MIKA @ International Festival of Carthage, TUNISIA - 31 July 2012: 31-07-2012

[Kumazzz]

Originally Posted by camille*

Translation

thanks a lot for the translation as always !!

[willywonka]

Originally Posted by Mikasister

What a mess, I don't like that!

Only tonight i saw this...

What a shame! I feel ashamed for this people!

I guess we can kiss any m&g's goodbye from now on...and i've been to 6 gigs now and never got a pic with him, i was thinkinng i'd get one this time in Coimbra as the last time he played there i couldn't attend as i was at the hospital in a coma...

Shame on you!!!

[A. Clay]

Originally Posted by willywonka

Only tonight i saw this...

What a shame! I feel ashamed for this people!

I guess we can kiss any m&g's goodbye from now on...and i've been to 6 gigs now and never got a pic with him, i was thinkinng i'd get one this time in Coimbra as the last time he played there i couldn't attend as i was at the hospital in a coma...

Shame on you!!!

I don't think that will actually happen; let's hope not, anyway.

I found the beginning images very disturbing & couldn't get out of my mind 1ST day I saw this video.

The silver lining may be to appreciate the value of the security details.

What I couldn't fail to notice is that MIKA was firstly concerned for the welfare of the security guy
who intercepted the 'crazy' : You can see he reaches out toward the guy immediately.

It reminded me very much of MIKA's reaction to another unexpected event :

[Christine]

I honestly don't see what the big deal is with this video. She's a young girl, everyone is excited and she just wanted to get close to Mika. I'm sure if the guards hadn't been trying to block her/pull her it wouldn't have looked so frantic.

This is exactly how things went during the stage invasions. It's a game trying to avoid security so you can get up on stage and there was always someone who managed to run straight to Mika and hug him or hang off his leg or whatever.

I have seen much worse behaviour after gigs and certainly much worse results because there were no guards to stop it from escalating. Yeah they are screaming because they are very young, but I find the incessant shouting of "Mika! Mika! Mika!" and people shoving cameras and pens into his face just as ridiculous/irritating.

[kath]

Personally I think it is the look on Mika s face that is most disturbing. As he walks out he looks happy and relaxed but his mood very quickly changes. He isn't happy and he just doesn't want to be there. He doesn't smile and barely speaks. Finally he just turns and walks away - then breaks into a run to get to the car. This suggests to me that he was extremely uncomfortable.
But hopefully it won't have put him off completely.
Not wanting to be pedantic but the guy that intervened is actually the tour manager.

[Christine]

Kath have you not seen him in situations where he is so overwhelmed by a mob that he CAN'T break free like that? In Hammersmith people were swarming the car to the point where it was difficult for them to get out even inside the vehicle. I normally won't go near him if he is surrounded by people but I had a letter to give him from someone in Canada and I had to pass it through 6 people because I literally could not get anywhere near him even though I was trying. At Brixton once he left the venue and I don't think he wanted to stop to talk to people so they banged on the car and chased after it when it drove away.

In Seattle all of MFC and many other people had seen Mika inside the venue for a proper M&G. But still the crowd of people outside were mental. We came out just ahead of Mika and were leaving to get a cab. When Mika came out the crowd lunged for him and almost knocked him over on his crutches. I got caught in this mob trying to get out the other side and it took me 10 minutes to extricate myself and find my friends who had been standing right beside me when we came out the doors.

I am not saying Mika enjoys this behaviour and doesn't try to get away as soon as he can. It's pretty obvious how he feels. Everytime there's a hysterical mob he takes off immediately. If you've ever been in a situation where he stays and chats for 20 or 30 minutes you know it's because people are acting totally chill and giving him space. That's why I always implore people not to mob him. Mika and his staff know how to handle these situations but you're just ruining the experience for yourself and everyone else there because you won't get any meaningful interaction if you're just yelling his name and shoving things in his face and he's going to leave as soon as he can.

But he's been dealing with situations like this for years and he's not going to suddenly stop talking to fans because of what happened in this video. Some crowds are great, some crowds are okay if they are organized and restrained and some crowds are crazy because there are a couple of people there going nuts and the rest react in desperation because they know they won't get to him before he leaves. It happens.

[macboll]

Originally Posted by Christine

I honestly don't see what the big deal is with this video. She's a young girl, everyone is excited and she just wanted to get close to Mika. I'm sure if the guards hadn't been trying to block her/pull her it wouldn't have looked so frantic.

This is exactly how things went during the stage invasions. It's a game trying to avoid security so you can get up on stage and there was always someone who managed to run straight to Mika and hug him or hang off his leg or whatever.

I have seen much worse behaviour after gigs and certainly much worse results because there were no guards to stop it from escalating. Yeah they are screaming because they are very young, but I find the incessant shouting of "Mika! Mika! Mika!" and people shoving cameras and pens into his face just as ridiculous/irritating.

I've watched this video and share Christine's point of view.

[flyingkites]

Originally Posted by Mikasister

What a mess, I don't like that!

Wow.

I've never been one to try and catch an artist after a gig so to me this is completely insane. But as Christine said, it's mass hysteria and I, too, find the never-ending pen/camera shoving to his face just as bad and annoying.

It never fails to amaze me how rude people can be during gigs. I saw Keane live a couple weeks ago and at times I felt like slapping someone to the back of their head because they were so inconsiderate and didn't give a damn about anyone else around them - and these weren't teenagers, people under 18 weren't allowed in and most of the people there were older than me.

I wrote the perfect haiku for this last night but I'm afraid some might find it offensive so I'll just keep it to myself.

[kath]

Originally Posted by Christine

Kath have you not seen him in situations where he is so overwhelmed by a mob that he CAN'T break free like that? .

Yes, I 've seen the whole range - from mass hysteria to calm, chilled and relaxed. I was at Hammersmith - I remember it well.

I don't think this situation will put Mika off..............he likes the M and G's - he gets presents But it is just such a shame ( as has been said a million times before) that these things happen - and if they were handled differently it would be so much better.

I personally don't like standing behind a barrier, feeling like a caged animal, waiting to talk to Mika, but in all honesty, it is in these situations that it generally works best in my experience. Mika can work his way down the line, at his own pace, people who have had their turn can't follow him, preventing others from having their chance. Generally, when there is a barrier, more people get to speak to him. He also seems a lot more realxed as he isn't threatened.

I have been at M and G's where there were no barriers and it has been fine - Liege springs to mind as an example. But I have also been to plenty where there were no barriers and it was a complete cattle market.

It's just the look on his face in this vid that peturbs me - he looks so uncomfortable.

[Christine]

Originally Posted by kath

I personally don't like standing behind a barrier, feeling like a caged animal, waiting to talk to Mika, but in all honesty, it is in these situations that it generally works best in my experience. Mika can work his way down the line, at his own pace, people who have had their turn can't follow him, preventing others from having their chance. Generally, when there is a barrier, more people get to speak to him. He also seems a lot more realxed as he isn't threatened.

This actually happened in Osaka without a barrier. It was a massive queue. At least 200-300 people but everyone stayed in the queue pretty much single file out in an open square and waited their turn. He still didn't have much time to interact because he was in a hurry to leave but he went down the entire line. If people don't act like caged animals they don't need to be treated as such.

Although it was funny the gig before there was a security guy with one 6 foot piece of barrier who was moving along with Mika as he went down the line. It looked so funny.

[Milda]

Originally Posted by Christine

Although it was funny the gig before there was a security guy with one 6 foot piece of barrier who was moving along with Mika as he went down the line. It looked so funny.

What? Is there a video somewhere?

[kath]

Originally Posted by Christine

This actually happened in Osaka without a barrier. It was a massive queue. At least 200-300 people but everyone stayed in the queue pretty much single file out in an open square and waited their turn. He still didn't have much time to interact because he was in a hurry to leave but he went down the entire line. If people don't act like caged animals they don't need to be treated as such.

Although it was funny the gig before there was a security guy with one 6 foot piece of barrier who was moving along with Mika as he went down the line. It looked so funny.

That's hilarious

Yeah - it s SO much nicer when people just behave.