HIStory Tour

    Facts and figures                                                                                  

The "HIStory" tour spanned the globe with stops in 56 cities, 35 countries on 5 continents, and included 82 concerts to about 4.5 million loving fans.
Michael Jackson's "HIStory World Tour" is the biggest world tour any performer had ever done!!!

Michael's gold costume was designed by Gianni Versace who already designed some clothes for Michael for his "Dangerous" tour.

Michael's two "HIStory" concerts in Munich, Germany on July 4 and 6, 1997 at Olympic Stadium were recorded. The concert [containing footage of both shows] was televised by German TV-channel SAT1 and later in many other countries.

Plus concerts in the following countries were recorded and later shown over network television: Bucharest [Romania] - Sept. 14, 1996, Kuala Lumpur [Malaysia] - Oct. 1996, Auckland [New Zealand] - Nov. 1996, Manila [Philippines] - Dec. 1996, Copenhagen [Denmark] - Aug. 1997, Gothenburg [Sweden] - Aug. 16, 1997 and Helsinki [Finland] - Aug. 1997.

One "HIStory" concert in Seoul, South Korea in 1996 at Chamsil Olympic Stadium was recorded and a VHS video cassette [NTSC] of this great concert was commercially released by Sony Music for the Asian market.

At every "HIStory" tour stop, during "You Are Not Alone", one lucky girl was allowed to dance with Michael on stage.

Only hours after kicking off the Australian leg of his "HIStory World Tour" on November 14, 1996 Michael married Debbie Rowe in a civil ceremony in his presidential suite at the Sheraton-on-the-Park Hotel in Sydney.

There are 160 people working on the Michael Jackson "HIStory" World Tour. In every city another 200 professional stage hands and 200 security officers are hired locally.

The logistics for such a huge show require an almost military-style organisation! In any given week, three different stages are either up, going up or coming down. Moving the custom designed steel and scaffolding requires 7 trucks per stage each weighing 200 tons which takes 3 days to build, 24 hour to set up the elements of the show [backline, lights, sound, band gear, pyro, video] and 24 hours to de-rig. Once built, the set weighs 550 tons. A further 22 trucks carry the backline, sound, lights, rigging, video, pyrotechnics and band gear. That's a total of 43 trucks carrying 1'200 tons of equipment!

There are 14 people working the lights who are controlling about 1'000 fixtures and assorted equipment under the direction of Michael Keller, the lighting director. The whole system uses about 35 kilometres of cable and weighs 3'200kg. It takes 5 trucks to transport all the equipment, and load in of the lighting system takes about 8 hours the day before the show, with all fixtures getting individually focused after dark.

The sound system, designed by Clair Bros Audio, consists of 150 S-4 cabinets totalling 400'000 watts of power and weighing 30 tons. There are also 50 sub low cabinets specially designed to create a sensoround effect. The sound engineer, Trip Khalaf has worked with Madonna, Steely Dan and Queen.

The stage was built by UK based Edwin Shirley Staging, who transmitted by computer graphics back to England any changes and modifications needed for construction of the stages during the rehearsals held in L.A.

Pyrotechnics are an important element of the show, 4 people handle over 500 shots a night, the noise effects are comparable to a TNT explosion bringing down a 3 storey building. For Pyritz, the company who have worked on every Michael Jackson tour, safety is of prime concern, and their safety record proves it. The stage may well look like it's totally destroyed, but no damage actually occurs.

Michael Jackson travels with his own television studio provided by Nocturne Productions. 4 broadcast cameras capture Michael's every move on stage transmitting them to 2 large Jumbotron screens flanking the stage on either side. Directed by Paul Becher, the screens enable the audience to see every detail of what's happening on the stage no matter where they are sitting. The video portion of the show include a computer generated opening specially made for each city, while certain scenic elements are played back on a moving Jumbotron over the stage.

When asked what satisfies him most, Chris Lamb, the production manager, in charge of every aspect of putting on the biggest show on earth, says it very succintly: "It's hearing the thunderous applause of the audience on the first night and then hearing it again and again at every show."

1,4 million people went to the Michael Jackson HIStory tour which started in Prague on September 7, 1996. A further 2 million people are expected to come during the second leg of the tour which started in Bremen on 31st May 1997, and sales of tickets in Germany alone have already reached 500,000.

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Musicians

Dorian Holley [Vocalist]
Fred White [Vocalist]
Marva Hicks [Vocalist]
Jennifer Batten [Guitar]
David Williams [Guitar]
Brad Buxer [Keyboards]
Isaiah Sanders [Keyboards]
Freddie Washingto [Bass Guitar]
Jonathan Moffett [Drums]

Dancers

1 parte:
LaVelle Smith
Shawnette Heard
Courtney Miller
Anthony Talauega
Richmond Talauega
Loru Werner
Jason Yribar

2 parte:
LaVelle Smith
Christian Judd
Stacy Walker
Anthony Talauega
Richmond Talauega
Faune Chambers

Setlist

Gates Of Kiev
                   

Scream
They Don't Care About Us
She Drives Me Wild / In The Closet
Wanna Be Starting Somethin'
Stranger In Moscow
Smooth Criminal

Interlude: "The Wind"

You Are Not Alone
The Way You Make Me Feel [From September 07, 1996 to June 15, 1997]
Jackson 5 Medley [I Want You Back I The Love You Save I I'll Be There]
Off The Wall Medley [Rock With You I Off The Wall I Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough] [From September 07, 1996 to June 10, 1997]

Interlude: Remember The Time

Billie Jean

Thriller
Beat It
Come Together ** / D.S. [From September 07, 1996 to December 31, 1996]
Blood On The Dance Floor *** [From May 31, 1997 to August 19, 1997]
Interlude: Black Or White Video [2nd Part]
Dangerous ****

Interlude: Black Or White Video [1st Part]

Black Or White
Earth Song

Interlude: We Are The World
Heal The World
HIStory

* The Off The Wall Medley was withdrawn from the show in Tunis [Oct. 7th], Bombay [Nov. 1st], Sydney [Nov. 14th and 16th], Brisbane [Nov. 19th] and Tokyo [Dec. 20th]

* Come Together / D.S. was withdrawn from the show in Bombay [Nov. 1st], Sydney [Nov. 14th and 16th], Brisbane [Nov. 19th] and Tokyo [Dec. 20th]

* Blood On The Dance Floor was withdrawn from the show in Vienna [July 2nd]
**** Dangerous was withdrawn from the show in Tokyo [Dec. 20th]

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