Watching Mika performing in his prettiest outfit - white shirt, blueish grey Korean pants and glittery shoes - in front of the Palais Ideal and the building bathing in different coloured lights, was one of the most aesthetic experiences I’ve had. I would have loved to take some beautiful photos to remember the special moment better but I wasn’t allowed to use my camera so I just try to describe the gig shortly and added below a few photos of the palace I took earlier that day.

THE VENUE

 Le Palais Idéal was built by Ferdinand Cheval, also known as Facteur Cheval, a French postman who spent thirty-three years building this extraordinary palace using water washed stones, pebbles and fossils that he carried home first in his pockets and then later using a wheelbarrow. An extraordinary building, really, absolutely unique, a mix of different styles, inspired by images Ferdinand Cheval saw on postcards during his working days and decorated with figures, patterns, quotes and poems. 

THE PERFORMANCE 

 Mika appeared on stage in his beautiful outfit starting with Lollipop making the beginning of the song even more simple and delicate that before. I immediately noticed he wanted to make the performance more intimate than an average summer festival performance to appreciate the special venue and I started to feel even more excited than I felt before the gig. I also immediately noticed his voice had some extra warm tone from flu. Despite of the flu his singing was extremely pretty but obviously I was aware that performing in that situation can be risky for his voice. He had still decided not to cancel the gig and I hoped he had a possibility to rest his voice on the day after the gig. The performance in Hauterives was absolutely lovely, there was something special in several songs. 

 The set list for the night was exceptional. After Lollipop Mika did Big Girl and Origin and then sat down at the piano to sing a particularly touching version of Tiny Love. In the end he talked about the meaning of Tiny Love and the whole performance was extremely pretty. The beginning of the setlist followed the usual order but that was only a start. After a moment the keyboardist moved in front of the piano and we heard a partly acoustic version of Yo-Yo which was something I had hoped for a while. A wonderful surprise to hear Mika’s voice properly and I noticed I enjoyed also the remix version after the show more after hearing this special, “proper” version of the song for the first time. Hearing Yo-Yo made the gig already special but after that we heard also a breath-taking performance of Mika’s new song Who’s Gonna Love Me Now live (at gigs) for the first time. I literally hold my breath almost during the whole song. 

 We heard Underwater with a lot of interaction with the audience and Happy Ending that was absolutely beautiful experience even though, because of the flu, Mika’s voice couldn’t do the highest notes. Because of the situation the version was gentle and soft with the guitar in the spotlight and the whole performance was stunning the palace glowing in blue on the background the lighting showing us only Mika’s figure. Beautiful, beautiful performance! I enjoyed Boum Boum Boum and Ice Cream as I always do and was amazed how impressive the energy suddenly became during Grace Kelly Mika hitting the piano and singing fiercely. 

 We heard Elle Me Dit and We Are Golden as the high energy part and I thought Love Today was left out so the performance wouldn’t be too hard and tiring for the voice but after the ending bow the band came back and Mika appeared again and did an impressive version of Love Today even though he must have been very tired already. Then the very final bow and the remix version Yo-Yo was started on the background and Mika and the band danced a bit and disappeared leaving the audience continuing the dancing. 

 What a wonderful experience this gig was. I hadn’t seen such unique and interesting venue for a while and I loved it how the night was made special also with the outfit and the generous, surprising setlist.The artist voice is a delicate instrument, an ordinary flu can put a tour schedule in risk. The photo below is just from my mobile but it shows Mika’s outfit and the lights on the background.