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TORONTO - For Craig Martin, the past three weeks have been a bit of a thriller.
The founder and producer of the popular concert series Classic Albums Live thought he might have bitten off more than he could chew by tackling Michael Jackson's 1982 smash album Thriller.
"Three weeks ago I was cancelling this show, I didn't have a singer," Martin says while rehearsing for tonight's show at the Phoenix Concert Theatre. "I had guys come out who were highly recommended but they brought some of that tribute-band persona with them. That's always a red flag for me. And when they couldn't hit some of those notes I thought, 'Oh my God, my reputation's at stake here, I may have to cancel this show.' "
Fortunately, Martin found his vocalist in Peter Miller and the show will go on as planned with the album performed in its entirety.
"This is a left turn for us," Martin says. "We've never done anything like this before and I'm just having a blast working at taking it apart and putting it back together."
Choosing Thriller was something Martin says came from having his two kids asking about the album itself. After finding the album and putting it on for his youngsters, the pair started dancing, resulting in Martin getting back into Thriller again 26 years after its release.
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"I was a rocker, it was past (Led Zeppelin's) Houses of the Holy, we weren't into Michael Jackson," he says. "So it was like rediscovering this music that had eluded me before. And it was exciting, so one day I just decided we're doing it."
Martin says while it's a bit of a departure for the group of musicians who since 2003 have performed albums by the likes of Led Zeppelin, Aerosmith and Pink Floyd, the musicality of Thriller is something often overlooked.
"It kind of blew me away because we'd forgotten, all of us, just how great Michael was," Martin says. "He got buried underneath the dirt and the sensationalism of his life and things like that, and it's such a tragedy really because, my God, what an artist he was. What a complete genius he was."
As for the album itself, which also features Beat It and Billie Jean, Martin says the hardest song to pull off is the title track, which contains such intricacies as Vincent Price's voice, the spooky howls, creaking doors and Jackson's high vocals.
"It's insane the amount of work we're doing," Martin says. "Our keyboard player is 28 but she looks like she's 50. These guys are working above and beyond the call of duty."
Tickets for tonight's show are $12 in advance (available at ticketmaster.ca or by phone at 416-870-8000), or $20 at the door. You must be age 19 or older to attend. Doors open at 8 p.m.