Which HIStory Tour show(s) had the best live vocals?

analogue

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I think most would agree that MJ's live vocals were not at their best during this time, but what show(s) do you think had the best live vocals? I think Brunei 1996 was probably him at his best vocally during the HIStory Tour.
 
I think most would agree that MJ's live vocals were not at their best during this time, but what show(s) do you think had the best live vocals? I think Brunei 1996 was probably him at his best vocally during the HIStory Tour.

I think the Gothenburg concert was one of his best vocal performances from the HIStory Tour.
 
Probably Copenhagen 14/8/97 / Gothenburg 16/8/97. Although since these shows are so deep into the tour, he sounds strained during certain vocals. I hope one day we get a 1996 show pre-Brunei in good sound and audio quality.
 
Pretty much all of them but Seoul and Munich (and MAYBE Auckland), although Brunei, Basel, and Gothenburg are among the top
 
I do feel his energy in Brunei, but I really don't think his vocal performance was great there.

Copenhagen the best imo.
 
can't believe people say Copenhagen/Gothenburg was best live vocals..
It was definitely Brunei, Kuala Lumpur or Bucharest 96.

None of the 1997 shows had good live vocals..
its like people ignoring the 1996 leg.. which had way more energy and better live vocals on some shows.
 
can't believe people say Copenhagen/Gothenburg was best live vocals..
It was definitely Brunei, Kuala Lumpur or Bucharest 96.

None of the 1997 shows had good live vocals..
its like people ignoring the 1996 leg.. which had way more energy and better live vocals on some shows.
The vocals in the shows in Copenhagen and Gothenburg to me are like Dangerous Tour level good compared to them in, say, one of the shows in Auckland (there are two, I can't remember which one). I agree that the 1996 leg overall showed Michael with more energy, though the 1997 leg should not be fully discredited because of concerts like the one in Munich. If anything, the ones from late May to July are the ones to see, the remainder from August to October was mediocre at best, with the exception of the ones in Copenhagen and Gothenburg in terms of live voice. The concerts from 1996 that you mention are better than those two overall though.
 
I dont know about the best but I like Kuala Lumpur. WBSS sounds good here (video starts on WBSS)
 
I dont know about the best but I like Kuala Lumpur. WBSS sounds good here (video starts on WBSS)
Definitely one of the best shows of 96, if only we could watch it in true HQ someday (only Scream-ITC in that quality so far)
 
that one scream performance, with first verse fully live! :-x
 
that one scream performance, with first verse fully live! :-x

Gonna have to disagree on that one. His voice sounded really bad there. Which is funny, because it's from the Brunei concert. The show that I said had the best live vocals lol. His voice got better later on.
 
Gonna have to disagree on that one. His voice sounded really bad there. Which is funny, because it's from the Brunei concert. The show that I said had the best live vocals lol. His voice got better later on.
yea true. my comment was kinda ironic.
but still very interesting to hear messed up vocals from mj :p.
 
I must say that his voice on the Gothenburg show was very good! Also Amsterdam 1997, June 10th.
 
can't believe people say Copenhagen/Gothenburg was best live vocals..
It was definitely Brunei, Kuala Lumpur or Bucharest 96.

None of the 1997 shows had good live vocals..
its like people ignoring the 1996 leg.. which had way more energy and better live vocals on some shows.

Gothenburg is miles above any show from 96 when it comes to live vocals. Just compare the J5 medley
 
I can handle the lip synching but the backing singers miming to MJs parts on Stranger are just shocking
 
rumandraisin;4306549 said:
I can handle the lip synching but the backing singers miming to MJs parts on Stranger are just shocking

I never understood what was the point in the camera’s close-ups to the backing singers while they were miming to Michael Jackson's parts on 'Stranger In Moscow'.

It makes it look even more embarrassing.
 
I wish Stranger In Moscow would have had some live adlibs.
 
I can handle the lip synching but the backing singers miming to MJs parts on Stranger are just shocking

I think it is way more embarrassing for the big main act to mime than the backing singers and it shames me to see fans wanting "some live adlibs on certain songs" we are too forgiving we should have demanded 100% live vocals not some 30 sec snippets near the end of a song.
YANA is just terrible in this regard, even a half arsed singer could have sung this live but not Michael. But if you make it through to the end of that performance (big if) you'lll notice his voice was good enough because the adlibs sound terrific.
 
I'd probably say Gothenburg or Copenhagen. The energy was great in Brunei but Mike's voice does sound strained at times

Not the best live vocals by any stretch but I do like the Billie Jean adlibs in Helsinki. MJ just seems so cool and relaxed
 
Going from what Michael Prince has said MJ felt he had relied on lip synching too much by the History tour. Although Michael Prince also said they were going to record vocals for WBSS to use on this is it along with other songs as MJs voice was not doing too well throughout rehearsals building up to July. So I think TII realistically would have had a similar amount of miming to the Dangerous tour of not History tour
 
rumandraisin;4306560 said:
Going from what Michael Prince has said MJ felt he had relied on lip synching too much by the History tour. Although Michael Prince also said they were going to record vocals for WBSS to use on this is it along with other songs as MJs voice was not doing too well throughout rehearsals building up to July. So I think TII realistically would have had a similar amount of miming to the Dangerous tour of not History tour

The goal was to be as live as possible. MJ wasn’t physically able to do both so they were going to have him lip sync most of the first few shows while he got back in the groove.
 
The 1996 shows do have tremendous energy and are generally better to watch than the 1997 shows in that regard. However, he seems to have started the tour off in poor vocal condition. If you watch the first show in Prague, he can barely hold a shout without wavering. Then, by the time of the Tunis and Seoul shows, he sounds really ill. Especially in Seoul.

He seems to get better by the Kuala Lumpur shows, but then he becomes ill again, complaining of laryngitis in Thailand. The vocals sound rough in the Auckland concerts which come immediately after that. Brunei sounds good though, but I’d still say Copenhagen and Gothenburg sound better.
 
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For me definitely Gothenburg!! It's a shame that the one which seems to be most widely known (Munich) is one of his weakest live vocal performances of the tour :(
 
There were reports at the time that right after his third HIStory concert in Amsterdam (1996), he briefly visited England in order to see a specialized therapist for his vocal cords.

This suggests that he had serious problems with his throat/vocal cords even since the first HIStory concerts.

But his voice did not get better during the rest of that year, judging by how he sounded when he had to sing live, like that ‘Beat It’ live performance from 1996:

[video=youtube;Ji9_EO9STJc]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ji9_EO9STJc[/video]

Also, his very bad, hoarse live voice at the very beginning of the HIStory Brunei concert in 1996 (the live, first ‘Scream’ lines) indicates that for some reason he quitted warming up his singing voice right before each HIStory concert.
 
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