The first of the two German summer events in Bonn turned out to be one of my favourite ever outdoor gigs. It was simply the sweetest thing. It was cozy and extremely interactive - becoming that way even quite intimate even though it wasn’t as small as regular small gigs - it was visually beautiful with gorgeous suits seen still in daylight and it offered numerous beautiful details that were included in different songs or between them. With all the chatting both in English and German and communicating with the audience it gave an impression of spontaneity but even though different details were created in that moment I still felt the gig itself was extremely thoughtfully and considerately planned to make the audience happy in an extremely relaxed way and it really worked like that. Just seeing him appearing on stage in his most beautiful light blue outfit made me happy and it felt wonderful to listen to him talking and having fun with people. Everyone I saw was smiling and the mood was lovely. Lovely, light summer night atmosphere. 

Mika made carefully sure he interacted with every part of the audience. He took time to have looks at the people in the front row during the whole show, not just quickly finding out who is there but really looking and that way messaging “I see you people there”. In the end of Lollipop he asked the crowd to raise their hands if it was their first time seeing his show and judging by his surprised face a numerous amount of hands were raised and he laughingly announced “oh my friends we’ve got a fucking load of catching up to do” and then the gig could officially start. He talked to the people in the bar and even asked a beer from the staff. He saw a couple who was watching the show separately high up in the balcony and teased them several times calling them “the king and the queen” and asking them to sing during Underwater and later explained he had no choice because they were kind of offered to him, and added “I was gonna play with you like a bad cat” doing cat like gestures with his hands. The crowd sang wonderfully I have to say. Beautiful singing compared to many summer events. At first I thought they had asked people from choirs to join but maybe German people just like to sing. 

The one Berlin gig this spring excluded it’s been so long since the previous German gigs that I almost couldn’t remember how the German audience is. I remember I used to love the local crowds in 2010 and 2012. After that there’s been a long break and this was my first ever time in Bonn. I love events in Berlin though and have seen also gigs in Hamburg, Dusseldorf and Munich in the past.  It feels good to think Mika is recreating the connection with his German audience again and I hope that will offer more possibilities for gigs after the English album is out. During the gig in Bonn he talked a lot also in German. I’m sure he got help with such perfect sentences but the pronunciation was better than before so I had a feeling he had practiced as well. 

Because in Germany there had to be a small episode with beer included. Just before Good Guys, the music already on the background, he asked “can I have a Kölch, please, it’s the best beer in the world” and described the way it’s served. The bar provided him a beer making him absolutely delighted and he jumped to the crowd to get his glass, took a sip and continued explaining the background for the song. The audience demanded him to drink the full beer which he did, then he made the cutest tiny burp - cute as a baby burp making you just happy that the air comes out - and started a beautiful version of Good Guys. During the show we heard explanations also for other songs like for Popular and these little chats are always precious. We might have heard them before but there’s always something new and they add so much to the songs and obviously hearing explanations in English is always special to me so many gigs being in French, Italian or now in Spanish. The setlist included also Talk About You as a surprise song and generally I loved small details like intros or endings for the songs because during those moments Mika is always very gentle with his voice and I simply love that.

A big part of the beauty of this gig was seeing the show in daylight which always makes everything visually even more gorgeous. The outfits looked amazing and just starting the show in the prettiest light blue suit felt like a gift. I didn’t feel good when the show started but just seeing the blue outfit - which I love - in daylight changed the whole day. Magically everything became beautiful. Obviously, it wasn’t just seeing the outfit, it was also his presence on stage, either way a gig in daylight is always also a particularly visual experience. The elegant white flower suit looked if possible even more elegant and somehow natural in daylight. Everything in this gig was really thoughtful. The front row couldn’t see the stage well so Mika asked his team to move the piano closer and we could finally see it during Happy Ending. He also brought the musicians closer a couple of times so that the full audience could see them. I have only pocket camera shots so I’m adding the pictures in smaller size (just click them bigger) but I’m still happy I have them as a memory, this gig was made a beautiful experience in every possible way.