NEW YORK, NY—It was a light-hearted celebration without its guest of honor. The Tribeca Film Festival's Drive-In program hosted a free event for the community on Thursday to celebrate the 25th anniversary of Thriller, the number one selling album of all time.
"He's not here, but I feel like he is" said Francesco Carbonara, a horticulturist in his early 50's from Corona, Queens. Like many in the audience, he was wearing the white glittery glove that was Michael Jackson signature in the hey day. "I didn't expect such a huge turnout from all of these fans" added Carbonara.
The evening was complemented by perfect weather at the North Cove of the World Financial Center, a sweeping public space with views of the Hudson River waterfront and the setting sun behind the Jersey City skyline. In addition to the complementary white gloves, many children took advantage of the Thriller face painting station to look like the ghoulish dancers from the classic video.
In the spirit of the Film Festival, the program's feature was an open-aired screening of the theatrical music video. The program was MC'd by Vincent Peterson, long-time Michael Jackson choreographer and host of the Bravo network reality television series Step it Up & Dance. Peterson instructed the crowd in some Thriller Dancing 101, and then had the cast of his show perform the routine live.
Peterson then introduced John Landis, the director of the Thriller video, as well as a veteran actor, director and producer who shared a few anecdotes from the making of the historic video.
Despite the good vibe and classic Michael Jackson songs like Beat It and Billy-Jean , the event did have an awkward tinge. It was celebrating a living legend's work from a quarter century ago, despite that his character has been routinely called into question.
Regardless of the King of Pop's controversial reputation, those that turned out were long-time fans that came for the nostalgia. "It [the Thriller album] was the best" said Irma Vega from Brooklyn, who brought her two kids Kayla and Lance. "I used to watch the tape and rewind it over and over to learn the dance moves."
Certainly a milestone worth commemorating, Thriller is one of the most iconic albums in pop music history. "Michael and MTV rode each other to glory" said a baritoned Quincy Jones in the 25th Anniversary DVD which was aired prior to the Thriller screening.
With traditional full-length album sales plummeting due to the rise of the online downloading format, its likely that Thriller will remain in the top spot for a long time come.
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