Warwick Castle in Warwick, UK 7/7/2024
The medieval castle in Warwick offered another particularly special environment for the 2024 summer festival tour and this time the surroundings and the whole atmosphere for the gig were like directly from a fairytale. I was visiting Warwick with my husband who loves history and during the day we went through different corners of the castle and that luckily was possible because despite of the concert the castle was still daytime open for visitors. It was raining during the afternoon and just a moment before it was time for Mika the sun came out and a giant rainbow appeared on the sky above the castle and the stunning view looked almost unreal. After that the weather was clear and sunny like it often seems to be when it’s Mika’s turn to be on stage.
The show started with Origin and I was already looking forward to the song in advance because I absolutely love the version for the season and I was already in a good mood by that. In his opening words Mika pointed out the special atmosphere of the venue mentioning the catapult on the other side of the castle and promising that “the craziest member of the audience gets a ride in a catapult” (which made my husband confused because obviously it was a trebuchet and not a regular catapult) and then continuing “and to scare away the barbarians that may be outside we shall use laugh and we shall sing … here tonight there are a few thousand singers and not just one” and after that he naturally made the crowd sing the ”love love love, love love you’re the origin of love love love” part.
Lollipop started describing the winter with silence and the summer with full force music and I have to say I’m totally agreeing with Mika about this and enjoying this summer and the festival tour with all my heart. Obviously, I loved the big tour for the new album in spring. As always it was hugely special to hear the new songs and to see the new big show with totally new show elements. At the moment I just enjoy the variety of places and venues in a somehow different way. It feels amazing to hear Mika’s live voice as well as we can hear it now and for me it’s all about his voice. In addition to that, the atmosphere is lovely and relaxed compared to the previous stress that is often more common for big arena tours. The summer vibe is light, joyful and easy to enjoy and I truly am enjoying it as long as it lasts.
After Origin and Lollipop we heard Ice Cream and all three songs were performed in the white suit with applications and texts like “Club Apocalypso”, “blue jeans” and “love harder”.
Next change to the most gorgeous pink tone rainbow suit ever seen. I’m loving this suit and I think it shines bright summer festival mood and just seeing it multiplies the joyful atmosphere in the most elegant and stylish way. The next song on the setlist was Big Girl and Mika headed to the crowd further away to take a flower crown that a fan was wearing in the audience and he had fun on his way making the crowd sing and occasionally just laughing out loud while watching people dance and jump from higher up (apparently he was sitting on someone’s shoulders). After that he returned on stage for Underwater and surprisingly the audience could sing it very well and the song sounded really pretty and not screaming at all. He pointed a group of 6 people who were watching the concert from the rampart because obviously something like that couldn’t go unnoticed.
The crowd in Warwick was pleasantly positive and I loved the atmosphere and my husband commented it afterwards as well. People were not overly enthusiastic - so as a regular concert goer he didn’t feel out of place - but generally the mood was really positive and good and that could be felt throughout the show. Also the staff working at the castle was extremely nice and polite making the day that way more comfortable for everyone.
After Big Girl and Underwater another change in the outfit and the white and green flowery / tropical suit and next Relax, Good Guys, Popular Song and Billy Brown. Before Good Guys Mika asked the audience where they come from repeating different cities after people shouting them to him and finally saying “wherever you have come from, the best part is that we are locked up here together” referring to the venue and our location inside the castle stonewalls. Summer festivals are often organised close to big, historical buildings but we are rarely literally inside the walls in the courtyard area which this time made the gig even more magical and us feel like at least for a moment transported to the medieval times.
During Popular song he guided the crowd to do the choir part in the end. Popular is not among my very favourite songs and to be honest, I’ve never heard anyone saying Popular being their favourite Mika song simply because Mika has so many other even better songs that are more his style but I do understand its place on the setlist, it’s a familiar tune for many people in big crowds and it usually also works very well live and it worked in Warwick as well creating a relaxed, good mood moment.
Introducing Billy Brown offered Mika a good opportunity to tease his sister a little bit and he mentioned Yasmine being in the audience and that for that reason he wouldn’t be able to share the full story of Billy Brown like he usually does because the song is based on his sister’s ex-boyfriend. We heard quite a bit cute funny laughing and he was obviously and very cutely pleased with the situation and being able to tease Yasmine on stage. Then the song itself and personally I love hearing Billy Brown on the setlist again, it feels nostalgic in a good way.
Before Elle Me Dit it was lovely and also touching to hear Mika talking about his mother. He has done an introduction for Elle Me Dit numerous times but usually his little talk is always in French which unfortunately for me takes the emotion away from the words even though from the context I can understand the topic. This time he explained about writing songs already at very early age and all because of his mother who loved listening to music and dancing and made the kids do the same. The harder the situation, the harder the dancing with louder music and higher jumps.The songs Mika wrote were always miserably sad and his mother couldn’t understand that and screamed him in French “just write a happy song for God’s sake” because life is hard enough as it is.
For Elle Me Dit, Grace Kelly and Happy Ending the outfit was changed to the familiar white suit with the face and during Happy Ending the new flowery piano was finally in the main role and Happy Ending having a new atmosphere once again and flowers being visually so incredibly gorgeous THIS was the moment I had waited for and looked forward to. The whole song was lovely and in the end Mika and his guitarist Clement sat down to do the very ending part flowers flowing over them. The moment was quite funny and at the same time really pretty.
For Love Today the outfit was changed one more time to the strong pink with stylish, very flattering pants. At some point of the song Mika again listed the places people had come from making the crowd scream and then finally said the familiar words that were made suitable for the venue: “you have sung, you have danced together, you turned the Warwick Castle in all its elegance and history into something even more spectacular, a place called the Butterfly Lounge”. Then it was time to fly - at least in spirit - which obviously is the highpoint of the gig. Some more flowers were also flying in the air and the moment was full of energy and beauty.
After Love Today he totally unexpectedly continued with Any Other World which was an amazing surprise and obviously my favourite parts of the gig and I couldn’t have been happier with the setlist (we didn’t hear Stuck In The Middle but I was quite confident it was just saved for the gig in London). In the end still We Are Golden and great energy but no final dance exiting from the stage with Yo-Yo as usually because the orders were strict and there was no time left at all and the gig had to end and we walked out admiring the castle from different directions, it looked absolutely beautiful dressed in its evening lights.