**TONIGHT'S MICHAEL JACKSON TRIBUTE LED BY STEVIE WONDER AT MONTREAL JAZZ FEST**

[Superfreakie]

So tonight was the opening night of the Montreal Jazz fest. For those of you who are not aware, the Montreal Jazz fest is one of the most renowned festivals in the world and, concerning jazz, possibly second only to New Orleans. Anyway, alongside all the paying shows, there are free outdoor events on multiple stages that go long into every night. To accommodate these events, the city fences off a part of our downtown core for two weeks, an area centered around a gorgeous complex of plush connected theaters and beautiful outdoor concrete bowls and steps. The entire area is then lit with ambient lighting and psychedelic projections on all the office buildings, a truly special and magical playground {all the more fun for the trippers amongst us}.

As tradition holds, the festival opens every year with a free outdoor concert given by a special artist, generally drawing between 100,000 to 150,000 people, possibly more, all sprawled out over this wonderful musical venue. Tonight's special artist was Stevie Wonder and naturally we expected a tribute to Michael.

Due to a rain delay, Stevie did not appear until 10:00 pm but, on this night, spirits were far from being dampened by a little inconvenient weather. The festivities kicked off with a speech about Michael and his music, ending with Stevie's declaration that on this evening he needed to heal and this night would be dedicated to his memory. He opened the show with MJ's I Can't Help It before launching into his own material. However, while running down his own catalog, the band would stop at different intervals so that Michael's songs could be played. But instead of the band playing MJ's songs, they chose to play the exact album tracks through the PA, sometimes singing along with the vocal track. Basically, Stevie felt it would be a disservice to try and replicate what his friend had produced, so why not play the original source. Then, about half way through the show, having received the jazz fest's Miles Davis award earlier in the day, Stevie launched into a sweet cover of Miles' Blue in Green off Kind of Blue. However, the special moment was yet to come.

As the night was drawing to a close, now past midnight, it began to rain again.......yet no one budged. So the band then came to the front of the stage, arm in arm, set down their instruments and a DJ started up a mixed Jackson medley. Beginning with the Jackson 5, the DJ then moved through MJ's historic and iconic greatest hits discography; all the while tears streamed down Stevie's cheeks as he grooved his famous side to side weave and bob, yeah, you know the one. It lasted for 30-40 minutes, the band remaining on the front of the stage mouthing the songs while the streets of Montreal, lined with PA's (big speaker systems), turned into a full on slamming dance party in the rain; old, young, black, white, Asian (in fact every nationality, this is Montreal after all), men, women, people in business suits, ball caps, hippies, straights, gays. EVERYONE, THOUSANDS, while singing out loud in unison, began to throw down hard. In some places it was downright out of this world, people busting disco moves {yours truly}, umbrellas flying through the air, babies being held up by their parents as they danced. It was quite simply one of those magical spontaneous moments that make you feel not so alone in the world, and the goose bumps we all felt confirmed it. When the music finally stopped, the rain ceased as if on cue, and complete strangers began high five-ing each other, giving each other hugs, beaming smiles and leaping into the air; it was absolutely fucking surreal and I have never seen anything like this outside of a bunch of hippies zonked out of their minds at a show. The night concluded with fireworks launched from the roof tops of the office towers. They could of played tunes all night and I am sure no one would of left.

I wonder if this could of happened in any other city but Montreal. For those of you who have not had a chance to experience Montreal, it is the Amsterdam of North America, sex, drugs and hedonistic debauchery is tolerated and, as such, one might say we are quite liberal here and apt to let it all hang out if given the chance.  

ABSOLUTELY SICK.......... :banana: :banana: :banana: :banana:

And yes, I do think Michael was a freaky product of our fucked up society and most probably responsible for some severe monstrous transgressions, but this was something else.

[thechad]

DAAAAMMMNNNNNNNNITTTTTT!!!!!!!!!!  I'm only 60 miles away and the wife and I were so close to going up and checking it out tonight, but because I work nights and it's already a short work week we decided not to go.  I'm such a f%&king idiot.

[PIE-GUY]

Sweet blahg... Seriously, though. Thanks for posting. Sounds like a hell of a night.

I saw Stevie at Jazzfest in NOLA last year and it was one of the best shows I have ever seen. It rained off and on throughout and 40,000 people danced in the rain without a care. It was absolutely beautiful.

[WhatstheUse?]

Sounds pretty amazing... talk about a once in a lifetime experience!

[gah]

Sweet blahg... Seriously, though. Thanks for posting. Sounds like a hell of a night.

I saw Stevie at Jazzfest in NOLA last year and it was one of the best shows I have ever seen. It rained off and on throughout and 40,000 people danced in the rain without a care. It was absolutely beautiful.

Yeah man, I think we talked about this in Boston. But that had to be one of my favorite musical memories of all time, and everytime I think back on it, it just makes me smile and appreciate it even more. Did you see the rainbow that came out looking to the left of the stage just before he came on and there was a break in the rain? It was so freaking awesome....found the pic.

Also, sorry for the thread jack... that sounded like an amazing evening superfreakie! did you get any pics? i bet they must have some up on their official page?

and thechad...... :shakehead:

jk, don't sweat it, you couldn't have known the type of evening it would turn into....

[PIE-GUY]

goodabouthood - thanks for the pic! That rules! And I think we did talk about it in Beantown, but we were three sheets to the wind at that point, so the memory is hazy.      :crazy: