Amy Callahan began by telling us her story of how this
came about. David was in a "Staples" store in Newport, Jersey
City, buying ink for his printer when he noticed in front of him a woman
purchasing a digital camera. He began the conversation by saying that
he was amazed at how alike the digital is to a 35-millimeter camera. Then
she explained that she didn’t need something so expensive because
she was using it for a foundation and just needed one to capture moments
during the event. Then David asked what sort of foundation this was for
and she replied that it was a summer camp for children who had lost family
members in the September 11th attack. David got goose bumps all over his
body because he too is associated with a fund for 9/11. ("The 9/11
Helping Hand Foundation") Next thing I knew is that David rushed
into the studio, where I was working, speaking so quickly and with so
much enthusiasm about this woman and the foundation and that she’s
coming up to watch the music video of “Brave
New American Heroes”.
At this point, she then turned over the microphone to David who gave the
kids a bit of history about MJ, as he usually does. It was funny to see
the kids react when they heard that MJ had their own television show in
New York City and that they were on the MTV "Take
A Stand Stop The Violence" CD with some big names like the Back
Street Boys, Dave Matthew’s Band, and Green Day. Finally, Dave introduced
MJ and the show began!
They kicked off their performance with songs from their old album , “Lets Just Hang”, which was completed when Manny was 12 and Joy was 10. Then, they continued on with songs taken off of the “SkateDance.com” CD, which got everyone off of their seat and onto their feet! One thing that impressed me was that these kids genuinely enjoyed the song “SkateDance” and that they picked up the dance moves so quickly!
Next came their latest album, “Go With The Flo”, along with their latest single, “I Got A Crush On You”. On a more sensitive note, MJ gave a preview of “Brave New American Heroes”, a song of hope, which they dedicate to all of the victims of September 11th. This was supposed to be the last song sung, however, everyone there wanted an encore of “SkateDance”! Of course, MJ happily obliged their adoring audience!
At the end of the show, the audience was going insane! They were scrambling
to get their free CD, “Lets Just Hang”! Not only that but there
was no way possible that Manny and Joy could autograph the CD’s fast
enough! It pleased me to hear people talk about how they felt about MJ’s
performance and how they feel about Manny and Joy’s future. People
that I interviewed said that they believe that Manny and Joy both have
talent to continue on to become very successful.
Looking back on my experience, I believe that just being around and watching
these kids changed me. I have a more profound respect to those individuals,
not only who died, but also who lost someone close to them that shocking
day. I feel that all of us in the MJ “crew” felt that way as
well. However, this time it was not only David who
had the goose bumps, it was all of us as well.
Story about the second concert on 8/21/02