Missing Michael
Jackson ‘4’ not quite right
A GHOST HOVERED over the stage of the Apollo Theater Thursday night. While the four key remaining members of The Jacksons sang and danced through scores of old hits on their first full tour together in nearly 30 years, the specter of a lost sibling had to occupy a key spot.
The brothers hardly downplayed that impression. The show featured four different video montages of Michael, who died three years ago this week. More, they performed many songs which originally featured lead vocals from their missing brother, some of which came from his albums alone.
By definition, that made the night a mix of the reverent and the awkward. The imbalance began right at the start. Before the brothers sang a single note, a video played of the early days, stressing their looming, absent star. The Jacksons’ own performance began stridently. On the hit “Can You Feel It,” the band of seven musicians played so loudly, it sometimes drowned the singers out. Not that they gave the musicians much of a challenge. Songs like “Blame It On The Boogie” and “Wanna Be Where You Are” found the four sounding either pale or wobbly.
Things got squirmier still when they tried to sing parts strictly identified with Michael. Marlon’s vocal on Michael’s song “Rock With U” creaked and wavered. Jackie’s lead in classics like “I Want You Back” and “ABC” landed miles from the originals’ energy.
The guys fared far better in the ballads. In “Heaven Knows I Love You” their voices blended smoothly and they each took able solo turns, including baritone Tito. Likewise, Jermaine did his brother proud on Michael’s song “Gone Too Soon,” dedicated to his parting.
As the second most commercially successful of The Jacksons, Jermaine carved out a segment for his New Wave era solo hits, which have held up remarkably well. The show also benefitted from the guys’ classic campy choreography, now tailored to suit men who range from age 55 (Marlon) to 61 (Jackie). But even the show’s sturdier moments couldn’t upstage the mix of strangeness and sentimentality built into the event. For diehard fans, the 90-minute night had some value. But there’s no getting around the fact that, ultimately, it wound up making The Jacksons look like a tribute band to their own legacy.