To celebrate the release of Thriller 40, the Estate of Michael Jackson have planned different, free events around the world. One of them is the Thriller 40 Immersive Experience. There are two of them, One in New York from November 18 to 20 and the first one which happened in Düsseldorf, Germany which ran last week-end.
The Venue was on one of the busiest shopping streets in the city. The first thing you saw is Michael’s face from the Thriller album with the event name and the logo of Thriller 40.
Walking through a narrow corridor; photos of Michael Jackson representing each song from the Thriller album were hung to set the tone of why this event is there. The organisers had utilised the existing glass wall frames to showcase these songs at eye level. You then climbed the staircase to the main event space which had #Thriller40 written on some of the steps and on the wall, each song title is written in big orange and black letters.
At the top, we were greeted by 2 ushers who provided a map of the event and a special performance ticket, you enter the room named “Thriller Phenomenon” where big screen plays “Billie Jean”, “Thriller” and “Beat It”. There was also a screen showcasing all stats about Thriller album and its singles and the impact the album had on individual countries around the world.
It is to note that this was the first time that “Thriller” and “Beat It” was showing in their digitally restored conditions, which on its own, was worth the trip!
Unfortunately, “Billie Jean” wasn’t upgrade and talking to sources, they told us that the video was filmed in such old fashion, it needed more work to get the best quality possible and wasn’t ready for this event. As the first screen you saw on arrival, it would have maybe been a better decision to have one of the upscaled videos facing the entrance instead of the one that wasn’t.
The only downside of this room is that there was no signage to what the general public was watching. For the first time ever, people could finally watch Michael in better quality and descriptors would have helped those who were coming in as passers by to understand why the videos were playing on screen.
Then we moved into the “Billie Jean” room where a couple of German designers had recreated the “Billie Jean” street from the video. This was maybe the “piece de resistance” of the event for me. This was a great opportunity for fans to insert themselves in the set of “Billie Jean”, the details were amazing from the leaves on the floor to the shop signs. The pavement lit up like in the video and a photo-booth was in the centre for fans to take a photo souvenir. In this area was an actor dressed as the photographer from the video, lurking the streets and watching fans in the same way the real guy does with Michael in the video.
I was approached by a lady who was the mother of one of the designers. She told me (her English wasn’t great and my German was not much better) that her son and his husband created this in a very short of time and they did a great job.
Following the flow of the event, we entered the “Beat It” room which was divided into three parts. The first part was an artistic piece representing the warehouse entrance in the “Beat It” video. A water fountain display was showcasing elements of the video via a projection against the water. It took us some time to realise what it was as there was no explanation of the display but it was pretty cool. Again it would have been great here to explain what the artist had created and why it was reflected through water.
Once you pass the water wall, you enter the reproduction of the “Beat It” Cafe where a member of the staff was serving free soft drinks. Fans could take a seat at the bar to drink or at the tables. It was a perfect place to meet new people and talk about the event and Michael of course! And we did! It was great to watch different people coming through and also to spot the obvious ‘fans’ thanks to their MJ attire.
The last part was holding a pool table and a few video games. It was a back to the 80’s feeling where fans played Michael’s part posing as Michael against the pool table. If you didn’t look into the camera and breathe heavily, are you even doing it properly?!
Before going back downstairs for the “Thriller” room, fans made their way to the gift shop and the Estate had produced amazing t-shirts, jackets and posters just for the event. And frankly they were all very nice designs and good quality. Michael’s albums and few other items were also on sale there, in a room recreating the 80’s phenomenon and what Michael liked in the 80’s. It had the essence of a fan bedroom, creating a moment of remembering for those who had gone from die-hard fan, to casual listener. You could find Michael Jackson Merch from the 80’s but also items such as “ET” and “Gremlins” and other 80’s items. Also, a wall of Michael Jackson posters reminded me of my own bedroom back then! The gift store was on its own a representation of the 80’s and a clear piece of nostalgia for the people visiting.
Making your way back downstairs to the main part of the event with your “Thriller” movie ticket, fans entered a reproduction of the entrance of the “Thriller” cinema where staff dressed as cinema ushers or with an MJ replica cardigan, handed popcorn. Past the curtains, a room styled as a graveyard, with smoke and gloomy lighting, fans either took their seats waiting for the performance to start or watched a horror concept video via a VR goggle experience.
The music starts, It’s THRILLER! A Few performers dressed as zombies come storming from the grave yard and dance to Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” in front of a 30 people audience.
While the moves were maybe not to the fans’ standards, the space was actually small for them to do a full Thriller dance routine, but the ambiance was great, people clapped and enjoyed it and everybody was required to join in a chorus of ‘He-He’ before exiting. They performed every 30 minutes from 12.30 to 19.50.
A downside of this room was the VR experience was not really well placed as it was in the main “Thriller” room, in one of the corners and if you did not notice it, you would have missed it. Also, when the event got busy, there was no time for people and fans to do the VR and the performances was one after the other. It would have been much better placed upstairs in the Thriller Phenomenon room.
In conclusion, despite the Estate and Sony not promoting this event, it was a success. People, passersby and fans queued to get in. It was, at points, very busy. Our feelings are that the whole exercise was to remind people of the success of “Thriller” as a standalone piece of art from the 80’s. It was geared to play on nostalgia and get those who loved Thriller the first time around to re-connect with their memories as well as introducing a younger audiences to these elements of Michael for the first time.
By definition – An immersive experience pulls a viewer into another real or imagined world, enabling them to manipulate and interact with their environment – this event was a true immersive experience into Michael’s creative mind for Thriller. And yes, not everything was perfect, but for a free event, this was quite impressive and enjoyable.
I know from running MJ events myself that’s it’s a difficult challenge to please all the fans as so many have different ideas about what they think should be happening. But for a free event that had queues of people outside all day, it was successful in highlighting Thriller’s impending return.
Next on the agenda are the “Thriller” Fan Event Parties on November 17, the second Thriller 40 Immersive Experience in New York starting on November 18 (which is also the release of Thriller 40) and the Thriller 40 Documentary on November 30 (more details here)
