After seeing the warm, emotional UK Tour and for example the iconic Brighton Pride in 2024, just being back in the UK felt amazing and created extra anticipation and excitement in the air before the show. I was looking forward to experiencing a good atmosphere and energy in the audience and also couldn’t wait to have a proper look at certain visuals like the light blue suit with the wings and the pastel coloured birds and the colourful animal orchestra in the animations. Being lucky to hear a new song never came to my mind and was a totally unexpected treat. Also, more than a festival, the event felt like a simple outdoor gig. The square was surprisingly compact and cozy and had a city centre vibe and the area was guided by golden owls - symbols of the city - that were on the top of the Civic Hall next to the square.

A distinct part of the gig was for sure the great atmosphere and the crowd that so fully took part of the gig singing, dancing and waving their hands. A small shout-out to the two ladies behind me who were wonderful singers! How amazing to listen to. There was a lot of talk between songs, obviously this time in English, and it was mostly about the location and the owls and people who were sitting in the balconies but also some more serious comments about the previous Leeds gig where Mika had his mother with him when introducing Elle Me Dit. Elle Me Dit became a huge party, the whole crowd at the square jumping and having fun, and having a French song on the setlist felt just right. 

The gig started with We Are Golden and the visual element I had looked forward to: the light blue elegant suit and the wings. I can’t even decide where to start describing this gorgeous outfit, there are so many levels both literally and symbolically in it. Firstly, I’m childishly excited to see Mika on stage in beautiful, theatrical outfits like wings or the tiger head and the cape going round and this blue outfit is his most beautiful bird outfit, maybe because the colour gives it extra sophisticated elegance and him appearing on stage looks looks like the most sophisticated, the most stunningly beautiful rare bird had arrived. There are theatrical, angel-like poses but when he waves the wings and moves around with them I’m quite sure he’s a bird. How vital and healthy the wings are, it’s incredible. 

After We Are Golden it was a turn for the transformation and this takes the outfit to a new level. First he got some help from the crew to take off the wings. Then he took off the jacket and now we could see there was a new pretty shirt underneath exactly the same colour as the suit which is of course not a new idea, we saw a combination of the red suit, red shirt and red wings already during the Apocalypso show and there used to be a green shirt under the green glittery suit as well but because of the colour the new combination is even more stunning. After taking off the jacket the shirt and the tie look amazingly tidy and handsome and I like each of these phases. The best comes still in the end when the transformation is fully done, the tie is off, the shirt buttons are opened from the neck and arms and suddenly the shirt is fully wet and we think oh now the gig has officially started! 

The most important background visuals were during Lollipop, Origin, Ice Cream and Billy Brown and to be honest these four songs were also a truly important part of the setlist. I would love to see an old-school background canvas like we used to see in the past but especially at festivals and big arenas digital backgrounds seem to be a new norm now and I was trying to pay attention to see which one I like most. With these songs and combined with this beautiful suit I love them all: the big, pastel coloured birds in the beginning, bright colours in Ice Cream and the cheerful, crazy animal band in Billy Brown. The mood in this version of Billy Brown makes it a big highlight, definitely my favourite moments in Leeds. Over time I’ve learnt to appreciate Lollipop for many reasons and it’s now one of the rare occasions where music doesn’t hide Mika’s voice. Always a happy moment and I often wish there were more moments like this, even just short ones.

A small challenge of the gig was that the sound was too loud indeed, during the whole night. I could still feel it in my ears days after the show and the bass was so strong it created pressure in my throat and chest. For this reason the first part of the Yo-Yo was even lovelier than it usually is and I enjoyed having this calmer moment. Leeds got an absolutely lovely version of Relax, there was Popular Song and Good Guys and Billy Brown quite expectedly, there was the classics Big Girl and Happy Ending. During Big Girl he obviously jumped into the crowd. From my point of view the audience seemed just enthusiastic but it was afterwards seen actually quite uncontrollable making his journey through it almost a struggle, instead of giving him space people were grabbing him again and again. There was a lot of energy and the same energy came out also during Elle Me Dit when Mika made the full crowd jump and dance and asked the choir ladies to join as well.

At some point Mika started a talk about introducing a new song in different environments and as unbelievable as it was we heard a new song called Spinning Out! For me this came as a huge surprise, I didn’t see it coming at all. I always want to hear new songs properly several times before I can have clear thoughts about them so there will be more notes about the song later of course. For sure hearing a new song for the first time made the gig in Leeds stand out and this gig will be something I later connect to the song. 

To end the show Love Today was performed first and then - as the final ending song - came Grace Kelly, which still at this point of the tour, sounds very fresh, the audience singing being my favourite part. The music is powerful and the crowd is divided into “girls” and “boys” for singing and it sounds nice and organised and not pure screaming. Everyone can of course freely choose if they are girls or boys or both or not sing at all like I do, I simply don’t feel comfortable to use my voice a lot during gigs. The gig ended cheerfully and it was a very particular type of gig, something easy to remember afterwards and a good addition to the UK gigs we have seen lately.