‘Breakout’: The Bonnie Tyler prison concert that went horribly wrong
Ant and Dec have got a lot to answer for. The UK prank kings, creating Saturday night entertainment out of elaborate escapades, have started a content ripple effect whereby everyone on the street is in danger. A simple walk around the corner could result in me being plunged into a bucket of ice by a TikToker, all for the important currency of likes. So, where does it end? When does the live show become a big ruse for viral content? Well, unsurprisingly, it has already happened, but in a rather surprising context.
So, prison shows are not a new concept. Johnny Cash pioneered the idea, while BB King, The Cramps, the Sex Pistols and Frank Sinatra have all played private shows for each of their country’s most wanted. Contentious an idea as it may be to some, there’s a case to be made in the general purpose of the radical idea being beneficial for rehabilitation, prisoner wellbeing, and potentially reducing recidivism. After all, art shouldn’t be bound to the confines of the law.
Alongside that, it acts as a much-welcome PR boost for certain artists. Either backing up their anti-establishment leanings or conversely roughening up the edges of an otherwise glossy pop act. While Bonnie Tyler had a little more about her than your average chart climber, the move for her to play inside one of Britain’s prisons was proven to be inspired by the latter.
In 1990, she scheduled a performance at a Long Lartin prison in England. A swell of excitement grew within the walls of the prison as the inmates prepared for a private show from Tyler. They hurried into the prison gym and upon her on stage walk on, cheered with fervour at the arrival of the gravelly voiced icon. But it didn’t take long into the first song for the prisoners to realise they were the subject of a content-focused ruse.
A large film crew were gathered around the stage, covering all angles of Tyler’s performance, and when she cut her performance midway through the song, on multiple occasions, to consult with the crew, it was clear what was happening. Tyler was there to film a music video for her single ‘Breakout’, and the prisoners were simply used as real-life extras.
It was a dangerous game, for the prisoners became increasingly agitated at their manipulation and luckily displayed it by simply leaving the room. Tyler was left unscathed but without footage and instead had to settle for a shoddily crafted green screen music video for her single release.
You can’t help but wonder why Tyler didn’t just focus all of her pre-production energy into an easily made replica of the situation and save the manipulation for the on-screen audiences. Because her stunt was really the complete antithesis of a prison concert. Unlike Cash, King and the Sex Pistols, who sought to transcend communities through the medium of music and communicate with prisoners in a more humane way, the failure of Tyler’s stunt only sought to establish the complete opposite.
