The concert in Shenzhen was such a surprise. I never knew Mika has this kind of dedicated following in China. The venue was clearly bigger than the one in Hong Kong but still something I call a small venue. The crowd was loud and knew all the lyrics and was singing loudly every single song.

It’s amazing to watch Mika with his Asian fans. He takes a lot of contact with people and goes close to them. During many songs he didn’t even stay on stage but went to the same level with the crowd. Touching fingers, shaking hands, giving or receiving hugs, pulling people on stage, pointing them, talking to them. So different than anything I’ve seen in Europe or with his European fans. People in Asia are so excited to see him that it must be quite special for him as well and he obviously wants to make the shows unforgettable and worth the wait.

Took only three hours to get from our Hong Kong hotel to the venue in Shenzhen but the trip was actually quite complicated with a taxi, train, immigration point, metros and one more taxi and both my husband I realised we were lucky we got such detailed advices from our new Hong Kong friends and were so happy to meet Andy from Hong Kong and a Chinese fan Sogi who both we met at the Vine day before and head to the venue together.

A8 Live in Shenzhen was one the most luxurious venues I’ve ever been to. The lobby for the venue was a really nice cafe and the staff let us in so we could have comfortable seats and tables, coffee, food and toilets while waiting for the gig. A young Chinese girl gave everyone a little Mika pic with a queuing number and everyone respected the system and made a nice queue just before it was time to check our tickets. We got a stamp in our hands and five nice ladies made politely but strictly clear that everyone takes their own place in the queue after having their tickets checked. Someone told that the ladies were volunteers but can’t know if that was true and if so, if this is a normal system or something typical for this particular venue or promoter. It still surprised me after seeing so many battles at European gigs.

The crowd was pushy and almost climbing to the stage and the venue was so hot that breathing felt difficult but I forgot all that the moment the gig started. A few random comments and observations. I absolutely loved Porcelain in the beginning of the show. It’s one of my new favorite songs even it’s not the same ballad we can hear on the album. It starts slowly but the band makes it more powerful and it works really well. Almost immediately after the beginning the first fan was lucky to be on stage and the audience went wild just seeing it. The girl went wild too and had the time of her life.

I loved it how the band played together in other powerful songs as well. The lights were wonderful. Again, not sure if this was something to do with the venue or if they paid more attention to the lights because there was no other stage setting. Whatever the case, the lights looked exceptionally good. I love Staring At The Sun done close to the audience and my husband liked it as well and especially mentioned the song after the show. The local audience seemed to be very much into show elements so a lot of playing was included (the number of toys teenage girls have with them!). The crowd made effort and Mika wanted to show he appreciates it.

My absolute favourite song was Last Party once again, I was totally transferred to another world and almost forgot to breath. I can remember staring at Mika so focused I probably didn’t blink during the whole song. My usual favourites during the night were Last Party, Porcelain, Relax, Boum Boum Boum, Happy Ending and Underwater. I was particularly impressed that Mika can drum so well. I can’t explain this because he has done all kind of drumming scenes since the first show I ever saw.

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A8 Live in Shenzhen, China 23/2/2016