MIKA GIGS

UK & Ireland

Brighton Centre in Brighton 4/4/2024

It felt absolutely incredible to start the UK tour at the Brighton Centre in Brighton. My first visit in Brighton and I loved being at the seaside and immediately wanted to be back and was happy to realise there would be another gig at Brighton Pride in August. Before this first gig of the UK tour I hadn’t even realised how much I loved finally seeing several gigs in row in English and being able to fully understand the chatting between the songs, it can spice up the gig in a very special way and we heard first an update how long it had been since Mika performed in Brighton - yes, it had not been 5, 7, 9 or even 12 years, it had been 14 years - and later for example little stories about his own experiences in the area and also a short song introduction about his role models before Good Guys which was my absolute favourite addition to the setlist and I spent a moment just thinking how much the song has evolved and how the thought behind it is so important and warm. As an example of Mika’s French music we heard Elle Me Dit and it worked well. Even though I definitely missed the new French songs I still thought that the first gig of the UK tour in Brighton was absolutely a wonderful starting point for something amazing. The tour couldn’t have had a better start. The setlist was nostalgic, the atmosphere was loving and warm and everything worked smoothly. A beautiful, beautiful show in Brighton.

Civic Hall in Wolverhampton 5/4/2024

The smallish gig at Civic Hall in Wolverhampton was definitely one of my favourites during the spring. I had missed moments like this. I admire big shows and love how they allow Mika to do big things but still prefer smaller gigs and “real music venues” instead of arenas. I love the vibe that comes from the combination of a new, maybe unknown location, a proper music venue and a smallish stage without big elements. I enjoy watching Mika being able to have fun on stage without too much pressure or expectations and the audience being able to show him spontaneous love. 

The mood becomes warm and loving and cozy and the whole combination is simply a good mix that guarantees lovely vibes and a positive kind of chaos. The result might not be the most perfect show with every possible element, the audience might not be the loudest of them all but the gig is special and warm and those are always my favourites and I end up wondering why it can’t be like this more often, I wish it could. In Wolverhampton the stage was so small that the birdcage or even the white piano couldn’t fit in and we got amazing imaginary piano performances for Billy Brown and Grace Kelly and it felt like the old times when Mika was playing his imaginary trumpet for Stuck In The Middle. Absolutely lovely and so much fun. 

The blue bird outfit is gorgeous and after seeing the show many times it was my favourite detail again, there’s something super symbolic in the transformation scene and the whole performance was full of adrenaline and I felt extremely happy the outfit was kept for the UK part of the show. Otherwise it was the classic elements I loved most: Underwater, Happy Ending and Any Other World. Surprisingly also songs like Yo-Yo that created a good energy level. 

Manchester Apollo in Manchester 7/4/2024

The gig in Manchester started in a more formal atmosphere than the previous gig in Wolverhampton and I loved how almost like to balance that Mika in the beginning of the gig during Lollipop consciously and literally asked for chaos to be our guide (“chaos, rain down on me”). The gig evolved a lot after that indeed and it became very moving, I felt extremely touched by different stories we heard between the songs and by the reactions coming from the audience. There was a loving vibe and the whole atmosphere of the UK part of the tour culminated and it was easy to understand how important and at the same time somehow complicated it was for Mika to be back in the UK and how much the local audience had actually missed him and how warmly they welcomed him and in the beginning of the night he started his talk to the audience “in my head you’re terrifying… but you’re not terrifying at all, you’re deliciously mad in every way”. At the point of talking to the crowd he had already taken off the jacket and the bowtie, opened the shirt and rolled up his sleeves and the show could finally properly start. 

The gig in Manchester evolved in an emotional way and the little stories we heard about Mika’s youth and his mother were definitely a big part of it. Stories like his mother walking to his room unannounced when he was dancing on his bed in his underwear holding his Sony Walkman and imagining to be like Michael Hutchence from INXS and then as a result  “going to see Father David” on the following day. Some stories were familiar but it was the combination of everything that created the emotions. Being back in Manchester after 12 years, remembering his mother at the very same venue (I was there 12 years ago as well and can remember the details), picturing young Mika dancing like Michael Hutchence and seeing the similarity in that look and the current blue bird look without a shirt (pants, jacket, no shirt, gestures), remembering Mika in the beginning of his career at the UK gigs and seeing the amount of love the Manchester audience gave him, seeing the touched reaction at his face and eventually him almost not being able to control his voice… Yes we all had tears in our eyes. Extremely emotional atmosphere.

During the queuing I was next to Jaydon who lives in Birmingham and who was planning what to write to his sign so Mika would pay attention to it and maybe ask him on stage and I promised to think good thoughts about it so it would happen because good thoughts matter and then film him on stage and in the end of Elle Me Dit Mika did ask him to dance with him on stage and another dream had come true. During the gig and long after it I kept thinking of people and their dreams and also role models Mika had when he was young - he talked about them before Good Guys in Manchester as well - and I wondered and still wonder if Mika can understand that eventually he grew up to be much more amazing than any of his role models. He probably can’t see it and that’s often a part of people’s charm, not understanding how amazing they are, not seeing themselves like other people can see them. 

We heard Good Guys, we heard Popular (“you are singing, all the songs I don’t know, now you’re in the front row, cause my song is popular”), we obviously heard the most popular ever song Grace Kelly and saw the rainbow on stage. We heard a stunning and very moving Happy Ending and saw the beautiful foggy scene and after that the audience didn’t give only a little bit of love, it gave an enormous amount of love and this was the most touching moment ever. Then fierce Love Today with the gorgeous blue bird jacket without a shirt and after the Michael Hutchence reference it was quite impossible not to see the influences in his dance. And he screamed LOOOOVE moving his hand like a wing, letting it out like an amazing, colourful bird. After Love Today the show still generously continued with beautiful Any Other World and energetic We Are Golden and in the end as a lovely detail there was just Mika’s figure against the colourful flowers. Such stunning, fully satisfying show and at the same time a sweet and nostalgic trip in time. Mika likes to use the word delicious. The whole UK tour had a delicious vibe. Warm, cozy, sweet, delicious. Something you can feel with your body, almost taste. 

Hammersmith Apollo in London 9/4/2024 & Olympia in Dublin 11/4/2024

The venue for the show in London was Hammersmith Apollo that is a bit bigger yet still a very lovely theatre venue where we already saw Mika twice in 2010. The venue in Dublin was also the same as during the Imaginarium Tour: the small and cozy Olympia Theatre. In Dublin the lovely theatre was such  a tiny venue that there was no possibility to bring in the full set and after seeing these two shows next to each other it was easy to compare the two different show concepts: with and without the big setting. I was looking forward to both venues and had originally planned to see these shows standing to fully experience the atmosphere. However, when my son agreed to join me I wanted to spend time with him and luckily managed to buy us seats at the last minute. 

In London our seats were in the third row and the view was still excellent. I could also see the audience below and it was an incredible experience to see how energetic and loud it was. My son said that of these two gigs he definitely loved the small Dublin one more because the atmosphere was more intimate and his answer wasn’t a surprise to me. I choose an intimate atmosphere any day as well and it’s hard to find warmer, cosier vibes than Olympia can offer. From my point of view London was small and intimate compared to numerous arenas I had seen during the tour but I admit there was something extra charming in the tiny Dublin venue and being able to experience the show in a simpler form. Even though the Dublin venue was smaller the crowd was even louder than the already loud crowd in London. It was lovely to end the UK/Ireland Tour this way and with these two shows.