The gig in Zenith Sud Montpellier turned out to be one of my absolute favourites during the tour so far. We heard the band playing songs like Rain, Billy Brown and Good Guys before the doors were opened but I assumed those songs were rehearsed for the upcoming gigs outside France and indeed in Montpellier the setlist was exactly the same as before, no changes yet. Also, the stage setting was a bit limited and for example the C’est la vie setting with the huge “Club Apocalypso” sign was missing. Yet the atmosphere and the mood were so good that I enjoyed this gig particularly much. The good vibes were equally in the audience and on stage. 

 The whole atmosphere during the night was a sum of several different elements. Montpellier is in southern France and after weeks of cold, rainy weather we got a sunny and summery day and it felt wonderful. I can speak only for myself but my own mood was definitely more relaxed just because of the circumstances. The security prepared the queuing areas long before opening the doors (as the total opposite of how things were organised for the previous show in Lyon) so people could just wait in nice lines sitting in the sun and everything was calm. The security was polite, no one was pushing. The crowd was in a good mood and more colourful than usually, with more men in the audience than on average and many people dressed for the occasion in pink suits or different costumes. The audience must have been a colourful view seen from the stage and the cheerfulness maybe reflected on stage as well, at least I felt the performance was particularly joyful that night. 

 A show this massive has many big element and numerous little details in it. The light show and the screen graphics change along with the setlist and the crew has to be alerted and ready to move the band location or the stage elements and Mika is changing his outfit several times and with different songs there are special effects like fireworks and all that is ambitious and obviously also stressful. Most of the audience doesn’t even notice if something goes a little bit wrong. People who see several shows may notice but they simply don’t mind. If the fireworks have the perfect timing that’s cool. If not, that’s okay. As long as they don’t set a fire all is good and we have seen that even a small fire can be handled quite easily. Something not going smoothly bothers me only because I know it bothers Mika. He has extremely high standards and I totally understand that, it’s a part of him. In Montpellier I saw him keeping on eye some technical issues but also making a conscious decision to let go of the stress and just focus on his performing and that made me feel somehow extra happy and light. I wish he could see things from the audience perspective and know that just him in front of us is amazing, no one cares if a tiny technical details go wrong and those issues are tiny indeed, almost unnoticeable unless you know the show really well. 

 The show was great since the beginning and became song after song more and more wild and culminated during Elle Me Dit when he asked some people on stage for the EMD dance and surprisingly the group on stage was funnily uncontrollable and started to run around the stage and actually dragged him around until it was time for the final jumping moment and it was absolutely hilarious. I laughed during the song and I laugh when I watch my little video of the song but I saw after the show how people hardly let him leave the venue and run after his car and I understood it could have gone wrong as well. He goes to the audience during every gig and I’ve seen how people sometimes try to touch him again and again and they put a mobile at his face or even run after him and it can be scary. Luckily in Montpellier it all ended up being one of the funniest ever stage moments but of course anything could have happened and can happen and live situations are always full of quick decisions and risks. As long as everything goes well that kind of spontaneous joy with the crowd is a fantastic element and it was that in Montpellier as well. 

I was mostly focused on the performances and didn’t take many videos and only a few photos to have a memory to look afterwards. Bougez started a bit late and I heard later they had to wait because it took time for the audience to be there and they wanted to make sure the full audience can see the show. Already the starting group of songs had a fantastic energy so I knew we will experience a particularly good mood that night. Feels Like Fire is one of my favourite songs on the setlist but because of the planned concept (the soundtrack/animation) it’s also one of the songs that can’t much evolve during the tour but it’s still always beautiful and the animation is full of details and there’s plenty to see. Because of the audience I loved the songs that are done together with the crowd like Underwater and Jane Birkin. During Underwater we see a wonderful underwater world and the moment is special every time. It wasn’t the most harmonious singing by the crowd but the vibe was good and I loved seeing the smile on Mika’s face while watching it.

I absolutely loved the details during the show like the ending in Happy Ending with the fog and first I couldn’t see any and thought they had removed the detail but Mika noticed it was missing as well and waited a moment and sat in the middle of the stage for it to appear and it looked beautiful. I feel almost like a child with different show elements. I can’t wait to see them again and again and in Montpellier I was jumping on my spot and again it was definitely worth the wait.  

After the crazy Elle Me Dit the end of the show was even crazier than the first parts of it. I took a few photos of the piano and think it’s one of the most beautiful and most elegant elements on stage especially during 30 secondes. The audience went wild during the high energy songs but luckily calmed down for Any Other World which I still and more and more find an important song on the current setlist and I was totally hypnotised by the seriousness of the moment and the animations and thought the combination of the song and the water flowers is one my of favourites of everything Mika has ever done. Absolutely stunning atmosphere. After Any Other World there was of course still We Are Golden and different kind of flowers and all the energy that was left was definitely used. Everything was given. It really was a wonderful show. I got my inner strength and faith in the world back just during one gig. Music and concerts can have such incredible impact and power. So grateful to be able to witness this tour.