Auckland Town Hall in Auckland, New Zealand 22/2/2020

The gig in Auckland was a truly special case, the very first show in New Zealand and something I had thought is only a distant dream for me. It was such a weird gig! I mean it was amazing as well and I absolutely loved it, but it was weird. It was totally different than I had imagined in advance.

The venue was seated. When I walked in and saw the images of Mika’s parents on the stage background I had something like Tours in my mind. A rare opportunity where Mika could add songs like Over My Shoulder to the setlist. A gig where the audience would respond to different songs, dancing when it’s time to dance, sitting quietly when it’s time for that. Singing along, letting him sing alone. For some reason I had imagined it wouldn’t be like some chaotic seated gigs in Italy where the audience runs to front of stage the exact moment the gig starts. Well it wasn’t like that. The audience run to front long before the gig started.

A shy looking security guy told me that people would be asked to return to their places before the actual gig started but we both knew that’s not going to happen for real. The audience was totally uncontrollable, they wouldn’t return even if someone asked, so instead of waiting for that I just quickly took my place in front of stage as well and danced because that was specifically allowed in instructions before the show. You are allowed to stand up and dance all night.

People were quite drunk I think. I had a quick drink just before the gig started as well and it was an excellent idea as that way I could tolerate the crowd more easily and blend in the audience since the beginning of the show and I didn’t need to wait several songs to be able to focus on them. And the gig was a lot of fun since the first notes of Ice Cream, I loved it. I loved Dear Jealousy and I loved Relax and I loved everything after that.

I really enjoyed the whole gig. I couldn’t hear Mika particularly well the loud crowd around me so listening to the a cappella part of Happy Ending was even more euphoric than it usually is. The crowd finally settled down and we could finally hear only Mika and it was so lovely and he was singing so close to us and it was pure happiness, even more than it usually is. It’s those short close moments like the one in the end of Happy Ending that alone make all the traveling worth while. All the effort seems like nothing at all compared to what it brings in the end.

After Stay High Mika complimented the venue and the acoustics of it and I waited holding my breath and he did add Over My Shoulder and it was absolutely beautiful. Over My Shoulder is one of my favourite songs and I’ve heard many versions of it and this was one of my favorites of them all. The Auckland audience went quiet and I closed my eyes and just listened and his singing was so incredible it’s hard to put in words and the exact moment when Max joined in was MAGICAL. Those two sound magical together. My body can still feel it.

I loved watching the band during the whole gig, it was quite hypnotising. They are so good. At some points I wanted to do similar hand movements as Mika does to them. I wanted to tell them yes, like this, and more this and this and more powerfully, but  I could luckily control myself and just raised my hands while dancing. It was a really fun night. I liked the vibe and I liked the New Zealand audience. Before the show started it didn’t look possible but during the gig I felt I was a part of that crowd. Auckland was something to remember for sure.

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