♦Today♦ in Michael Jackson History September 11th 1988 Biggest concert of the Bad tour was staged at Liverpool’s Aintree Racecourse (home of the famous Grand National steeplechase) attending 125,000. Michael was really gearing up for: his September 11 date at Liverpool’s Aintree Racecourse, the final show of his European tour. It was Michael’s wish to play Liverpool. “I have always considered Liverpool the home of contemporary pop music by virtue of its being the birthplace of the incomparable Beatles,” he told the press. Making his Liverpool date loom even more significant was his announcement that it would be his last European show ever, and that he intended to quit doing live performances completely following his world tour. While I didn’t believe for a minute that Michael would never perform again, I did think it was conceivable that he would take a break from performing so that he could pursue other interests. As it turned out, the Aintree Racecourse concert drew the largest crowd, by far, on Michael’s world tour: one hundred thirty-three thousand Liverpudlians. When I scanned the crowd from the side of the stage before Michael went on, I was astounded by the sight of people, people, and more people everywhere. Unfortunately, the night also made news because it was marred by violence and injuries. We had been warned about Liverpool. “You have to careful there,” we were told. “A lot of people are out of work, and they’re uptight.” Sure enough, thousands of people without tickets tried to crash the concert, eventually breaking down the makeshift walls that had been erected around the racecourse. Dozens of police on horseback attempted to keep them back, and the scene resembled a battle zone. Inside the track, meanwhile, several thousand people were treated for fainting and minor injuries, a result of all the shoving and jockeying for position among the incredible mass of people. Violence even erupted in the lighting and sound booth, high above the crowd. The local security people had taken themselves to seat their friends in the choice seats there, seats that had been reserved for Michael’s V.I.P. guests. When one of Michael’s security people asked them to leave, a handful of the Liverpool security people jumped him. The police had to be called in, and they ordered everyone down from the booth except for Michael’s technicians. Because of the cold weather I remained on one side of the stage, so I didn’t see the brawl. But the fighting affected me, too, in that, for security reasons, I was asked by Michael’s people to join his V.I.P. guests in making an early exit from the show aboard a bus. I wound up missing the last half of the concert. Michael didn’t learn about what had happened in the crowd and the lighting booth until after the show. Pleased as he was with his show and the reception he’d received from the mammoth crowd, he was quite upset by the injury report and, especially, the violence. If there is anything that Michael abhors, it’s violence. by ~My Family The Jacksons (Katherine Jackson) See More of Todays MJ History here: home.mj-upbeat/2014/09/11/today-in-michael-jackson-history-september-11th/ MJ-UPBEAT.COM
Posted on: Thu, 11 Sep 2014 06:46:00 +0000
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