It felt  incredible to be in the crowd waiting for the gig at La Semo in Enghien, Belgium, and to hear that the Belgium gig of the new album tour - announced just a couple of days earlier - was selling so well another Belgium gig had just been added. Wow, what a great response from the local audience and made me even more excited about seeing the festival show of the night. La Semo is known as a family festival. It might sound small and cozy but in reality it meant an enormous park with large areas for eating, shopping, family entertainment and obviously also for music. The event was big but the atmosphere was relaxed and I had a good festival experience and seeing Mika with the enthusiastic and loud Belgian crowd definitely made the trip worthwhile.

During the tiny break between festivals Mika totally unexpectedly announced a new album tour for February 2026. The tickets came on sale and even before any new music release sold faster than ever. This man sells gigs purely existing! I was so distracted by my own tour preparations that I took a wrong train in Belgium driving to the final station without even noticing everyone else had left the train. On the gig day I could feel my body was still tense after everything happening so rapidly and my airline kept reminding me of their strike days, all my travelling days. When Mika and the band appeared on stage there was a feeling of stress in people’s body language on stage as well but that was well controlled. The show started and the night became pure magic. 

It never ceases to amaze me how professional Mika is. No matter if he’s busy or tired and stressed, his performance is always top quality. The singing was beautiful and the energy was high. He kept introducing his showman skills and the Belgian audience loved him and rewarded his efforts with warm response and loud singing. I listened to the songs and absolutely loved the setlist, both the choice of songs and their order. I watched and admired everything. I took many photos to catch new details in outfits and if there were any stress elements in my body they disappeared like they had never existed. Mika looked happy looking at the crowd and I hope he enjoyed the energy coming, that it felt good and that if there was any stress in his body, that was at least a tiny bit relieved by people’s reactions.

Most of the talk was in French so I missed some parts. The ticket sales in Belgium and France were acknowledged and cheered. During Billy Brown Billy was called “Jamie” several times. Billy Brown became one of the biggest highlights of the night and for sure one of my personal favourites on the setlist. My absolute favourite moment was definitely Underwater. There’s nothing like Underwater to make you appreciate every aspect in your life. The song is like oxygen when needed and it can make any day a beautiful, special occasion. I loved the beginning trio on the setlist. Again, they felt like one big highlight in the beginning even though of course the photographers in front make the moment hectic and messy. When Mika started Yo-Yo he was still out of breath and soon the moment became calm and another huge highlight.

There was a lot of communicating with the crowd. During Ice Cream he took an Ice Cream balloon from the audience, during Relax a handmade vest from a fan and later a Belgian flag with heart and wings. The audience was singing a lot, during Billy Brown, Relax and the ending Grace Kelly which sounded fantastic. I feel almost obsessed with this moment and love it every single time. It felt wonderful to hear three French songs from the latest album. Jane Birkin and C’est la vie were lovely in an expected way. Bougez I didn’t know to expect for sure, it was a slight surprise, and the energy during it became explosive. I felt the setlist was as perfect as it could be. Of course I always appreciate hearing any new or occasional rare songs but with existing, regular songs the setlist was as lovely and generous as it could be.

As outfits Belgium saw a cavalcade of suits and pants, starting with the light blue suit and wings and continuing with parrots, pinks and silvery glitter ending with the white sporty pants. The colourful necklace with flowers, ladybugs and a bright red man that looked like Santa was carefully checked to be in a correct way. The only Belgian festival of the summer was such a colourful, energetic performance. Can’t wait for the two shows in Brussels in February.