With the very sad passing of Michael Jackson we searched the globe for a band that could cut it on stage for a full evening show paying tribute in sound and vision to the King of Pop and THIS REALLY IS IT ! Direct from the USA WHO’S BAD !
In glitzy jackets, glittering gloves and 80s regalia, Who’s Bad’ The Ultimate Michael Jackson Tribute Band, is an infectious party production that takes audiences on a musical expedition spanning three decades of Michael Jackson’s chart-cresting music.
The song list is impressive and includes: ABC, Another Part of Me, Bad, Beat It, Ben, Billie Jean, Black or White, Blame it on the Boogie, Butterflies, Can You Feel It, Dancing Machine, Dirty Diana, Don’t Stop Til You Get Enough, Earth Song, The Girl is Mine, Human Nature, Heartbreak Hotel, I Can’t Help It, I’ll Be There, I Want You Back, Jam, The Lady in My Life, The Love you Save, Man in the Mirror, Never Can Say Goodbye, Off the Wall, PYT, Remember the Time, Rock With You, Shake Your Body Down, She’s Out of My Life, Smooth Criminal, Thriller, Wanna Be Startin’ Something, The Way You Make Me Feel, Working Day and Night, You Are Not Alone, You Rock My World
We had a great time at the Who’s Bad – The Ultimate MICHAEL JACKSON Tribute Band at the Embassy last night.
I’m not a big Michael Jackson fan, I like the big Jackson hits like Thriller, Bad, Billie Jean, Black or White etc… but not so much that I listen to them on CD or anything (if they come on the radio, I might sing along a little).
There were a few songs I didn’t recognise, but for the most part I knew them, my wife knew more and even our 13 year old son knew a handful as well (I know he likes Smooth Criminal) which considering we don’t listen to Michale Jackson on CD was a surprise.
I didn’t recognise the first song, but by the second song I was humming along and bodging my way through the lyrics, if you don’t know the words, make em up :-)
The Embassy was close to full with only the top side seats on the left and right (the ones with a not very good view) being empty, so a very good turn out.
I was very impressed with Who’s Bad, especially the two lead singers (who sang as Micheal Jackson), they really incorporated the audience into the show from song 2. Lots of clapping along, waiving arms, wooing etc… (my wife loves making loud woo nosies at this type of show, so she was in her element :-)) and for one song they got about a dozen women from the audience on stage to dance along :-) All family friendly fun stuff, there was a young girl on stage from the audience that was a big hit with both the Skegness audience and the Who’s Bad singers, she really did do MJs dances justice for her age.
It was really funny when one of the MJs went to get the little girl to dance again in the audience (she’d gone back to her seat) and her Mum gave her a bit of a shove into the isle for her to dance. I laughed out loud :-))
My wife had a great time dancing along for most of the show with our youngest son, I tried, but I have to take it easy to protect my back, (had an operation a year ago and still not fully recovered) so could only manage a few songs stood up pretending I could dance.
As a person who likes to listen to the odd Michael Jackson song on the radio I really enjoyed the show a lot (glad I went). There were obviously some big Michael Jackson fans in the Skegness audience and they absolutely LOVED the Who’s Bad showmanship. The two MJ singers really played to the crowd as though they were Michael Jackson and the audience loved them. It’s hard to copy an entertainer like Michel Jackson (he’s such a showman), but they did a really good job. If Jackson was still alive and they went on stage at one of his concerts I think I’d be fooled for a while from a distance (they looked like young Michael Jackson’s, so that would have given it away :-)), the dancing and singing was very, very believable (sometimes with live shows the real performer don’t even sound like what you get on their retail CDs).
My only complaint (and it’s relatively small) was the lighting. There was a movable light on the right and left of the stage and though we were sat right at the back on the right (as you look down) one of the lights pretty much shone directly in our eyes! I’m guessing many others had the same light in their eyes. For the first song it was set to a white light and didn’t move at all, it was a case of “I hope that damn light isn’t going to be on for the next 2+ hours!).
By song two the lights started to move (rotate around etc…) and change colours, which helped, (the white was too much) but every so often on a loud note the lights flashed directly in our eyes. A few songs in the lights didn’t seem to flash so much directly at the audience and I think the one on our side stopped working altogether (which I was quite happy about).
Other than the light in our eyes, can’t think of anything else bad to say about the show. If the Who’s Bad stage crew read this, can I suggest pointing the light away from the audience (a lot higher above the audience for example) and not having it set to white for long periods of time (the first song).
You aren’t supposed to take photos or videos in the Embassy Theatre, there was quite a lot of people breaking that rule and members of Embassy staff were running around trying to stop them (unsuccessfully for the most part). It would be great to have a few photos and videos of Who’s Bad – The Ultimate MICHAEL JACKSON Tribute Band playing at the Skegness Embassy Theatre (I can find videos and photos from other venues online easily) for this site, so if you have some and wouldn’t mind sharing, drop a comment below.
My wife will add her review at WHO’S BAD! a Michael Jackson Tribute Band Review shortly.
David