The Irvine Nights festival hosted Ultimate King of Pop, a Michael Jackson tribute night, as an installment in the Great Park Live festival on Aug. 29. The band Glowtown, whose act was based on The Jacksons’ 1984 Victory Tour, performed a tribute show led by Michael Trapson for festival goers to celebrate Michael Jackson’s birthday.
Doors opened at 6 p.m. with various food vendors and activities, including inflatables for children to play on and a FlutterBy booth where guests could be in a tent with monarch butterflies. Reserved seating was available in front of the stage, past the market section and free general viewing area of the festival.
Trapson is a music artist and online personality whose persona and acts are based on Michael Jackson with the addition of trap music influences. In addition to performing as Jackson, Trapson creates scripted comedy videos as Jackson in hypothetical situations.
Trapson performed the first set from 7-8 p.m. and the second from 8:45-9:45 p.m. The performance featured Michael Jackson songs, notably “Thriller” and “Billie Jean.”
Trapson performed Jackson’s signature move, the “moonwalk,” and made his way across the stage using the move. The festival location at Great Park Live places the event in the northeast region of Irvine, making the festival easily accessible to residents of other Orange County cities. Narda Feliciano attended the Ultimate King of Pop show with two of her friends who drove from Rancho Santa Margarita, Calif.
“During the summer, we go every weekend,” Feliciano told New University. “We check online for the free events and for any event we just go.”
The group often attends live music events in local cities like Irvine and Mission Viejo. Feliciano had never attended Irvine Nights but expressed that she and her friends will attend more events in the future.
The festival performers set various themes for each night of the festival, with each being a tribute to a musician or musical. This year, the festival hosted tribute nights for Elvis, Taylor Swift, Fleetwood Mac, Adele and more.
Irvine Nights is in its third season of operation. The festival’s inaugural 2022 season and the following 2023 season occurred at the Palm Court Arts Complex in Great Park.
The 2024 season kick-off night on June 14 doubled as the official opening of Irvine’s new amphitheater, Great Park Live. The temporary amphitheater can accommodate 5,000 people and will be the Irvine live music amphitheater through 2026.
Irvine Nights has future festival tickets available online ranging from free tickets for unreserved standing areas to $46.80 for reserved VIP seats.
Alyse Billiard is a News Intern for the summer 2024 quarter. She can be reached at abilliar@uci.edu.
Edited by Victoria Le and Kaelyn Kwon.
