or toured with his brothers since they left Motown in 1975. Jackie was the only member not present on the final leg of the tour, due to a knee injury. However, Jackie made a full recovery and joined the Jacksons on stage during the final concerts in Los Angeles.
  • Before each performance of "Human Nature", Michael would 'pretend' to sing "Ben", and even have the music starting to play. Michael would then say "Wait...hold on...stop the music. I want to do one of my favorite songs...give me something new".
  • Michael never intended to televise a Victory Tour concert, though the "Billie Jean" performance at Houston (with audience comments throughout the video) was televised. There are also several leaks and amateur videos of the concerts. A man from Mount Vernon was caught making bootleg videos of the opening concert at the Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City by tapping into the transmitted closed-circuit multi camera signal from the video feed to the jumbotron above the stage. He was later arrested for selling the bootlegs in the state of New York. The concert held in Dallas, Texas has also been leaked.
  • In his 1988 autobiography "Moonwalk", Michael mentions that the Victory Tour was originally to be called "The Final Curtain", to highlight the fact that himself and his brothers would be touring for the final time. However, the name was changed as they did not want to emphasize this point.
  • During the last concert at the Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles, Michael announced that it was "the last and final tour" of The Jacksons during "Shake Your Body", but according to his exclusive interview published by Ebony Magazine in December 1984, Michael had not planned to leave The Jacksons[1]:

"Because I have achieved a lot of broken records with Off The Wall [album] and I’ve been the lead singer for the longest and now with Thriller, which is the all-time best and everything, I’m not planning on leaving,” he said of a rumor that he plans to leave the Jacksons after the tour. “They are my brothers [Jackie, Jermaine, Tito, Marlon, and Randy] and I love them all dearly and I think the media begin to look for something to sell papers and they make up things and they twist them."

[edit] Performers

Lead Performers

  • Michael Jackson: vocals, assorted percussion
  • Jermaine Jackson: vocals, bass
  • Tito Jackson: vocals, guitar
  • Randy Jackson: vocals, keyboards
  • Marlon Jackson: vocals, percussion
  • Jackie Jackson: vocals, percussion

Band members

  • Music director: The Jacksons
  • Drums: Jonathan Moffett
  • Guitars: David Williams, Gregg Wright
  • Keyboards: Rory Kaplan, Pat Leonard & Jai Winding

[edit] Credits

  • Tour Manager: Don King
  • Tour Coordinator: Larry Larson
  • Assistant Coordinator: Marla Winston
  • Production Manager: Peyton Wilson
  • Assistant Production Managers: Gary Bouchard & Debbie Lyons
  • Stage Manager: Mike Hirsh
  • Assistant Stage Manager: Pee Wee Jackson
  • Production Consultant: Ken Graham
  • Site Coordinators: John "Bugzee" Hougdahl, Jose Ward
  • Stage Construction and Engineering: Plainview, Inc. - John McGraw
  • Robotic Lighting: Design - Michael Jackson
  • Eidophor Video Projection: M.B. Productions, Inc.
  • Design Execution & Manufacturing: Applied Entertainment Systems
  • Lighting Company: TASCO
  • Site Coordinators : Bugzee Hougdahl & Jose Ward
  • Sound Company: Clair Brothers Audio
  • House Mixers: M.L. Procise & Mike Stahl
  • Laser Effects: Showlasers, Inc., Dallas, Texas
  • Musicians Costumes Design: Enid Jackson
  • Magical Illusions: Franz Harary
  • Video Director: Sandy Fullerton
  • Jackson Crew Sportswear: Nike
  • Community Affairs: Harold Preston
  • Consultant to Community Affairs: Cynthia Wilson

[edit] References

  1. ^ "The Michael Jackson Nobody Knows" by Robert E. Johnson


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