The 20th anniversary of my attendance at Sheffield was last Sunday. I knew it was coming. But it still seems odd that it was 20 years. It feels like so long ago but almost like a dream. I was 13.
I'm from Glasgow so my parents kindly road tripped me down to see him. I really didn't think in 1997 that it was going to be the last time Michael toured the UK. I remember coming off the motorway and seeing a banner by the roadside "SHEFFIELD WELCOMES THE KING OF POP". Then by the sides of the road I saw all the fans in their t-shirts heading to the venue. It was a beautiful sunny day and I immediately issued the decree, 'we MUST start queuing'. And so we did. I remember leaving my parents in the queue as I snuck up to the gates and peered through the gap at the soundcheck. MJ was on the big screen as the band played along. All day long fans approached me asking where I got my t-shirt from - it has been an unofficial one my mum had bought me on a trip to Paris. When the merchandise tent opened I got out all my pocket money I had saved for this moment since Christmas and bought everything I could get my hands on: several t-shirts, a programme, a key ring, a commemorative coin etc etc etc. When the gates opened I started running but my mother told me to slow down. I didn't want to but with all the crowds around I figured it was probably good advice. We eventually made it to the front and got a good spot to stand on the pitch. And this next bit I will never forget. I've been to a LOT of gigs in my life, and I've seen some of the biggest pop stars in the world in the flesh. Never have I ever heard an audience scream so loud, a reaction so BIG, as when Michael kicked down the door of his spaceship and stood defiantly, decked out in his space age armour. It was unreal. And when he stepped out of the spaceship and started to dance, it was the most surreal moment. I'll never forget it. The man I had studied all my life in his music videos and TV appearances was now in front of me in the flesh. Further moments that stand out, when Michael finished a song (maybe Beat It) he stood arms outstretched and looked out at the crowd...a smile slowly crept across his face. It seemed like he was looking at me. I guess we all felt that. It was a nice moment. And when he got on the cherry picker for Earth Song it seemed like the underside of those magical soles were in arms reach.
The next morning I woke up in our hotel room to breakfast news talking about Michael's first UK gig in years and showing footage. I lay in bed and read the programme. That day we went into town and at HMV I bought even more cool MJ items.
When Michael passed away in 2009 I was backpacking across Australia. Milllions of miles from friends and family. My parents called to ask if I was okay...a friend at the time remarked that it was almost as if a family member had passed away. The first thing I did was thank them for making my one and only time in his company a reality.
When I visited Forest Lawn in 2014 I spent a moment alone beneath 'his window'. It was eerie to think this was the closest I had been to him since that day in 1997. HIStory, indeed.
