I’d waited since mid-June for the 2nd December 2011 to approach and it seemed like such a long wait.
My mum had booked tickets in June for me and her to go and watch a Michael Jackson tribute show in Dartford, which was showing in December. There’s been such a lack of MJ-related things recently I was waiting for the night with bated breath!
So, all dressed up (donning an MJ sequins jacket and a glove of course!) I went, looking forward to the show but kind of bit optimistic too. I’ve seen many MJ tribute acts and was hoping that Amir Sharma – ‘MJ’ in Jackson Live, was not going to disappoint.
Doing a tribute to Michael Jackson is not an easy thing to do. To even attempt to try to live up to the King of Pop, or sing/dance like him is not an easy task. However, Amir Sharma did not disappoint. Sitting slap-bang in the middle of the very front row, I paid careful attention to his every note, every move and every iconic pose.
Let’s first comment on his voice; it was absolutely flawless. He hit every single note, and I did almost feel as though it could have been Michael’s own voice on the tracks. The best part for me though, were his “hee-hee’s”. It’s so hard for any tribute act to pinpoint them exactly like MJ did, but Amir was incredible. They sounded exactly the same! His impression of Michael vocally was on-point and I was extremely impressed!
Next, his moves. We all know moving like Michael Jackson is not easy to pull off. However, again, all of his dance moves were very good. The benefits of sitting in the front row mean you can watch every side-glide, moonwalk, spin and toe stand and see exactly how good they are. His footwork was amazing and the only thing I could say was I wish I had seen more of it! The dance routines themselves were based on how we remember them from MJ’s tours and ‘Smooth Criminal’, ‘The Way You Make Me Feel’, ‘Billie Jean’ and ‘Smooth Criminal’, were absolutely excellent renditions, both vocally and in dance moves. I think you always know that you have seen a good MJ tribute act when they can bring a tear to your eye through their singing, and Amir did this singing his versions of ‘You Are Not Alone’ and ‘Man In The Mirror.’
The costumes were also brilliant. They focussed mainly on the ‘Bad’ era costume from MJ’s world tours, but there were obvious costume changes for songs like ‘Smooth Criminal’, ‘Thriller’, and ‘Beat It.’
‘Jackson Live’ also benefits from a live band consisting of a drummer, bassist and guitarist, two backing singers and two backing dancers. All were brilliant and didn’t fail to disappoint.
The only negative things I can really say about the night is that I think the lack of dancers and only having two available meant dance routines like ‘Thriller’ and ‘Bad’ did not make the full impact that they could have done. But, bearing in mind this is not a very expensive production I guess it was all we could have expected. Also, I would have liked a bit more audience participation. For me, going to an MJ tribute show is about celebrating the legend and singing, dancing, laughing and crying with the performers. But we were in our seats till the last two songs when, before singing ‘Beat It’, Amir finally spoke to the crowd, got us to repeat a few “hee-hee’s” and “OWWWW’s”, and got us to stand for the last two songs. Personally I feel like this could have been done a lot earlier, to keep the mood of the crowd. He hardly spoke to the crowd which I didn’t really like.
But overall, I had a fantastic night and it is a tribute act that I would definitely see again, to see if they change things around this time. Also I’d go again purely because he is the best vocal impressionist of MJ that I have seen.
I would definitely recommend Amir Sharma and ‘Jackson Live’, it makes a very enjoyable, fun and quite emotional evening out. He’s touring all through next year so make sure you get tickets!
Me and Amir Sharma from 'Jackson Live.
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