A family who grew up in front of America’s eyes in the late 1960s and through the 1970s was the Jacksons. The Ronald McDonald house in Western New York has a show for their sponsors each November and this year they welcomed America’s first family of pop music to the area. This is the first time the Jacksons performed here since the “Victory” tour in the summer of 1984. Fast forward to 2015 and a lot has changed since then. The biggest being the death of Michael Jackson in 2009.
The 2015 version of The Jacksons includes brothers Tito, Marlon, Jackie and Jermaine. They took the stage playing a short set that included some songs that were written by their late brother Michael. They did transitional dance moves all moving in synchronicity. Tito played the guitar the entire time while the others took turns singing.
Lead vocals were rotated primarily between Marlon and Jermaine. Jermaine also dabbled and played bass when their backing band’s bass player handled keyboard duties. The percussionist, Stacey Lamont Sydnor, was one of the highlights of the evening. He was a man possessed as he was quick and precise hitting the bongos, triangle, toms, and whatever else he came in contact with. Plus, this was his hometown show.
The brothers played off of each other while classic videos from various TV shows from their heyday played on a screen behind them. It was a nice tribute to their late great brother, Michael. I really looked forward to the show as I never saw the Jacksons on the Victory tour when I was a kid. I’m glad I was able to see a band who really was a part of my childhood.
Setlist:
Can You Feel It?
Blame it on the Boogie
I Wanna Be Where You Are
Rock With You (Michael Jackson cover)
Enjoy Yourself
Show You the Way to Go
Lovely One
VIDEO MONTAGE
I Want You Back / ABC / The Love You Save / Dancing Machine / Never Can Say Goodbye / I’ll Be There
Can’t Let Her Get Away
Heartbreak Hotel (Elvis cover)
Wanna be Startin’ Somethin’
State of Shock
Shake Your Body (Down the Ground)
We would like to thank David Wedekindt from UB for helping with the credentials to review the show.
