On this day, July 26 1988, Michael Jackson played Cardiff Arms Park as part of his Bad World Tour, with support provided by Kim Wilde.
Report - Western Mail by David Cornock
The circus came to town yesterday. No tightrope walkers, few jugglers, and the only animals were guard dogs, but circus seems the only word suitable for the day Michael Jackson came to Cardiff.
Hundreds of police officers, ticket touts, security men and 55,000 adoring fans turned the capital city into the big top for one of the greatest thrillers it has seen.
All were there on account of a singer from Gary, Indiana - a man said to sleep in an oxygen tent and change his face like the rest of us change our socks.
Many residents of nearby flats in Westgate Street began a mass exodus early yesterday, fearful of the likely decibel levels.
People from another planet could have been forgiven for thinking it was the fans, and not their idol, who was wacko.
Certainly, those who had queued for more than a day might find their sanity called into question.
But for anyone privileged to see the legend in action, their anticipation was understandable.
Jackson lookalike Adrian Murphy arrived at the National Stadium at 1.30pm on Monday and try telling him it wasn’t worth the wait.
His 31 hours was nothing compared to the three days he camped outside Wembley Stadium to make sure of a good viewpoint at his idol’s concert there.
Jacko fever took over the city yesterday, and few were immune.
His hits blared out from countless stores as a carnival atmosphere took hold.
Art students John Duffy and Leon Palmer usually leave an impression of Mona Lisa or local scenes on the city’s pavements.
But yesterday there was only one man the two 20-year-olds could draw - and a full collecting tray showed the value of their efforts.
“I can’t stand him,” said Leon, aged 20, from Bynea, Llanelli.
”We’re not going to the concert - we’re only doing this for enterprise.”
Their spirits. like those of the thousands waiting to hear their hero, were undampened by intermittent showers that threatened to wash away their work of art.
Head of South Wales CID Detective Chief Superintendent John Williams, said the day was a family occasion. He should know.
One son and two daughters from the Williams household had managed to obtain tickets for the concert, even if their father admits to being less than a Jackson fantastic.
“It isn’t my idea of pure entertainment, but nevertheless, who can decry other people’s tastes?” he said.
“He certainly appeals to the younger element.”
If the sun didn’t shine, there were plenty of happy faces to make the rain disappear.
“It is a middle-of-the-road crowd, all good-natured, good humoured, talking to the uniformed bobbies,” said South Wales’s top detectives.
“We have a good presence of uniformed and plain-clothes men out there, because of the hanger-on element’ that will arrive here to prey on the unsuspecting public.”
But, despite earlier fears, police found no forgeries among the tickets in circulation as the crowds built up, “The indications are that, apart from the weather, which is s bit in-between, the event will go well,” said Mr Williams.
Gates were opened an hour early to deal with the rush, the responsibility for the fans then passing to private internal security staff inside the National Stadium.
Two would-be entrepreneurs found their day’s business curtailed earlier then expected, when the boys in blue took exception to their counterfeit wares.
“There is a strong element of trading standards people here and they seem to be monitoring the situation well. It is all very strictly controlled,” said Mr Williams.
The police operation dwarfed last year’s equivalent for U2 and David Bowie, yesterday’s crowds swelled by Jackson followers, touts and ticketless fans desperate to hear the music from outside the ground.
Certainly there is a large presence of detectives here, the crowds are very large, larger than for an international,” said John Williams.
For him it was a long, if enjoyable day, even if the music is not exactly his cup of tea.
He said, “I always enjoy things like this. I like the people in the crowds. I always get a terrific interest out of just watching their general behaviour.”
And yesterday that behaviour was rarely less than excellent, aided, believes the police chief, by the ban on alcohol inside the ground.
Few will disagree abut the day Cardiff became Jackson City, South Wales.
For whatever else he may be, this Mr Jackson ain’t Bad.
Review by Mike Smith, Western Mail:
Wales has never seen anything like it - that was the promise and 55,000 ecstatic fans left Cardiff Arms Park last night in complete agreement.
Armed with some of the world’s biggest hit singles, a larger than life image and a cult following Michael Jackson managed to surpass all expectations.
You could be excused for thinking nothing could live up to the hype of recent months that dominated Jackson’s arrival in South Wales.
The first set opened with Wanna Be Startin Something and that moment Cardiff had been conquered.
After just a couple of dance numbers came the great Jackson ballad She’s Out of My Life and the duet I Just Can’t Stop Loving You.
For one girl plucked from the audience the night turned into a dream as she hugged and kissed her idol.
Jackson doesn’t just sing a ballad, he lives it, interrupting the song to wander around the stage, face buried in a hand, wringing out the emotions, and returning to complete it.
The next Jackson offering was a medley of snatches from “the old songs in the old fashioned way” including I Want You Back and I’ll Be There.”
From the 1979 Off The Wall album came the smash hit Rock With You.
But, the evening came to its first climax with a powerful Dirty Diana, currently riding high in the charts, and the Arms Park erupted.
Throughout the first set Jackson moved through a secession of costume changes, mainly carried out in a white tent on stage, culminating in what everybody had been waiting for - Werewolf mask and baseball jacket - Thriller.
Complete with four superb zombie-dancers, the first set was brought to an incredible conclusion leaving the crowd desperate for more.
After a 15 minute-break, during which the band was given free reign, to display their skills, Jackson reappeared and ripped through Day and Night.
If the first set was great the second was absolutely stunning.
As night fell Jackson went into overdrive with the smash hit Beat It, driving the fans wild when he loomed over the sea of arms on a boom, returning to the stage to bring to life the dance routines that made Jackson the master of the music video.
Straight on to Billie Jean. Another eruption of cheers hailed the “moondance” known by millions from the Bille Jean video and a frantic scramble when Jackson threw that equally famous trilby into the audience.
And “BAD”, “Who’s BAD” flashing at the back of the stage in white lights heralded the last amazing number and the final climax to a show full of climaxes.
How do you end a show to all end shows? On came group of children and like the proverbial Pied Piper the night came to a close with the world’s greatest performer leading them into the wings.
Everything was there - the smash hits, the old favourites, the latest chart stormers but what set Jackson apart was that incredible dancing and gesture, perfectly choreographed, that brought theatre and dance to the rock concert.
That unique Jackson style, the gaudy buckles and straps covered clothes, the inimitable but much imitated movements, the most distinctive of voices, had to be seen to be believed.
Kim Wilde - who will be forever in Michael Jackson’s debt for giving her career the biggest boost since the Apollo programme - kept the masses of Jackolites happily entertained with a sing-a-long routine of hits, including the current hit YouCame and Kids In America, View From A Bridge and Keep Me Hanging On.
But this was the tantalising appetiser - the main course was a magnificent, weird and wonderful feast, that more than satisfied 55,000 hungry Cardiff appetites.
Setlist -
Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'
This Place Hotel
Another Part of Me
I Just Can't Stop Loving You
She's Out of My Life
I Want You Back / The Love You Save / I'll Be There
Rock With You
Human Nature
Smooth Criminal
Dirty Diana
Thriller
Bad Groove
Workin' Day and Night
Beat It
Billie Jean
Bad
The Way You Make Me Feel
Man in the Mirror
All photos Media Wales
