Setlist: Thriller, Rock With You, Off the Wall, Billie Jean, Don't Stop ('Till You Get Enough), Black or White, Smooth Criminal, Say Say Say, Bad, I'll Be There, Hot Tub, Beat It, We Are the World

One of my favorite shows of 2008 was Tragedy: The All-Heavy Metal Tribute to the Bee Gees. That group plays metal arrangements of the disco-era Bee Gees hits and sounds a bit like the Gibb brothers fronting Judas Priest and is complete with an over-the-top stage show. We saw them opening for a band we'll travel almost anywhere to see, 2 Skinnee J's. So, when we heard about Dangerous, the Heavy Metal Tribute to Michael Jackson, we were there.

Dangerous started as a discussion right after Michael Jackson's death and the first show was announced soon after. The band is the vocalists/guitarists from Dangerous and the rhythm section from 2 Skinnee J's and the show promised much the same over-the-top show and great metal arrangements as Tragedy. The group also includes 2 Skinnee J's manager/owner A.J. Stumpy Johnson standing on stage drinking beer and the J's Lance Rockworthy in the role of Slash.

The show started with Michael Jackson's most metal song, "Thriller," followed by a power ballad-like arrangement of "Rock With You." The next bunch were pretty straight metal versions of 1980s Jackson hits.

"There's a lot of discussion about who was the best songwriter in the Beatles. This next song was co-written by someone who was not the best songwriter in the Beatles, in my opinion," introduced "Say Say Say," which was followed by a good version of "Bad." The Jackson 5 hit "I'll Be There" would be the only song from before 1979 in the show and like Tragedy including the title track from "Grease," which was written by the Gibb brothers but performed by Frankie Valli, Dangerous finished with the 1984 all-star hit "We Are the World."

The show was a lot of fun, but not as polished as Tragedy, and the material doesn't work quite as well as the Bee Gees vein mined by that group. Their last two dates were cancelled, so I don't know if there are any more shows in store, but if there are, the show is worth seeing.