MIKA GIGS

2008

The early 2008 gigs like the one at Brixton Academy in London were still a part of the first big Mika world tour based on the first album Life In Cartoon Motion. The highlight of the year 2008 was the huge, one of a kind show at Parc des Princes in Paris. It was and still is one of the grandest spectacles Mika has created. The clown shaped stage was designed together with stage designer Es Devlin. A giant dragon, brought from China, circled in the crowd and as a part of his circus director outfit Mika was wearing custom made Christian Louboutin shoes, a detail that later became a signature detail in his stage outfits. This is how Mika describes the thought behind the magical Paris show in the documentary which was a part of the Parc des Princes concert DVD:

"I didn't want to do anything normal, I didn't want to cut any corners, if anything, I wanted to make life as difficult for anyone including myself as possible, because I wanted to do something amazing... The sun setting over Paris and everyone in the stadium entering to this surreal dreamland carnival circus world altogether, for a kind of the night of nightmares / dream... "

2009

What made the gig year 2009 particularly special was the variety of little, unique tours and gigs it offered. Before releasing his second album The Boy Who Knew Too Much Mika released a creative EP called Song For Sorrow with 4 songs and an illustrated special book. After releasing the EP he did a small European acoustic tour called Songs For Sorrow Tour which included small acoustic gigs in different European cities at small, very special venues like Passionskirche in Berlin and Cirque d'Hiver in Paris. 

Before the release of The Boy Who Knew Too Much in September 2009 there were several small gigs like the iTunes Festival at Roundhouse in June, a small club gig at Scala in London and a special promotional day also in London that included a ticket give-away at an ice cream van and a tiny gig at Bloomsbury Ballroom celebrating the new album. In October the year continued with a beautiful tour in North America, again with theatre style and music venues, and in November there was a pretty and intimate recorded gig at Comedy Club in Paris and a very special concert at Union Chapel in London where Mika performed together with the well-known a cappella group King's Singers. 

2010

The Imaginarium Tour started in Belfast in February 2010 and continued through Europe evolving from smaller venues to an arena tour and, during the summer, to a festival tour. The colourful Imaginarium show included many legendary and creative show elements like Mika arriving on stage walking in the air in his space suit which, years later, seems an incredible, almost unbelievable detail.

2011

The first gig of 2011 was a tiny private gig at Kettner's in London. In warm and casual circumstances the acoustic performance genuinely felt like a living room gig. Later the year continued with a summer festival tour. To the Balaton Sounds beach festival in Hungary Mika brought his colourful flower stage but the new, Marie Antoinette style stage setting was introduced in Compiegne, France and after that at several summer festivals in Europe. The Marie Antoinette setting was an early example of the royal style we have later seen in many stage details. 

2012

The Lovebox Festival in London started the festival season in 2012 and after that there were numerous Summer Origin festival performances with elegant, vintage style outfits and new songs. Mika's third studio album The Origin Of Love was released in September and it was followed by a beautiful, small theatre size tour in Europe in the autumn. The new album and the European theatre tour started the Polkadot era that continued in 2013-14. 

2013

In spring 2013 Mika did his so far the most intimate and stunningly beautiful tour concept literally called the Intimate Evening Tour in North America. In May there was a small private gig introducing the design collaboration Mika and his sister Yasmine did with a Belgian clothing company JBC in Brussels and the huge equality event at Place de Bastille in Paris in May. The Polkadot summer festival tour included festival performances in locations like France, the  Faroe Islands, Liepaja in Latvia and Budapest in Hungary. In 2013 Mika started his television career that later became a big part of his work in different countries. Later that year and as a part of his design career Mika introduced a new collaboration with Swatch.

2014

In 2014 Mika did mostly studio and television work but performed for example in a big free event in Naples, Italy, and did a tiny, particularly cozy private gig in Brussels. 

2015

Year 2015 got the most stunningly beautiful start in February when Mika started the symphonic part of his career and did his first three symphony concerts in Montreal, Canada with the Montreal Symphonic Orchestra and conductor Simon Leclerc. Before releasing his fourth album No Place In Heaven he did small size gigs in North America and Asia and then the summer continued with numerous festivals in Europe. The official Heaven Tour started in Rennes, France in September and included gigs in different European countries (notes). The second symphony project was the concert at Teatro Social Como in October. 

2016

The Heaven Tour Asia (notes, photos) in February 2016 included gigs in Korea, Japan, Hong Kong and China and after that the second part of the European Heaven Tour brought the show in several European cities including the big Mika Loves Paris show at Bercy in Paris. The summer tour included festivals and a separate Italian tour. The second Swatch collaboration was released in the autumn before Mika focused on his new television project Casa Mika in Italy continuing as a coach on the Voice France at the same time. The year ended in a festive way with two absolutely beautiful Mika sinfonia pop concerts in Florence. 

2017

2017 was busy with television both in Italy and France and in September Casa Mika was awarded with the Rose d'Or Award in Berlin! 

2018

In June Mika did an ending spectacle for the Rugby Top 14 Grande Final bringing a heart shaped stage in the middle of  Stade de France. Because of his television work and writing music the appearances were mostly promotional performances and private events.

2019

The first single Ice Cream from Mika's 5th studio album My Name Is Michael Holbrook was released in May and in July Mika performed Tiny Love at Teatro del Silenzio in Lajatico, Italy. The song was officially released in August with a beautiful and symbolic film style official music video. Tiny Love Tiny Tour in September 2019 included 7 special small gigs in the US, Canada and Mexico and the album was released in the beginning of October with small promotional gigs in Paris. The Revelation Tour started in November with a tiny style gig at Shepherd's Bush in London and continued with three small gigs in Spain and Switzerland and numerous big Revelation shows in France, Italy, Switzerland and Belgium and three small gigs in the Netherlands (Revelation notes, Revelation photos). After that it was the time for an extremely special tour that started in New Caledonia and New Zealand and continued with three gigs in Australia (notes) before the world stopped because of the pandemic. 

2020

In 2020 Mika did mostly television work and in August he organised a big concert project I ❤️ Beirut for charity. Because of the pandemic most events and concerts were cancelled but luckily it was possible to see Mika doing a small performance at Arena di Verona for the Seat Music Awards in September. In October Mika did his unforgettable small symphonic concert at Versailles Royal Opera which was filmed for television. With totally unique circumstances the Versailles concert was the most special performance we have seen and it was later released also as an album. 

2021

In March 2021 Mika and his sister Yasmin did a poster art project Mika Colours Paris that was visible around the city. This time we were not yet properly back after the pandemic but in September there was a small private gig at Salle Pleyel in Paris and in October two gorgeous philharmonic concerts at Philharmonie de Paris. In December there was a fun and unusual winter gig in Vars. 

2022

The Rite Of Spring Tour in 2022 started with a gorgeous tour in North America (notes, photos) including the colourful Coachella gig (notes, photos). After North America Mika worked as a host for the Eurovision Song Contest in Torino before continuing the Spring Tour in Europe (notes, photos) ending it with a fabulous party at Arena di Verona. 

2023

The first thing in 2023 was releasing the symphonic soundtrack album Mika wrote for a French family film Zodi et Tehu. In April Mika did a charming gig at the Cheltenham Jazz Festival before starting the Bloom Tour with three gigs in Japan and Korea in May. The summer offered numerous summer festival gigs around Europe including countries like Greece and Morocco and ending with pink tones at Brava Madrid (summer 2023 photos). Mika's first French album Que ta tête fleurisse toujours was released in December 2023. 

2024

The big Apocalypso Tour related to the new French album started in February 2024 with an arena gig in Clermont-Ferrand in France. After the big arena tour (notes, photos) the spring continued as a small tour in the UK and then with the Apocalypso Summer Nights festival tour (notes, photos) including the fabulous Brighton Pride. In October there was a small cozy gig in Basel, Switzerland and in December two smaller Pride gigs in Canary Islands. 

2025

2025 started with style in Cannes in January. In February there was a private show at Defense Arena in Paris and in April a lovely unplugged festival performance in Zermatt, Switzerland. The summer started filming La Voz in Madrid, Spain, and continued with the 15 Days Of Summer festival tour in many European countries in June, July and August.