Rain and happiness: thirty years ago, Michael Jackson surprised Russia with his arrival

In the Iron Curtain between the USSR and Western countries, of course, there were small doors for cultural exchange, and from time to time our audience received musical delicacies. Elton John, Pink Floyd, Bill Joel, international peace festival with Bon Jovi, Ozzy Osbourne, Scorpions, “Monsters of Rock” in Tushino with Metallica and AD/DC already at the end of the Soviet era.

Among all these glorious tours, Jackson’s concert clearly stands out primarily because it took place in a situation where the entertainment enthusiasm of Russians was at a very modest level. Not the most humane market reforms forced people to count every ruble, besides, young Russian show business was then associated with shameless deception, so it was not easy for many to believe that Michael Jackson would suddenly appear here.

It will be useful to remember who Jackson was at that time. After the albums Thriller (1982) and Bad (1987), everyone involved in the artist’s musical career apparently decided that their revolutionary mission in mass music had been completed and it was time to create a pop idol on a global scale.

The album Dangerous (1991) was a little thin with intrigue and surprises, but everything turned out to be hits that could be performed in stadiums. In those days, tours, as a rule, served as additional advertising for albums, but in the case of big stars, serious income shone both from media sales (Dangerous sold about forty million copies) and from concerts.

In general, everything was more than fine with Michael, and his intention to perform in Russia was perceived from the outside either as an artistic whim or as an opportunity to reap an increased fee. True, according to a participant in the events, the monetary side of the matter (it is still not specified) was not in the first place.

“Jackson’s fee for Russia was no higher than for other countries. And even lower than the tour average. That’s what Michael’s managers said, at least, although it’s quite difficult to verify this now,” recalls Ilya Bachurin, now a film and television producer, and in 1993 one of the organizers of Jackson’s Russian tour, in a conversation with MK. “It’s likely that Michael’s management clearly understood that it was simply not possible to earn a lot in Russia for local economic reasons, and if we refused, then they simply would not have another option to perform here.

And they really wanted to perform in Russia. The country had just opened up at that time, was interesting to the whole world, and relations with Western powers looked very friendly. When Jackson arrived at the Taman division and marched along the parade ground with the soldiers, the command looked at it with emotion. In general, these were completely different times.”

A project of this scale could have united all the touring players, but the situation turned out to be exactly the opposite. Jackson was brought to Russia by the Dessa company, which previously had nothing to do with the concert business, and all potential competitors decided to create the most unfriendly information background for the tour. Years later, venerable promoters, recalling those times, say that they really did not want a failure, which could scare away other touring performers for a long time from the idea of ​​performing in Russia. However, the intention to simply eliminate an unexpected player also seems quite plausible.

One way or another, before the concert there were rumors of deception, tickets were sold rather sluggishly also due to the primitive system of their distribution, and the prospects of seeing Michael in Russia began to acquire distinct features only after dozens of trucks arrived at the Luzhniki Stadium, and in three days Before the show, the artist and his closest entourage flew by private plane to Moscow.

The Dangerous World Tour was a super-sophisticated show for those times, but the organizers didn’t have to worry about the bells and whistles. Western contractors supplied the show on a turnkey basis; all that had to be found on site were the structures for the stage and the covering for the field. Even the artist’s everyday rider (Michael was always surrounded by rumors about unexpected requests) was completed without any problems.

A couple of weeks before the concert, MK correspondents were allowed into the presidential suite of the Metropol Hotel, where Jackson was supposed to stay. However, a few hours after comments about the star guest were received, and the antique interior remained on film, the hotel managers suddenly came to their senses and began to ask to hold the publication due to the possible risk of changing the hotel. And the editors were kind enough to oblige, releasing the material right before the star’s visit.

The large Luzhniki sports arena and its surroundings thirty years ago did not look quite the same as they do now. The sports complex began operating at night in the format of a clothing market, and by lunchtime everything around was littered with garbage almost up to the height of the stands. We had to clean up and also repair the space under one of the stadium stands, where the star’s dressing room and staff rooms were located. But this was not the most difficult thing.

“The main difficulty was that the officials were completely unprepared for such an event,” recalls Ilya Bachurin. — Of course, at that time the state machine was more like a set of spare parts, and we simply did not understand who we needed to talk to, who could take responsibility for resolving certain issues.

Often it was necessary to convince that Michael Jackson’s concert in Russia made sense at all. The only people who helped us were representatives of the special services, who worked out their tasks very clearly. It’s difficult to say anything other than gratitude here, because these guys acted not for show, but with conscience. They foresaw all possible problems, ensured the artist’s safety and did not create unnecessary discomfort for fans.

The police sometimes acted very harshly at concerts, but this time nothing similar happened. Every day fans gathered in a vibrant crowd at the Metropol, shouting something, Michael came out to them several times, communicated very warmly, and people felt attention and a normal attitude towards them.”

On the day of the concert, clouds gathered over the event, and in the literal sense. The lingering cold rain probably didn’t look incredibly exotic for autumn Moscow, but from a statistical point of view, everything that happened resembled force majeure.

“We agreed to this date not in an effort to hold a concert at any cost,” says Ilya Bachurin. “We studied the archives of the Hydrometeorological Center, from which it follows that over the past forty years, a sunny Indian summer reigned in mid-September. And only after making sure of this, we signed the contract. Nobody even expected this kind of rain.”

It wasn’t just the organizers who were despondent. It was also not fun at the arena itself on the day of the concert, which the author of “MK” perfectly felt as a participant in the events. Michael’s management could not allow the artist to go out to a half-empty stadium, so some of the tickets were given out absolutely free for the sake of a more representative picture.

The start of the show was scheduled for seven in the evening, but within a couple of hours the audience began to fill the arena. The limited concert experience of Michael’s local fans did not allow them to gain knowledge that the time on the tickets and the artist’s release time are not exactly the same thing. The stars are waiting for twilight, in which the stage light will be brighter, and they themselves will be more irresistible. As a result, Jackson’s Russian flock also waited for twilight in the rain. Someone was hiding under an umbrella, someone was trying to use a plastic carpet on the football field as cover. This did little to protect us from the rain and did not at all save us from the persistent belief that a responsible comrade was about to appear on stage and announce a cancellation due to the weather.

Meanwhile, behind the scenes, clouds were also gathering. Formally, Michael had the right to refuse the show. The wet stage was completely incompatible with the dance part of the action and even posed a danger for all the artists. All the towels they could find there were brought from the Ukraina Hotel in a car with a police light flashing in the hope of somehow resolving the weather crisis. But this seemed more like a gesture of despair.

“We, of course, wiped the stage as best we could, or rather Michael’s main tour manager did it, because no one else has the right to be there, but in fact it still remained wet,” says Ilya Bachurin. — The risk was colossal, and not so much for us, but for the artist. Imagine that he came to Moscow, went on stage, fell and stopped performing. This is a terrible reputational loss. And he is a winner in everything he has ever done, so he didn’t even consider this option. In general, I acted like a real man.”

In the early nineties, the local fan-loving people did not yet have the opportunity to study the set lists of the concerts of their idols, so the introduction of the show was accepted without much enthusiasm. All the more unexpected was the volley of pyrotechnics and the instant appearance of the main character, who was “thrown out” from under the stage by a special catapult.

Another explosion – and Jam sounded, one of the hits of the Dangerous album. Those standing close to the stage could clearly see how Jackson was trying to get comfortable on the slippery floor, managing to sing, dance and show the staff his wet spots. However, this no longer mattered. The stadium exploded with fan happiness and did not subside for the next two hours.

During his days in the capital of Russia, Michael managed to see not only the hotel, the dressing room and the audience. He managed to satisfy his fetish for military uniforms, support antique dealers, communicate with the children of the orphanage, and greet officials and the public in a simple way. Everyone who was nearby remembers him as an alien or a kind character from a fairy tale. One could hardly expect that very soon Jackson would develop a reputation as a villain and molester.

“For me, he has not changed,” says Ilya Bachurin. “I was very close and closely watched what was happening around Michael. And I don’t remember a single situation that could lead me to believe that this person is capable of committing serious crimes, especially against children. Eighteen criminal cases were opened against Jackson, and all of them were closed; none of the investigations led to an indictment. I am sure that the endless persecution was planned by those who were jealous of his position, not having the ability to achieve the same success.”

If we replace assumptions with facts, then in three years Michael will perform in Russia again. This time at the Dynamo stadium in cool but dry weather and in the presence of the local music scene led by Alla Pugacheva and a special guest in the person of the legendary entertainer Boris Brunov. Our music establishment feigned mild boredom as they watched the riot of concert technology on the HIStory tour, and at the end it was concluded that rich machinery would not replace the absence of soul. At the same time, the entire star sector almost drowned in black envy.