My 28-year Michael Jackson grudge is over

It started with a heartbreaking ‘no’, and developed into a grudge that I held onto for almost 30 years. This is my Michael Jackson story.

I’ve only just let go of a bitter grudge that I was holding against my parents for 28 years.

Allow me to explain.

When I was a kid growing up in the 90s, I was obsessed with Michael Jackson.

I was first exposed to his music by my Uncle Neal who gave me the Dangerous album on cassette for Christmas in 1991.

I instantly fell in love with several songs from the album, including Black or White, Remember the Time, Heal the World and Will You Be There.

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There was something about MJ’s music that just hooked me.

I could not stop listening to that tape. It stayed in my cassette player for years, eclipsing the previous record held by Peter Combe’s Toffee Apple (you had a good run, Peter).

As the years went on, my interest in Jackson and his music intensified.

I would watch Video Hits each weekend in the hopes of seeing one of his music videos.

I would spend hours on my mum’s fitness trampoline, trying to recreate some of Jackson’s gravity-defying dance moves.

I even dressed up as Jackson (complete with black curled ribbons stuck to my head) and performed a mini concert for my parents and their friends (mortifyingly, that concert was filmed and I’m told the footage still exists).

So you can imagine how excited I was when Jackson announced he was bringing his HIStory Tour to Adelaide, my home town, in 1996.

This koala met MJ but I never did.

I even wore an MJ glove to my graduation. Cringe.

I pleaded with my parents to let me go, begged them, grovelled.

After some ‘careful consideration’, they sat me down and broke the news: “We’ve decided that at the age of 12, you’re simply too young to go to a big concert like that.”

It was heartbreaking!

Over the years, I’ve speculated if that was the real reason they wouldn’t let me go.

Perhaps they were worried that Jackson wasn’t a good role model given the allegations he faced in the 90s?

Perhaps they were worried I’d become even more obsessed with Jackson if I saw him perform, and would start spontaneously grabbing my crotch in public while singing “hee-hee” in a high-pitched voice?

Or perhaps they were just cheap?

In the end, we reached a compromise.

On the night of the concert, mum agreed to take me to Montefiore Hill (which overlooks Adelaide Oval) so that we could ‘listen’ to the gig taking place inside.

The stage for Michael Jackson’s Adelaide concert.

It was still exciting, but as I’m sure you can imagine, listening to a concert from a hill outside the venue while seated on a rug next to your mum, sipping on fruit boxes and chewing on twiggy sticks, is not quite the same as being inside where you can, y’know, actually see what’s going on.

From that day on, I developed a grudge against my parents.

They’d robbed me of seeing my idol, and I was worried I’d never get another chance.

So again, you can imagine how Thriller-ed I was in 2009 when Jackson announced a massive 50-date comeback residency to be held at London’s O2 Arena.

By then I was a 25-year-old working as a radio producer at Adelaide’s SAFM. I had my own money, and nothing was going to stop me from attending one of those gigs.

Well, it turns out something did stop me … Jackson’s death on June 25, 2009, just days before he was due to start the residency.

With MJ gone, I grew angrier at my parents for not taking me to the HIStory Tour in 1996 (yes, I’m aware that makes me sound like Veruca Salt from Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory).

MJ announcing his comeback tour.

The King of Pop. Picture: AFP

But last week, after 28 years, I finally let the grudge go.

Why last week? Because that’s when I saw MJ the Musical at Sydney’s Lyric Theatre.

I wasn’t sure what to expect from this jukebox musical, and went into it a tad worried that it was going to resemble some sort of lame Rock Eisteddfod performance.

I could not have been more wrong.

I’m happy to report the show was phenomenal.

The musical is centred around the making of Jackson’s 1992 Dangerous World Tour.

The premise is that a journalist and her cameraman are invited to document the rehearsal process, and through her interviews the audience sees flashbacks to Jackson’s childhood and into his imagination.

Not only does the show feature songs from the Dangerous album, but also hits from other stages of Jackson’s career, and the majority of them are performed in an electrifying manner, featuring high energy choreography and strong vocals.

Roman Banks in MJ The Musical. Picture: Matthew Murphy

Incredible. Picture: Matthew Murphy

Roman Banks, who plays the King of Pop, is a revelation.

He nails the voice, the dance moves, the charisma.

He was so impressive that there were honestly times where I felt like I was watching the real Michael Jackson.

I know that might sound ridiculous, but I’m 100 per cent serious.

Banks and MJ the Musical gifted me something I’d wished for my whole life, the chance to see Jackson perform.

After all these years, I finally feel like I can tick that off my list.

So if you too were a 90s kid who was obsessed with Jackson but never got to see him on stage, do yourself a favour and check out MJ the Musical while it’s in Australia.

And mum, if you’re reading this, I’ll happily fly you to Sydney to experience the show (I’ve already checked with the venue and they’ve agreed to set up a rug in the foyer so you can listen to the entire performance).

Originally published as My 28-year Michael Jackson grudge is over