Michael Jackson Live At Wembley July 16, 1988 [DVD]

So, in 1988 I was 7 years old and completely in love with Michael Jackson. I even showed the movie Moonwalker at my birthday party. Why oh why didn't my parents take me to see him in concert? There were so many opportunities: Illinois, Minnesota, Ohio, Indianapolis. Did they not realize that this would be his only US tour ever??? Did they not know that this was history in the making and probably one of the greatest entertainers who ever lived? It's not like I could have ordered tickets and taken myself. Poor me.And then 25 years I discovered this wonderful dvd here on amazon. This dvd does not disappoint. It takes me right back to 1988 when the 80's were awesome and I had not a care in the world. Michael has his long Jheri Curl with the little baby hairs and the band has no shortage of mohawks to go around. Now for those of you who criticize the video quality, I have to say that it actually inhanced the experience for me. Obviously this was recorded in the 80's before all of the technology advancements we have today so you must take that in consideration. I also find it quite amusing to watch their attempts at making stage theatrics and pyrotechnics to thrill the crowd. Of course it pails in comparison to what we have today, and may even seem a bit rudimentary, but to me it is a documentation of history. Michael was a perfectionist so for the time period whatever was strategically placed in the show was painstakenly reviewed by Michael and his creative team. Even by today's standards it is still a fantastic, marvelous show. His talent is timeless and for that reason alone this concert stands the test of time. I really appreciated it's VHS quality. Call me a sucker for nostalgia.All of the songs performed are great. I do have one criticism, however. Why oh why did he hire Sheryl Crow as a back-up singer? I love her music as a solo artist but until I heard her live singing on this dvd, now I must question her ability as a singer. She sounds like a strangled cat. She butchered one of my favorite songs. By now I'm sure you have seen the movie "This is It", well the beautiful young lady he hired to sing this song for his This is it tour blows Sheryl Crow out of the freakin' water. I don't know what the heck Mike was thinking. Maybe he was infatuated with her high heels, leather mini skirt and sky high eighties hair lol. Speaking of Sheryl, when they are singing together on "I just can't stop loving you", the sexy way Mike touches her and is in tune with her body. Whoa! I didn't know Mike had it in him. I mean, I've seen all his videos but those all seemed so choreographed. If this video is any indication, Mike sure knew how to touch a woman in all the right places.Best video ever. I am so happy I have these memories to remember this special man forever. He was genius and now his legacy with live on through his music and the collection of film that we have. Bravo. Bravo.

If you are not one of those people who are so spoiled by modern technology that they are only able to enjoy something if it's HD/Blue-ray quality then I highly recommend this concert!Jackson's Estate did not make a secret of the fact that they could only find an old VHS in his personal collection from which they could restore the video of this concert. The camera angles aren't perfect either as what you see on the video is what was recorded for the Jumbotrons during the concert. The audio on the other hand was recorded on multitracks, so that's great.Despite of these handicaps I still rate this concert 5 stars because Jackson's mesmerizing performance more than makes up for them! Surprisingly the stage show is rather purist, especially compared to what we see in many concerts today. No spectacular stage scenes, no high-tech effects, no laser shows, no fireworks, not even an army of dancers (there are only four, besides Jackson himself), no strip shows, no pole dancers. There are a couple of costume changes (like the inevitable warewolf and zombies in Thriller), but we cannot talk about a parade of spectacular costumes either. Mainly it's just Jackson and his singing and dancing. And that is good so! Actually it's one of the most impressive things to me about this concert and Jackson himself: that the concert has a kind of magic feel to it, you just cannot take your eyes off the screen for two straight hours, it's highly entertaining, enjoyable, uplifting, breath-taking, mesmerizing - and that's all down to Jackson and his talent, charisma and stage presence and not to stage gimmicks and high-tech! He was a truly great performer.Maybe because of the lack of gimmicks and high-tech, but the concert has a kind of intimate charm too - if you can say that about a show in front of 72,000 people. It's hard to put this into words but I don't see the type of mechanical, calculating, cold artificiality in it that I see in so many concerts by other singing-dancing stars. Jackson is light on his feet, he's cool, relaxed, joyful, clearly enjoying himself, like he was born to do it. He probably was. His happiness is infectious too. And all the while he's putting on an amazing show.

Michael, your talent knows no limits. I think the only category of music I never heard from you was country, but you could conquer that genre, too. Aside from YouTube clips, this was my first experience watching MJ perform, showing why so many people would be so willing to stand for 2 hours or more just to catch him work his mojo. It is just simply an amazing feat to behold, and sadly makes me regret for taking his talent for granted. Not that many of us would have thought of it in that way, but for me, I liken it to my years living in Charlotte, during Jordan's return from his 1st retirement. As big of a Jordan fan I was, it NEVER once occurred to me to buy a ticket to see the Bulls play the Hornets. And for months now, I have been going through a Renaissance with Michael's music, both with his brothers and on his own. Live at Wembley is a masterpiece, and one that you most definitely need to add to your collection. Dirty Diana, this dude chose to do a rock song, and literally ROCKED IT!!!!! I used to think when I saw grown men crying at the sight of him, these dudes are punks. Well, I digress from that position because I am not too sure I would not have the same emotions: crying, snotting and everything. He has said that he writes 100 songs or more before dwindling those down to 20 to 30 that he wants to release to the public. I am now able to discern quite of bit of what his lyrics mean, and as gentle of a soul as he IS, if you think he is done, especially for those who put him in their crosshairs with slander, keep watching. Even if the King of Pop is gone, Michael Jackson is not.