I knew in advance that the Hong Kong venue is small and lovely but still didn’t expect to love the gig as much as I eventually did. The capacity must have been just a few hundreds, the place was tiny and very intimate. The stage was so small only the Heaven sign and instruments could fit on it and the audience was directly in front and there were no barriers between. A fancy looking security walked us in and everything was calm and polite. 

After only a short waiting the band came to their spots and Mika followed them sitting at his piano and started with Porcelain and it was wonderful to be so close and see every single detail, this was the first time I saw the band playing Porcelain, and I loved the beginning even the sound was a bit loud at first and the stage resonated like it does when you are very close to it. He continued with My Interpretation, Talk About You and Grace Kelly and the gig had a proper start. 

Mika asked a fan on stage during Boum Boum Boum and came very close to the audience while singing Staring At The Sun. I thought he might want to walk in the middle of the audience like he did in Korea and Japan and was ready to give him space but he decided not to come down but stay on stage leaning very close to the audience. The whole situation reminded me of the Verboten gig in Brooklyn where he was equally close – so close he could just take my eye glasses without a warning – and suddenly he took my glasses again, just for a few seconds as he really can’t see with them and it was funny and I was wondering if he could remember the earlier situation. Sweet of him to do little things like this and gives a feeling he can notice people. He did his best to answer comments and touched people’s hands and asked another fan on stage to dance with him. 

The whole gig was very funny and full of silly little details. Mika took everything the audience gave him (hats, pictures, posters, Christmas decorations, everything) and hang them on Max who looked like a little Christmas tree still playing like nothing weird happened. The setlist was the same as earlier without any additional songs but felt somehow more special because everything happened so close to the people and we could see and hear every detail so well. He did Happy Ending putting his microphone side in the end and the audience went absolutely crazy shouting his name which was very cool and made him look quite pleased. 

I felt so grateful being there that I had to turn around and give hugs to my husband who was standing behind me and say him thank you for spending his winter holidays in Hong Kong and China with me. I love venues like The Vine and listening to Mika from a close distance. Mika finished Love Today and the show was over and wished I could have just grabbed his leg and ask not to go yet and I bet I wasn’t the only one feeling that way. I didn’t want the gig to end. These small ones are my favourites and I would love them to continue forever. It took a long time to say good bye to everyone, I was happy I could see so many new and familiar faces.