Navi has dedicated his career to being Michael Jackson’s greatest impersonator. Not only does he sing, dance and look like him, he used to act as a decoy for paparazzi for Michael and promote albums for him too. In this concert like show we see Michael Jackson’s legacy living on. I found the whole thing fascinating! If he gets Michael’s seal of approval than that’s good enough for me. His dedication was apparent from start to finish. He charmed the audience in between songs, making jokes with them and high fiving them when he came into the audience for his ‘Black and White’ number, which earned a big whoop and cheer from the audience. From early on some audience members went to the side aisles and started dancing, which the performer seemed to encourage.
Featuring Michael Jackson’s biggest hits over 5 decades of music such as ‘Smooth Criminal’, ‘Thriller’, ‘Billie Jean’ and The Jackson 5’s ‘Want you back’. Navi delivers each song with the power and rhythm we expect from a concert like setting. Some audience members were dancing in the aisles which was nice to see that the performer encouraged it.
The show really shone when he invited Jennifer Batten on stage, who was lead guitarist on Michael’s three World tours spanning 10 years of working alongside him. After showing how talented she was on the guitar with the ‘Beat It’ melody, they had a short break from songs and had a mini Q&A with her. She tells us how she got paid to travel the world with him. Stories like, Michael shutting Disney land in Tokyo for him and his performers to go to without the riff raff. How Bubbles the teenage ‘bastard’ chimp travelled too and how she had bite marks from his tantrums! It was really interesting to hear how she travelled the world with someone she admired and how she got to see the world and perform alongside someone who’s music she admired.
The backing dancers were all full of energy and added to the upbeat tempo. Dwayne in particular was a funny performer and clearly enjoyed interacting with the audience and getting them involved and clapping along to the beat.
The set was a basic concert look with smoke effect to make it moody. Towards the end they used a quick burst of pyrotechnics for dramatic effect. There was a screen at the back of the stage showing snippets of music videos and pictures of Navi and Michael when they met multiple times. This was a good visual aid to build up suspense at the beginning and get the audience hyped up. In terms of lights, they had floor and stage lights to pull focus on different areas for different songs. The best bit was when they had dazzling red and white lights with flashy bits for the rocky numbers too.
Navi took a bow at the end earning a well-deserved standing ovation. He then mentioned that none of this would have been possible without the ‘big man’ and we all clapped in Michael’s memory. A fantastic night out for any fan, bound to get you energised and blaming it on the boogie!
The UK Tour continues until October and is in Wolverhampton next. Tickets can be found here:
https://www.ents24.com/uk/tour-dates/navi-as-michael-jackson
Reviewer: Emma Lambe
Reviewed: 3rd April 2024
North West End UK Rating: