HIStory World Tour

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Setlist

• Gates Of Kier
• Scream
• They Don't Care About Us
• In The Closet
• She Drives Me Wild
• Wanna Be Starting Something
• Stranger In Moscow
• Smooth Criminal
• You Are Not Alone
• They Way You Make Me Feel
• ABC
• I Want You Back
• The Love You Save
• I'll Be There
• Rock With You
• Off The Wall
• Don't Stop Till You Get Enough
• Billie Jean
• Thriller
• Beat It
• Blood On The Dancefloor
• Dangerous
• Black Or White
• Earth Song
• We Are The World
• Heal The World
• HIStory

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Performens

BANDCREW:

• BRAD BUXER
  Musical Director/Keyboards (Dangerous & History Tour)

• JENNIFER BATTEN
  Guitar (Bad, Dangerous & History Tour)

• DAVID WILLIAMS
  Guitar (Dangerous & History Tour)

• ISAIAH SANDERS
  Keyboards (History Tour)

• FREDDIE WASHINGTON
  Bass Guitar (History Tour)

• JONATHAN MOFFETT
  Drums (History Tour)

  SINGERS

• KEVIN DORSEY
  Vocal Director and Asst. Musical Director (Worked on Bad, Dangerous & History Tour)

• DORIAN HOLLEY
  Vocals (Bad, Dangerous and History Tour)

• FRED WHITE
  Vocals (New)

• MARVA HICKS
  Vocals (History Tour)

  DANCERS:

• LAVELLE SMITH
  Choreographer/Dancer (Bad, Dangerous, History Tour)

• ANTHONY TALAUEGA
  Dancer (History Tour)

• RICHMOND TALAUEGA
  Dancer (History Tour)

• FAUNE A CHAMBERS
  Dancer (new)

• CRISTAN JUDD
  Dancer (History Tour)

• STACY WALKER
  Dancer (New)

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Staff

PRODUCTION:

• Tour Produced by QUINTA COMMUNICATION

• TARAK BEN AMAR
  Artist Manager

• BRIGITTE SEGAL
  Quinta Business Affairs

• PAUL GONGAWARE
  Tour Executive

• NORMAN DUGDALE
  Tour Finance

• CHRIS LAMB
  Production Manager

• BERNIE BOYLE
  Tour Manager

• J.K ISAAC
  Tour Photographer

• MITCH VANNONI
  Tour Publicist

  TOUR SUPPORT

• LIGHT AND SOUND DESING
  Lighting

• THE OBIE COMPANY
  Computer Lights

• VARI*LITE
  Moving Lights

• CLAIR BROS. AND AUDIO RENT
  Sound

• NOCTURNE
  Video

• SHOWPOWER
  Generators

• EDWIN SHIRLEY
  Stage & Trucking

• OCEAN STATE RIGGING
  Cam-Track

• ROCK-IT CARGO
  Freighting

• EAT YOUR HEARTS OUT
  Catering

• MIKE HAWKSWORTH
  Travel

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HIStory Tour record-breaking events & achievements:

• The first leg of the HIStory Tour began in Prague, Czech Republic on September 7, 1996, and ended in Honolulu, Hawaii January 4, 1997. After 17 weeks on the road, Michael performed 42 concerts to a total of about 2,200,000 fans in 26 cities (20 countries and 5 continents). The second leg of the tour began in Bremen, Germany on May 31, 1997.

• Sept. 10, '96 - New Zealand - the first Auckland concert sold out in 3.5 hours - setting a new record for the fastest concert to sell-out in New Zealand. A second concert was added, also selling out.

• Sept. 14, '96 - Both Amsterdam concerts sold out in record time - only 45 minutes for each concert. A third concert was added and again sold out. A total of 150,000 tickets were sold.

• Sept. 19, '96 - The Moscow concert boasted a record-breaking crowd of over 50,000.

• Sept. 20, '96 - Michael's first concert in Poland drew a record audience of 100,000 - 120,000.

• Oct. 5, '96 - Concert tickets sold-out in record time in Australia. Initially, first shows scheduled for Sydney and Melbourne both sold out in under 2 hours, selling over 130,000 tickets combined. Then another record was set: Over 175,000 tickets sold out in just 8 ours. ALL 6 scheduled concerts in Australia are sold out, leaving the possibility for added dates. This makes it Michael's most successful tour stop in Australia in his career.

• Oct. 7. '96 - Michael makes HIStory by performing his first ever concert in Africa. He performed to a sold-out crowd of over 60,000 in Tunis, Tunisia, today, with all proceeds going to a local charity.

• Nov. 11, '96 - Michael Jackson performed to the highest attendance ever in New Zealand, to a total of at least 86,000, in 2 sellout concerts.

• Nov. 16, '96 - All 35,000 tickets for Michael Jackson's Hawaiian Jan. 3, 1997 concert sold out in just 4 hours. A second concert was tentatively scheduled, also immediately selling out. As the ticket outlets opened at 8am, an estimated 20,000 people stood in lines that snaked up and down at Aloha Stadium. Police said only two special duty officers were hired to handle the Aloha Stadium lines -- but about 15 officers who worked the previous midnight watch put in overtime during the morning to control the crowds. The scene at the Aloha Soccer Stadium turned into a total chaos, as fans jumped over chain-link fences, overwhelming ticket-sellers. Jim Fulton, an official with promoter Tom Moffatt Productions, said "I have never, ever seen anything like this in Hawaii before. Ever."

• Dec. 6, '96 - during his Australian leg of the HIStory tour, Michael performed 9 sold out concerts in 5 different cities - Sydney, Brisbane, Melbourne, Adelaide, and Perth - to at least 334,000 Australians; thousands followed his every move. This makes it Michael's most successful tour stop in Australia in his career. He set another record in October, when the initially scheduled shows sold out in record time, just under 2 hours, selling over 130,000 tickets. Additional shows were added, also immediately selling out - over 175,000 tickets sold out in just 8 hours, and 3 more concerts were later added to meet the demand. As a direct result of the concerts, HIStory album shot up again on the Australian charts to the #1 spot.

• Jan. 4, '97 - Michael Jackson performed to record crowds of 70,000 in Honolulu, Hawaii - his first U.S. tour stop since 1989. The two concerts held on Jan. 3 & 4 at the 35,000 seat Aloha Stadium made history - no other musical act ever sold out the stadium, and Michael sold out 2 shows in less than 24 hours -- a record time. Hawaii promoter, Tom Moffatt said: "I've never seen anything like it, ...there's been nothing even close to this--the Rolling Stones, Elton John, Julio Iglesias, the Eagles..."

• Mar. 25, '97 - Tickets were sold out in record time in Helsinki, Finland, for the HIStory Tour concert scheduled for August 24th. It took only five hours to sell over 50,000 tickets for the upcoming concert.

• June 1997 - Michael Jackson sets new tour record in Germany: After a short break in early 1997, the History World Tour took to the road again, starting in Bremen on May 31st 1997. Within a week of commencement of the tour, a record of over half a million tickets were sold in Germany alone. Michael sold more tickets in Germany with his "HIStory World Tour" than any other performer. So far, nearly 554,000 tickets have been sold for Jackson's current "HIStory World Tour," more than for any other open-air tour in Germany. Previous record was held by the Rolling Stones, who sold 550,000 tickets seven years ago with their legendary tour. Michael will give 5 more concerts in Germany by August 10, so the final figures should be even higher.

• June '97 - a record is set in the Netherlands, with a total of 250,000 spectators attending one of the 5 HIStory concerts Michael gave in Amsterdam. First three sel out concerts in September 1996, and by the time the second leg of the HIStory tour reached Holland, Michael had filled another two Amsterdam Stadiums, bringing to 5 the total number of shows in Holland. Dutch History had been made with a record quarter of a million Dutchmen going to see the show. In a country of 14 million people that's just under 2% of the population !

• July 19, 1997 - 1 millionth fan to see Michael perform at the Wembley Stadium in London. United Kingdom - The Box office figures for Michael Jackson's HIStory concerts clocked up another 212,601 tickets during his July UK Wembley shows. But the ticket clock had been on for much longer... sometime during the afternoon of Thursday 17th of July - unbeknown to the innocent lad purchasing his ticket for that night's show... a record was being set ...on that night, the total ticket sales for MICHAEL JACKSON concerts at WEMBLEY STADIUM had reached ONE MILLION IN TOTAL. For between the BAD, the DANGEROUS and the NOW - HISTORY had been made.

• August 10, 1997 - As the German leg concluded, a record of 600,000+ fans came to see Michael perform at stadiums around the country at 10 concerts, starting on May 31 in Bremen (2 concerts), and continuing in Munich (2 concerts), Berlin, Cologne, Leipzig, Kiel, Gelsenkirchen, and finally in Hockenheim.

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Technical Facts

A few facts and figures on how it's put together:

• There were 160 people working on the Michael Jackson History 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 1200 tons of equipment!

• The show is conceived and created by Kenny Ortega and Michael Jackson, the choreography for the History tour is by Michael Jackson and by Lavelle Smith, Travis Payne and Michael Jackson for Dangerous and "They Don't Care About Us". The set designed by Peggy Holmes and Michael Cotton was engineered by John McGraw. Costumes are by Michael Bush.
• Peter Morse, the lighting designer who has worked with Madonna and Janet Jackson among others, fine tuned the show for several weeks with Michael Jackson. "Michael wanted a theatrical look to this show, while maintaining the technology of the 90's, so the lighting is made up of the latest in technological advancements but the lights hang in a traditionallytheatrical way. The lighting is designed specifically to give a very white light. Most theatrical lighting is warmor yellowish by comparison, on this set the light is 'daylight level' or 5600 degrees kelvin." There are 14 people working the lights who are controlling about 1000 fixtures and assorted equipment under the direction of Michael Keller, the lighting director. The whole system uses about 35 kilometres of cable and weighs 3200kg. 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."

• 2.2 million people went to the Michael Jackson History tour which started in Prague on September 7th 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.

  Thanks for Sonymusic and MJIFC.