2015 - MIKA & L’Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal - 10 Feb - REPORTS/PICS/VIDS

Well, all the waiting, anticipation, planning, travel, etc was worth it. It was out of this world. The whole thing was such an amazing experience. To hear songs which are so familiar being done in a completely different way was amazing. I won't remember the full set list and I am sure that some people wrote it down but it was a good mix. There were two new songs... Sorry, can't remember their titles. I enjoyed them both but I would imagine they will sound very different without a full symphony orchestra behind them. He opened with Toy boy. He did heros, overrated, over my shoulder, happy ending ( which was incredible and got a standing ovation), love today, relax, Grace Kelly, Rain, any other world, good guys - which he changed to include the line 'where have all the gay guys gone', Elle me dit, Karen, boum boum boum , I am sure there are more which I can't remember. He didn't do stardust.

We hung around a bit inside and a bit outside until we were told that Mika had left the building. We've heard it all before - and weren't convinced that he had... But frankly it was way too cold to stand outside for too long so most of us gave up shortly before midnight. I don't know if anyone stayed after that and what the outcome was.

Edited February 11, 2015 by kath

mellody · February 11, 2015

Setlist:

(Ouverture)

Toy Boy

Underwater

Boum Boum Boum

Rain

The last party

Karen

Overrated

Any other world

Love you when I'm drunk

Ordinary man

Heroes

(Pause)

Grace Kelly

Over my shoulder

Good Guys

Make you happy

Happy Ending

Origin of love

Relax

Elle me dit

Love Today

kath · February 11, 2015

It seemed very strange to see him perform again after such a long time of not seeing him. And to see him in such unfamiliar surroundings, in a formal suit, with a strange hair cut, was all very odd! But if was great. Our seats were row five, right in the middle which were really great seats as the stage was quite high so the front rows were maybe a bit too close.... I think they got sore necks!

He sang really, really well. Not until the last song, love today, did I detect any wobbles in his voice.

guylainem123 · February 11, 2015

what do we get when we cross a Symphony orchestra and Mika?

Magic :swoon: :wub2:

We weren't allowed to take pictures or record during the show.

We heard three new songs

Good Guys (all of it)

The last party

Ordinary man

I think the most acclaimed song was Happy Ending... it was just perfect :wub2:

Mika's voice was outstanding. I think at the beginning, he was nervous, but he settled down and did gave us a spectacular show.

I didn't wait to see if he was coming out... i'm not sure if he did :dunno:

MFCers sent Mika flowers and he posted a pic on Instagram

This is what the bouquet we sent looked like. It was huge!

It went right below my chin :naughty:

The card:

front:

Inside:

tomorrow will be fun!! :dance_man:

I'm sure i'm forgetting 1000 things that will come to me later :naughty:

Edited February 28, 2015 by guylainem123

Alie · February 11, 2015

My neck is fine thank you. :teehee: I was in the second row, a little bit on the right side. The night was amazing, he sang SO well it's just... wow ! Now I'm going to sleep and I'll do a real report tomorrow or thursday. :aah:

guylainem123 · February 11, 2015

It seemed very strange to see him perform again after such a long time of not seeing him. And to see him in such unfamiliar surroundings, in a formal suit, with a strange hair cut, was all very odd! But if was great. Our seats were row five, right in the middle which were really great seats as the stage was quite high so the front rows were maybe a bit too close.... I think they got sore necks!
He sang really, really well. Not until the last song, love today, did I detect any wobbles in his voice.

i didn't see you! :blink:

mellody · February 11, 2015

My neck's a bit stiff, yes... :naughty:

The music was amazing, got goosebumps several times! :wub2: but it wasn't a mika gig. I didn't know what to expect because it's so different... but guess i expected or hoped he'd add a bit of his usual gig feeling to this orchestra concert. It was purely about the music tho. No dancing. No standing (except for standing ovations). Only little clapping to some songs. So that's something i missed. Doesn't mean i'm disappointed in any way tho, like i said i didn't know what to expect, and the music was wonderful! Was so great to hear new songs too! Ordinary man reminds me a bit of some old movies, or musicals, like my fair lady or singing in the rain. At least in this orchestra version.

Oh, BUT i missed pick up off the floor! :sneaky2:

Anyway, gotta sleep now. I'm sure you'll all get to hear the new songs, saw some filming tho it wasn't allowed. :bleh:

superstar · February 11, 2015

Do you think when Mika wrote the lyrics "hook her, book her, nook her" he ever imagined singing them in front of a 110-piece symphony orchestra?

Maybe not? But woah :wub2: Tonight was something else. Writing up right now.

Thank you MFC for the tickets! And grateful to everyone that I met!

guylainem123 · February 11, 2015

Do you think when Mika wrote the lyrics "hook her, book her, nook her" he ever imagined singing them in front of a 110-piece symphony orchestra?

Maybe not? But woah Tonight was something else. Writing up right now.

Thank you MFC for the tickets! And grateful to everyone that I met!

it was so nice meeting you too! you 2 are sweethearts!

:huglove:

BangBangLou · February 11, 2015

The concert was amazing. And yea, like Karin said, it was a different vibe. But a cool different. I am too self concious to be front row, so many I'll loosen up tomorrow a few rows back. Haha

For me Hereos was THE song. Like oh my god are you kidding me. I'm soooo excited to hear it tomorrow. Happy Ending was also a stand out. Seeing it presented that way. I felt like it was a prize for sticking around for all these years. Haha

It was so great meet/talk to a handful of you today and I'm excited to say hi to more tomorrow at the party/show!

Elwendin · February 11, 2015

I'm sure you'll all get to hear the new songs, saw some filming tho it wasn't allowed.

YESSSS :groovy: :kachinga:

I expected many of the songs I read in the setlist, but I'm happy to see there also was I Only Lov You When I'm Drunk. Too bad that I don't think anyone recorded it, since it's not a new one.

Come on guys, humour me now. :biggrin2:

Sabrinac · February 11, 2015

OMG!!!!! :') one of the best day of my life!!! I cant find a word which describe that show. I sang, I laugh, I cried, I screamed... Now i have no voice XD I had the chance to meet some mfcers like sunshine, cathblais, cathou, rachieb (sorry i know i write those names with a lot of mistakes xD) ... The orchestra was magic and mika was... MIKA x) cant be better. At the beginning he was shy but at the and he had more energy (but he cant really dance haha) ... I was in the bench 11-cc in the middle ( a bit to the left) so in front of him... But he never looked at me (and my teacher who was beside me said that he looked at her -.- im jealous) well at least he was near (like about 3 meters away from me ) ... He sang for the first time songs from he fourth album like ordinaey boy, last party and good guys (completly) ... It was amazing!!!!!! :') at the end he received a bouquet of flowers and he pitched one of them in the crowd... Im so jealous of the girl who catched it

And omg I didn't know about the card and the flowers gift for MIKA im not in the card D'x

I didn't had the chance to wait after the show cause the one with who i was wanted to go before it was impossible to quit the parking xD but if I was alone I would wait til midnight x)

Well I bought a poster (limited edition), a glass and a t shirt

Maybe I forget something but ill write tomorrow

kreacher · February 11, 2015

*my late night Mika-high rambles* Wow. That was epic! I kinda can't believe it happened. His voice was in tiptop shape & he looked so daper in his suit. He looked out toward the back of the venue a lot when he sang, i wonder if someone special was there :teehee: He only spoke in French, i only understood a few words so if anyone can recall what he said it'd be much appreciated. I was told there were a few other people on the stage with him, but i didn't notice them :naughty: i just couldn't take my eyes off him, i swear i tried.

For me the highlight was Overrated. I'd given up on him ever singing it live. I couldnt help but tear up a bit from the happiness. And Any Other World was also perfect. And Happy Ending OMG i love the way it builds and builds. And finally i found a version of Over My Shoulder i loooooooooved. And the new songs, omg the new songs! Gaaaaaaah i just can't

The audience (at least those i could see) seemed really into it. Everyone, even those who didnt seem to be hardcore Mikafans, were clapping and standing during the ovations. I was kinda surprised, but so glad! The "and when i get a little more sober i know i'll be over you" line in LYWID got some good chuckles from at least a few ppl around us.

So yeah, just this gig alone was worth paying the airfare for! I can't wait for tomorrow's gig, i swear hearing his voice live will never get old :swoon: magic magic magic!

I met some MFCers and saw many more but i was too shy to introduce myself. Maybe tomorrow :teehee:

Edited February 11, 2015 by kreacher
needed more fangurling

superstar · February 11, 2015

This was Mika 2.0, Mika with no piano playing and no confetti.

People say that the symphony is “high art” and to be honest I was surprised to find myself in the gleaming wooden chamber, vaulted ceilings, with that “new room” smell. It was beautiful. But like no Mika show I have ever seen. And then the (massive) orchestra was tuning up and playing the overture, and it didn’t seem possible that Mika could step onto the stage and belong there.

But this is Mika 2.0, yes, and Mika’s performance tonight was revolutionary. These are songs that we all know by heart, but they’re in a setting that finesses every intricacy, adds depth and texture and emotion to all these songs. The program handed out for the show has a little interview with Mika, and one of the things that it says is that the symphony is neither quiet nor loud. For Mika, this was perfect. His voice was in top condition tonight, and was equally powerful at times and vulnerable at others, but always perfectly clear. What a blessing it was to walk straight in without queuing, sit in the perfect seat (in the 4th row!) and experience the perfectly tuned, perfectly crafted concert.

There is a lot to think about but I want to add a couple moments here.

Boum Boum Boum, Rain, Heroes...for me these songs didn’t necessarily stand out on the albums where they appear, but they were perfectly orchestrated. Boum Boum Boum was filled out by strings and the vocals from Max and Ida (!!!) and it was so much more than a catchy pop song. Rain, too, has departed from the sparkling violin from Owen Pallett and replaced by the wall of sound that supports Mika’s falsetto. Heroes had a brass section that punched powerfully behind the chorus, and softly reinforced that like “you don’t have to die in glory, die to never grow old”. It will be hard to go back to hearing these songs the way they were recorded.

Happy Ending. This song is always fantastic. In Williamsburg he sang it without a mic and I tearfully didn’t think it could get better. But this is the palace that Happy Ending was made for. There was a moment when the song ended and everyone was clapping, then standing, and then it just happened where the whole house was giving this powerful standing ovation and Mika was there in the middle, so small, so grateful. He knows what he’s doing here is unprecedented and so special. There were a couple other ovations (and a lengthy amount of clapping at the end of the show, of course) where this message was conveyed.

We have new songs! And they all sound great! I can’t speak to how they will actually be on an album because everything sounds different in gold-quality surround sound, but I am certainly excited. Particularly about “Where have all the good guys (gays) gone” which is a humorous track that had the whole orchestra laughing. You know that oft-quoted Oscar Wilde tidbit, “we are all in the gutter but some of us are looking at the stars”? So that’s the basis of this song, whose chorus I wrote down – if we are all in the gutter/it doesn’t change who we are/cuz some of us in the gutter/are looking at the stars. He also shouts out to Rufus Wainwright and James Dean, among others, which is lovely and I can’t wait to hear a recording.

Over My Shoulder happened.

Also Overrated happened.

There was this bit during Elle Me Dit where Mika seemingly forgot that he was in this bourgeoisie opera house and grabbed the mic off the stand and was dancing and singing back and forth with the audience. It was so wonderful and unprecedented, and speaks to the whole tension of the OSM series, tension between pop and “high art”. These symphony players so used to interpreting Tchaikovsky (or whatever they play these days) are here playing “boum boum boum”, “I only love you when I’m drunk”, “hook her, book her nook her” with Mika doing the awkward dancing the whole time, anyway, and it just works perfectly.

We leave very early for the airport tomorrow so I should wrap this up, but winning tickets to this show must have been meant to be. I can’t imagine missing what we just saw. This show was unforgettable. Thank you MFC and thank you thank you thank you Mika.

Goodnight everyone! :wub2:

Melyssa · February 11, 2015

Just reading you all gives me goosebumps, thank you for the reports :huglove: . There was definitely a very special energy going on there :wub2:

Soaring Simpson · February 11, 2015

Fantastic reports - thanks. Amazing show, by the sound of it, wonderful....

But surely someone captured just a little of it, a flavour, so I can pretend I was there :blink:bye [MSO/Mika management - this means you]

Edited February 11, 2015 by Soaring Simpson

Soaring Simpson · February 11, 2015

Just reading you all gives me goosebumps, thank you for the reports . There was definitely a very special energy going on there

That's so totally what I'm picking up too

And you can never simply repeat magic, so it'll just have to get better and better

daeni28 · February 11, 2015

wow awesome thank you so much for your first impressions. it is difficult to have not experienced. Very, very grateful for your reports. And hope that somehow, excerpts outside. :mikalove:

calevip · February 11, 2015

thank you for your reports.. it must have been awesome... an unforgettable experience... !!!! :mikalove:

Alireine · February 11, 2015

It was beyond words...

So much better than all what I was hoping for :wub2:

Exhausted now, I'll try to write more tomorrow

dcdeb · February 11, 2015

Well, as usual Kira's review puts mine to shame, but here it is:

As a writer, I don’t usually have a problem using 100 words when just 10 would do, but as I sit here trying to compose my thoughts and report on Mika’s performance tonight with the OSM, words are failing me.

Yes, it was that good.

So I asked some of the women who attended the show with me to help me out.

Guylaine: “It was just perfect.”

Nathalie: “It was amazing.”

Mamiam: “We couldn’t ask for more, it was perfect. It was just amazing, all of it.”

So as you can see, it was perfect. It was amazing. It was amazingly perfect. Or perfectly amazing.

But maybe you need a little more detail.

From the moment the first strains of the whimsical Toy Boy began, it was clear to me that we were in for a special evening. The acoustics in the venue were impeccable and Mika, backed not only by the 100-plus musicians on the stage, was accompanied on vocals by a small choir as well as Ida Falk Winland, Max Taylor, and, on a few songs, Skyler Stonestreet. With so much musical power on stage, how could anything go wrong?

Obviously, at least from the audience perspective, nothing did. It all went extraordinarily RIGHT.

I knew going in that many of Mika’s songs would lend themselves to being fully scored for a symphony orchestra. I knew that the lush strings would lend a particular richness to familiar tunes like Toy Boy, and ballads like Underwater and Any Other World. And they did. But what I didn’t expect was how a live full orchestra would completely transform these songs that I know so well. Maybe I just got caught up in the moment of a live performance, but I could feel the throbbing of the timpani, which was used so effectively to build the drama in Underwater, resonating in my chest. The brass used in the song Heroes evoked an almost triumphant feeling and brought the song, and the first half of the performance, to a rousing conclusion.

But of course it wasn’t just the orchestration that made this evening’s performance so special – it was Mika himself. His voice sounded beautiful, as sweet and fluid and powerful as when I heard him perform off-microphone in a synagogue in Washington DC two years ago. And speaking of powerful – can we talk about his stage presence? He is such a commanding figure, so tall and slim, with such a brilliant smile that I’m quite sure it could have raised the frigid outside temperature by 10 or 15 degrees. As he made his way through the evening’s repertoire, he made very few remarks, preferring to convey his message through the emotions of the songs he performed. I think it’s apparent that Mika knows how to bring an audience on a journey with him, and this evening’s audience was more than willing to follow wherever he led.

One of the most magical moments of the evening came midway through the second half -- the undeniably stirring Happy Ending, which brought the audience spontaneously to its feet. Sheer emotion filled the room as Mika’s vocals soared – I mean, you could just FEEL it. I think the man sitting next to me said it all when he whispered as the song ended: “Wow.”

There were so many of those “wow” moments, including the introduction of several new songs from Mika’s upcoming fourth album: the bittersweet The Last Party, the rather painful An Ordinary Man and the slightly ironic Good Guys, which Mika cheekily sang as, “where have all the good gays gone?” with a tip of the hat to Rufus Wainwright. These three little tastes of Mika’s new album left me desperately hungry for the rest, as soon as possible.

The setlist for the show, which ran about two hours 15 minutes, included 20 songs:

Toy Boy

Underwater

Boum Boum Boum

Rain

The Last Party

Karen

Overrated

Any Other World

An Ordinary Man

I Only Love You When I’m Drunk

Heroes

(intermission)

Grace Kelly

Over My Shoulder

Good Guys

Make You Happy

Happy Ending

Origin of Love

Relax

Elle Me Dit

Love Today

Now, I’ll have to sign off, since I have to get some sleep and then get ready to do it all over again tomorrow night, er, I guess that would be tonight now!

And I just put a few photos on my FB, not very good, but here's one:

10676281_10155175607250321_7891760377249103995_n.jpg?oh=f436dfe99d23f8e9d7abf9c9d71313cf&oe=5593182D&__gda__=1435627384_ce917bec3e445ba5bfff75e84afce138

Sweetieval · February 11, 2015

Thanks for your reports, it must have been an exceptionnal night :wub2:

Do you think when Mika wrote the lyrics "hook her, book her, nook her" he ever imagined singing them in front of a 110-piece symphony orchestra?

Ah ah ah :roll1:

*my late night Mika-high rambles* Wow. That was epic! I kinda can't believe it happened. His voice was in tiptop shape & he looked so daper in his suit. He looked out toward the back of the venue a lot when he sang, i wonder if someone special was there He only spoke in French, i only understood a few words so if anyone can recall what he said it'd be much appreciated. I was told there were a few other people on the stage with him, but i didn't notice them i just couldn't take my eyes off him, i swear i tried.

For me the highlight was Overrated. I'd given up on him ever singing it live. I couldnt help but tear up a bit from the happiness. And Any Other World was also perfect. And Happy Ending OMG i love the way it builds and builds. And finally i found a version of Over My Shoulder i loooooooooved. And the new songs, omg the new songs! Gaaaaaaah i just can't

Those 3 songs you are talking about (Overrated, Any other world and happy Ending), I always thought they were made to be sang in a lyric way

Happy Ending makes me cry in each gig, I wish I was there to hear it this way...

I saw a peace of it on YT, it sounds marvellous

The audience (at least those i could see) seemed really into it. Everyone, even those who didnt seem to be hardcore Mikafans, were clapping and standing during the ovations. I was kinda surprised, but so glad! The "and when i get a little more sober i know i'll be over you" line in LYWID got some good chuckles from at least a few ppl around us.

So yeah, just this gig alone was worth paying the airfare for! I can't wait for tomorrow's gig, i swear hearing his voice live will never get old magic magic magic!

I met some MFCers and saw many more but i was too shy to introduce myself. Maybe tomorrow

This was Mika 2.0, Mika with no piano playing and no confetti.

However, it looks and sounds beautiful

People say that the symphony is “high art” and to be honest I was surprised to find myself in the gleaming wooden chamber, vaulted ceilings, with that “new room” smell. It was beautiful. But like no Mika show I have ever seen. And then the (massive) orchestra was tuning up and playing the overture, and it didn’t seem possible that Mika could step onto the stage and belong there.

I wish I was there, this is the kind of gig I am used to go because my husband is a trombone player in an orchestra

I hope one day, Mika will do it again not to far from home...

But this is Mika 2.0, yes, and Mika’s performance tonight was revolutionary. These are songs that we all know by heart, but they’re in a setting that finesses every intricacy, adds depth and texture and emotion to all these songs.

Depth and texture, that is what I felt looking at the little video report I saw

The program handed out for the show has a little interview with Mika, and one of the things that it says is that the symphony is neither quiet nor loud. For Mika, this was perfect. His voice was in top condition tonight, and was equally powerful at times and vulnerable at others, but always perfectly clear. What a blessing it was to walk straight in without queuing, sit in the perfect seat (in the 4th row!) and experience the perfectly tuned, perfectly crafted concert.

There is a lot to think about but I want to add a couple moments here.

Boum Boum Boum, Rain, Heroes...for me these songs didn’t necessarily stand out on the albums where they appear, but they were perfectly orchestrated. Boum Boum Boum was filled out by strings and the vocals from Max and Ida (!!!) and it was so much more than a catchy pop song.

I hope there will be a recording of Boum Boum Boum somewhere...

I can't figure out how it looks like (I don't really like this song, usually...)

Rain, too, has departed from the sparkling violin from Owen Pallett and replaced by the wall of sound that supports Mika’s falsetto. Heroes had a brass section that punched powerfully behind the chorus, and softly reinforced that like “you don’t have to die in glory, die to never grow old”. It will be hard to go back to hearing these songs the way they were recorded.

Happy Ending. This song is always fantastic. In Williamsburg he sang it without a mic and I tearfully didn’t think it could get better. But this is the palace that Happy Ending was made for. There was a moment when the song ended and everyone was clapping, then standing, and then it just happened where the whole house was giving this powerful standing ovation and Mika was there in the middle, so small, so grateful. He knows what he’s doing here is unprecedented and so special. There were a couple other ovations (and a lengthy amount of clapping at the end of the show, of course) where this message was conveyed.

I imagine Happy Ending, this is such an emotional song already

My favourite one ever in each gig, always giving me goosebumps and tears... so sang in this way... would have I died maybe ?

We have new songs! And they all sound great! I can’t speak to how they will actually be on an album because everything sounds different in gold-quality surround sound, but I am certainly excited. Particularly about “Where have all the good guys (gays) gone” which is a humorous track that had the whole orchestra laughing. You know that oft-quoted Oscar Wilde tidbit, “we are all in the gutter but some of us are looking at the stars”? So that’s the basis of this song, whose chorus I wrote down – if we are all in the gutter/it doesn’t change who we are/cuz some of us in the gutter/are looking at the stars. He also shouts out to Rufus Wainwright and James Dean, among others, which is lovely and I can’t wait to hear a recording.

Over My Shoulder happened.

Also Overrated happened.

There was this bit during Elle Me Dit where Mika seemingly forgot that he was in this bourgeoisie opera house and grabbed the mic off the stand and was dancing and singing back and forth with the audience. It was so wonderful and unprecedented, and speaks to the whole tension of the OSM series, tension between pop and “high art”. These symphony players so used to interpreting Tchaikovsky (or whatever they play these days) are here playing “boum boum boum”, “I only love you when I’m drunk”, “hook her, book her nook her” with Mika doing the awkward dancing the whole time, anyway, and it just works perfectly.

We leave very early for the airport tomorrow so I should wrap this up, but winning tickets to this show must have been meant to be. I can’t imagine missing what we just saw. This show was unforgettable. Thank you MFC and thank you thank you thank you Mika.

Goodnight everyone!

Just reading you all gives me goosebumps, thank you for the reports . There was definitely a very special energy going on there

+1 +1 +1

Thanks again MFCers, I long to read the other reports and wish you an excellent gig number 2 :thumb_yello:

IngievV · February 11, 2015

This makes me all nostalgic! It has been a while since we've had so many reports and it truly sounds magical. It only makes me more excited for what is coming:wub2:.

Enjoy the upcoming gigs!

2015 - MIKA & L’Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal - 10 Feb - REPORTS/PICS/VIDS

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