Les Solidarités in Namur, Belgium, started on Saturday already at noon which meant the festival goers had a long and full day ahead. The line-up was busy with several stages and many different artists but the structure of the festival area was still nicely compact. The toilets were on the side and the food stands directly behind the crowd and it was easy to reach both until around 5 pm when the audience started to be too tight to walk comfortably through. The weather changed that time as well and the rain became quite heavy and we still had a few hours to wait until 11 pm when Mika was supposed to start.

Young Belgian singer Pierre de Maere started around 6 pm and I didn’t know his music in advance at all but despite of being so young and that way inexperienced he handled the audience in a very brave way, looking people directly in the eyes, diving in the middle of the crowd letting people to carry him and quickly spotting his fans who knew the lyrics, pointing them with his microphone and it was all impressive because those skills usually come with experience. His music was catchy and when I heard it the next day from further away I could already recognise it. 

After that was Étienne Daho who is an established French artist. Even though he’s considerably famous in France this was the first time I saw him live. At this point we were all very wet and the day was turning to night. Suddenly the stage was full of lights, psychedelic patterns and 80’s disco moves. The singer and the band had tight pants, open shirts and black leather jackets. The vibe was surreal. Instead of being at a festival in Belgium I felt transferred to a weird French film and it was all totally unexpected yet still very entertaining. I really enjoyed the performance and so did the  people around me and the show definitely made it easier for us to wait for Mika’s late performance. 

At 11 pm we were all if possible even wetter than earlier and the wait felt long but eventually it was finally Mika’s turn and he made all the waiting worthwhile. He was obviously aware that thousands of people had stayed in the heavy rain just for him and he mentioned that and did everything to reward it and the performance was excellent and his singing and dancing and every gesture and the smiling face were all incredibly lovely and at that point very healing. It was in every way an extremely lovely performance and included a lot interaction with the audience. He kept smiling and making little hearts and already during Origin spotted a tiny version of red wings in the crowd and asked them on stage and during Lollipop changed his own jacket to a pink, hand-decorated jacket that was also handed him from the audience. Underwater was done with the audience as usual but the crowd did well also in Jane Birkin and C’est la vie which both feel like big classics already, these songs were also my big favourites in Namur.

During Jane Birkin Mika referred to his holidays and told it hadn’t all gone as planned but had included cancelled flights, crowded beaches and arguing people and that during those moments he had thought about the crowd singing the melody from Jane Birkin with him and it was a sweet thought. Him chatting and sharing something between songs is the concept of course and this was definitely something people wanted to hear but I’m sure it was also kind of true and that Jane Birkin is a moment that genuinely warms his heart. In Namur the crowd sang beautifully C’est la vie as well and some fans had brought balloons and that created a beautiful, colourful view. I was particularly happy to hear these two songs (with two totally different moods) again before the tour ends and the tour is coming to the end and obviously we all already think about it.

Happy Ending has been my seasonal favourite and the song was somehow particularly beautiful in Namur. The singing was focused and beautiful and the flowery piano has been one of my favourite details this summer, I simply love the idea of flying, colourful flowers and in Namur the audience got a little bit flower rain as well and after the show I could find some in my pockets and that made and continues making me smile. I don’t have any photo gallery to share but there are some moments on my instagram.