Just a few words about the sixth gig of the tour in Nancy. Mika had recovered enough after cancelling his show in Brest the other night to perform for the full audience at Zenith de Nancy. Except he obviously wasn’t fully recovered. It was easy to see he was still ill and absolutely exhausted. Luckily no one would blame him for not being in his full form. It was the total opposite, the crowd was grateful and thinking wow, even though you are not fully fit to even be on stage you are still here with us and it helped him singing along especially in those parts that were hard for his voice and again, it was very heartwarming that way. 

It was a great show in a very difficult situation. Even though not properly recovered he did his full show every single detail included. He was singing, dancing, jumping almost as much as he usually does. His voice couldn’t do everything of course, and his moving must have been forced because he was extremely tired especially in the end of the show, but he did everything, pushing himself more and more. 

He’s professional and can perform in different circumstances. I know very well it’s a complicated issue to cancel any shows, the cancellation is always the very last option for him. The Apocalypse Calypso tour has started in such a fantastic way and he must be full of ideas and thoughts how to evolve the show and cancelling in Brest must have felt devastating. He doesn’t want to let his audience down, he never does,  and generally, rescheduling arena shows and fitting the new shows in his and other people’s busy schedules is extremely difficult. 

It is sometimes hard for me to watch him pushing his limits this much. His health should always be protected. In Nancy I tried to remind myself he’s an adult man and an extremely professional and experienced artist. He has considered the pros and cons of the situation and decided what is the best. My role was to be supportive in the audience and I tried my best but I did feel for him when I saw how tired he was and probably for the first time ever I actually hoped, just for him, that the show would be over,  when I usually wish it would never end. 

Even though the situation was exceptional, the show is absolutely wonderful. Just hearing little intros for Relax or Underwater make me cry not to even mention Any Other World and its whole powerful performance. And his Jane Birkin and every new song! I have some thoughts about each song and will go through the full setlist after seeing the show one more time in Strasbourg.