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2015 - Verboten, Brooklyn, New York - 3 May - REPORTS/PICS/VIDEOS


guylainem123

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Thank you all for the reports and videos, they are great. Like a lot of you, I can't understand Mika doing a gig in a shirt and tie. He seems like a trussed-up Christmas turkey. The suits are okay when he is dong X Factor and The Voice, because he's mainly sitting down, but a full gig with the shirt buttoned up to his neck... Ugggh. I hope he gets out his best T Shirts for the next gig, for his own sake.

This is all very exciting. Once again, thank you all for keeping us in the loop.

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Found some vids over here: https://www.youtube.com/user/obi3wan/videos(don't know who's these are, but thanks)

 

And Paul de Leeuw was at the gig last night and asked Mika to be on his show when in the Netherlands!!!

Really? :o Does he still have a show though :aah: (what do you mean, I never watch tv)

I usually hate Paul de Leeuw though... He's nice with Mika but I don't like him in general :/

 

Thanks for the videos and reports of this gig! :)

Edited by Manon14
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Really? :o Does he still have a show though :aah: (what do you mean, I never watch tv)

I usually hate Paul de Leeuw though... He's nice with Mika but I don't like him in general :/

 

Thanks for the videos and reports of this gig! :)

He makes the Sinterklaasshow every year, but besided that not much of Paul de Leeuw anymore. But don't know....he's got his own prodoctioncompany, so it could be easy for him to get airtime....

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Thanks to all of you in NY, for sharing your opinions with reports, and for videos from this little arena!  :hug:  I appreciate it all very much, and look forward to new reports tomorrow!  :yes:

 

Enjoy MIKA, and each other,  tonight! :wub: 

 

Love,love

me 

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Thank you for this lovely review, superstar. Sounds like a very special gig. So glad you got to cherish all of these precious moments. I loved seeing your pix first thing in the morning. Have fun tonight! X

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thanks everyone for the reports and videois! :flowers2:

 

He didn't play "Good Wife" and "Lollipop" last night. :no:

 

aah, good wife, right! :doh: i'm sure i'll know the titles once i heard the songs, but for now i'm not too familiar with the album tracklist yet. :teehee:

not sad that he skipped lollipop... and i guess good wife will follow at the next gigs, it often happens that he has a new song on the setlist for a while, but it takes a few gigs til he really plays it.

 

Im not sure he changes the setlist and I fear we will see him in suit the whole tour :doh: I saw 2 vids from yesterday and he looked uncomfortable in it but better wait for the impressions from the people who were there.

i think he might adjust the setlist a little, but yes, i guess bb and lollipop will stay. and blue eyes, i could do without that too... :aah:

also i think he might change the setlist for other countries (e.g. for french speaking areas, surely emd will be added).

 

as for the suits, i just hope for the next gigs he'll get rid of the jacket and tie after the 3rd song - that's when the press leaves and the fun starts. :naughty: so if he gets paid by valentino for wearing the suits, i hope it's enough for them that he wears them on the press pix! :sneaky2: those suits may be nice for one or two slower songs at the start, but they don't fit to his usual energetic performance.

maybe it was just at this first gig, that he didn't consider this, or didn't care about outfit changes, cause he was too nervous, or something like that. i still have hope (not that he throws out the suits altogether, but really, a tie during the whole gig?! NO! :no:)

Edited by mellody
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Hi everyone! Sorry there was no proper review last night—we got home around 2am and were ready to fall into bed!

 

The gig yesterday was perfect, by the way  :naughty:

 

Indy (77red) and I showed up to the venue which is in the heart of Williamsburg. The five boro bike tour was happening yesterday (a huge crowd of New Yorkers biking all through the city), and it went right by the venue! And the place was right next to a doggy daycare. So we had bikes, cute dogs, and the Manhattan skyline to look at on the beautiful clear, sunny day.

 

Before the Mika review, I just have to say. This is the best organized Mika show I have every been to. The venue doesn't usually do concerts (I think mostly EDM, dance parties etc) so they were thrown off by the queueing. They came over and asked us multiple times what was going on, haha. But when it came time to open doors, they explained to us how everything would be set up so as to retain the proper queueing order. They checked tickets before, and so when doors opened everything went very smoothly. Thanks, Verboten!

 

(Another note about the venue...they had an auxiliary club that was having a brunch/dance party/dance club from 11am to all afternoon, and the staff kept inviting us to the party. "You won't lose your spot in line!" they said. It was great, because we had the go-ahead to go pee there!)

 

The stage was incredibly low—we all were sitting on it during the pre-Mika DJ set. This laster two hours, and then the lights got low and the band came out. There was SO much energy, then Mika stepped in front of us...RIGHT in front of us! He was clearly a little blow away by how close everyone was, but brimming with excitement. At some point he said "It's good to be back to my job....this is my job!" We had a great time, because he had a great time. 

 

He went right into Toy Boy, which was great with the new band. This morphed into Popular, which had Curtis on the saxophone. The stage at this place was TINY, and Mika explained that they had tried to get his piano on stage but it wouldn't fit. So Popular was played with no piano, just sax and some bongo drums from Julie (who was AWESOME!). I loved this version, maybe even more than the one with Kristin Chenoweth at LPR last time :naughty: During Grace Kelly, he grabbed Nina's (tiibet) glasses and put them on! It was hilarious, even though Nina couldn't see what was going on. Talk About You was GREAT live, everyone was dancing, and the drop in the bridge ("walk through the city....but all I'm seein is--") worked out really well. Before Big Girl, we was praying, and said "Dear lord...you have made many skinny people....walking around the world....angry.....looking for a pair of jeans...but if I was a big man --" and at that point he just started singing "If I was a Rich Man" from Fiddler on the roof. Ah, Mika.

 

And during Big GIrl he grabbed the selfie stick of an MFCer (not sure your name!) which is what happened in Mana's video above. You can't tell in the video, but he points the camera at his face, and then at his butt! It was so funny. These were the kind of antics that could happen at this venue because we were absolutely so close to him. I loved Good Guys live, but not many people seem to know it yet! He encouraged a lot of crowd singing and dancing. He skipped Good Life (maybe tonight!), and I loved watching Boum Boum Boum here versus in Montreal. The crowd reaction in Montreal was electric, but here I think the crowd was more enamoured about Mika speaking French than anything else. It was funny--at the beginning he mentioned how happy he was to not be speaking in French. I think we all looked at Christine at that point... :naughty:

 

At the end of Billy Brown, Mika changed the lyrics to "...and while it was all going accordingly to plan, then Billy Brown fell in love with..me." The crowd went wild! Before Last Party, Mika was very mellow. Someone in the crowd yelled out "we love you Freddie," which set the mood. At the end of the song the energy was rising, during the "end of the world let's party" part. So yes, he did not play Lollipop! Although we were all screaming for him! But perhaps he wanted to hang out with his family, who occupied most of one of the VIP sections, off to the side of the stage.

 

There were apparently a lot of celebrity faces here (who I completely missed, of course), including Paul de Leeuw, Perez Hilton, one of the property brothers lol, and Mika's grandmother of course. After the show we waited around for Mika outside. It was a pretty small crowd of MFCers, which probably a dozen other people. Mika did come out and ended up being very friendly. He signed everyone's stuff, chatted with one of the people from the venue (who was fangurling hardcore) about how they did a great job with the sound/lights. He wished a fan happy birthday, and we all requested that he plays Drunk at Webster Hall. He seemed very open to the idea!   :yay:

 

This was one of the best gigs I've ever been to. Thank you weather, Verboten, patience, James Dean, and of course Mika!

 

P.S. Yang, it was great to be with you for your first gig. Front row crew, it was wonderful to see you all again! And I'm looking forward to today!

Aw, thank you for your lovely report! Just in this moment I'm seeing the full concert thanks to Natasha's video - amazing concert!! :wub:

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Let's get the bad out of the way in the beginning :naughty: The suit *big sigh*. It was one of the least offensive ones in his collection of horrors but still completely and utterly inappropriate for a club gig in Brooklyn. I mean this was a real club - people were raving in the next room in the morning. Mika basically performed in an exposed DJ booth. You really couldn't even call it a stage. Any kind of jacket would have been over the top after the first song. He looked nice and everything but it was just this incessant reminder of the link between Mika the great performer and Mika the lame foreign reality TV star that I wish he could have severed for just one night.

 

Good Guys - I have given this song every chance possible but it is just unbearable. I like the verses, I think the theme is a good one. But the pre-chorus and the chorus are just awful awful awful and I don't think the audience connected with it either. Boum Boum Boum - also totally lost on the audience. I don't think English audiences are going to take to any French song other than Elle Me Dit so just give it up, please. It is a wasted song on the setlist :aah:

 

But...everything else was fantastic and Mika was his old self again. Maybe a new and improved one as far as being a performer goes. I had thought for sure he would be nervous and not as connected with the audience or as playful as he would be after 6 months of touring. But I think he is really confident now and he has always been exceptionally energetic at New York shows. I think he loves American audiences in general and maybe because there are always lots of family and friends in NYC he always seems to be in an especially great mood.

 

He was interacting with people immediately. Taking off Nina's glasses, grabbing the selfie stick, Periscoping himself :naughty: We had a great vantage point from the side of the stage and could not only see Mika really well but it was a lot of fun being able to see everyone's reactions too.

 

Also the sound was amazing and far better than any other small club I've been to. Mika opened with Toy Boy and I found he put more effort into it, like the OSM shows, than some song that he's sung over and over, year after year. It was really the best I can remember since the time he debuted it. Talk About You was a lot better than I expected. Last Party was really powerful and the audience felt it I think. I think I'd forgotten how much I love Underwater because that was also really strong. I think everyone in the room must have fallen in love with Mika in TBWKTM era because they went nuts for We Are Golden. Even with that suit on and no space on stage he managed a perfectly credible Relax jump which I have missed! Love Today...I almost thought it was Lollipop for a moment the opening was so different. He made one of his aunts get up for the jumping at the end of Love Today :naughty:

 

He was glad to be speaking English. YES! YES! ENGLISH! I shouted. He was glad to be doing his real job again. YES! YES! SINGING! I shouted. A nice fantasy for one night anyway.

 

Had a wonderful time with MFCers as always. We are now regulars at the pierogi place and a trip to NYC would not be complete without it. And Superstar introduced us to the most delicious oatmeal I've ever had. Hope you're all having a wonderful time tonight!! Think it will be very different from last night so I am looking forward to hearing the details.  :huglove:

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Let's get the bad out of the way in the beginning :naughty: The suit *big sigh*. It was one of the least offensive ones in his collection of horrors but still completely and utterly inappropriate for a club gig in Brooklyn. I mean this was a real club - people were raving in the next room in the morning. Mika basically performed in an exposed DJ booth. You really couldn't even call it a stage. Any kind of jacket would have been over the top after the first song. He looked nice and everything but it was just this incessant reminder of the link between Mika the great performer and Mika the lame foreign reality TV star that I wish he could have severed for just one night.

 

Good Guys - I have given this song every chance possible but it is just unbearable. I like the verses, I think the theme is a good one. But the pre-chorus and the chorus are just awful awful awful and I don't think the audience connected with it either. Boum Boum Boum - also totally lost on the audience. I don't think English audiences are going to take to any French song other than Elle Me Dit so just give it up, please. It is a wasted song on the setlist :aah:

 

But...everything else was fantastic and Mika was his old self again. Maybe a new and improved one as far as being a performer goes. I had thought for sure he would be nervous and not as connected with the audience or as playful as he would be after 6 months of touring. But I think he is really confident now and he has always been exceptionally energetic at New York shows. I think he loves American audiences in general and maybe because there are always lots of family and friends in NYC he always seems to be in an especially great mood.

 

He was interacting with people immediately. Taking off Nina's glasses, grabbing the selfie stick, Periscoping himself :naughty: We had a great vantage point from the side of the stage and could not only see Mika really well but it was a lot of fun being able to see everyone's reactions too.

 

Also the sound was amazing and far better than any other small club I've been to. Mika opened with Toy Boy and I found he put more effort into it, like the OSM shows, than some song that he's sung over and over, year after year. It was really the best I can remember since the time he debuted it. Talk About You was a lot better than I expected. Last Party was really powerful and the audience felt it I think. I think I'd forgotten how much I love Underwater because that was also really strong. I think everyone in the room must have fallen in love with Mika in TBWKTM era because they went nuts for We Are Golden. Even with that suit on and no space on stage he managed a perfectly credible Relax jump which I have missed! Love Today...I almost thought it was Lollipop for a moment the opening was so different. He made one of his aunts get up for the jumping at the end of Love Today :naughty:

 

He was glad to be speaking English. YES! YES! ENGLISH! I shouted. He was glad to be doing his real job again. YES! YES! SINGING! I shouted. A nice fantasy for one night anyway.

 

Had a wonderful time with MFCers as always. We are now regulars at the pierogi place and a trip to NYC would not be complete without it. And Superstar introduced us to the most delicious oatmeal I've ever had. Hope you're all having a wonderful time tonight!! Think it will be very different from last night so I am looking forward to hearing the details.  :huglove:

 

Great report :wub2: Thanks for sharing :huglove:

Edited by crazyaboutmika
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So here it is, my first report.

 

I arrived brooklyn in the noon of Saturday, manage to go to my hostel in bushwick by bus and subway, I didn't know how to buy a metrocard first, the bus driver was very kind, he let me in without the card, and when I got to the subway, everything just went smoothly..google map app with GPS,  proved to be very useful.

 

I have an exam on the next Tuesday morning, so I didn't go anywhere, just stayed at my hostel and study, I knew I wouldnt get a bed to sleep on Sunday night since I would just directly go to the airport after the gig. So I tried to sleep for a long time on Saturday night, and I managed to get a 11 hours sleep (11pm to 10am). After finishing breakfast(lunch?) around 11am, I left the hostel and walked to verboten, which is about 3.3 miles long, following other ppls' advice, I walked at the broadway and stayed away from small avenues and street, to be safe. When I got to the williamburg area, everything just became fine, so I just followed the google map again, and arrived at the verboten around 12:30 pm. There's no sign out the club, btw, and I just walked by a group of ladies, then I realized I had passed the club, so I went back and talked to these ladies and asked where the verboten is, and turned out they're MFCers :).

 

So we were queneing outside, and I sat next to Kira(superstar) and Indy, and we talked a lot about MIKA and their previous experiences of MIKA gigs, I also chatted a little with Nina, Natasha and Angela, and the waiting time just went by really quickly :) . As superstar mentioned, the venue was kind of shocked by the queneing, and kept asking if we knew the club wouldn't open until 7pm, but they did respect our effort and kept saying that they would manage to let us enter the club follow the quene orders, which was very very nice. I'm really lucky that the first venue I went was so organized.

 

We entered the club by 7pm, and got to the first row immediately, I was so surprised that the stage was so small and so low! The waiting was a sweet time period, I kept looking at superstar's watch and we were like one and half hour, one hour, 40 minutes, 10 minutes, each time we found out it's getting closer we got excited. Then finally the brand came out, and then MIKA came out, and stand RIGHT IN FRONT of me! I could just touch him in a raise of hand like that! I screamed in a way I never screamed before, if you watched Natasha's video you might noticed a really sharp and weird screaming voice, and that's me :teehee: .

 

He began to sing toy boy, which was just sooo touching, his voice is unbelievably clear. Then he said since there's no piano, he's going to perform popular in a different way, and it turnt out to be my favorite live version. I was right in front of him listening, and completely blown away. After that he began to sing grace kelly, he saw Nina in the front row and squated down and rubbed her hair and head, I was standing right at the left of Nina and really hoping that he could do that to me too, which sadly didnt happen, then he rubbed her hair again, and took of her glass and weared it on him! He looked soo cute with glass on! I was really happy that I could see him in glass in such a close range!

 

The rest of the show just went by really fast, there're so many times he's standing right in from me on the edge of the stage and I kept resisting myseft from hugging his legs. I could saw the button of his pants  :) and I kept resisting myself from lifting my hand and open it :das: . There're several other interesting things happened during this time period. There's a girl from korea who put her phone on a stick to videoing the show, and he grapped it from her and filmed him face and butt :naughty: . When he's singing HE he sang it wrong the first time, and when he realized that the audience shouted out "we got your back", and this guy(whose name is also Micheal, btw) shouted that "we got your front", and MIKA clicked(not sure this is the right word to use) his fist with him. I dont quite remember which one, but during one song MIKA grabbed Natasha's phone and her hands,  and grinded them on his lower abdomen :das: , Natasha almost had a heart attack :naughty: .

 

I'm really really happy this is my first MIKA gig, it cant get any better. I know some people say that he should wearing more casual clothes, but he's really enjoying himself the whole time and the clothes didnt stop him from dancing and jumping, he cant stop smiling, expecially when the audience was singing with him, you can tell that he's very very happy and had a great time.

 

The only thing I could complain is that time went by too fast, the performance was over before I realized that. I was feeling quite lost and upset when I was waiting for him outside.  Then he came out and being very friendly and began to sign everyone's stuff. I was so stupid that I forgot to bring my CD :doh: for him to sign, so I pulled out my t-shirt sleeve and asked"Can you sign here?", and he said "sure" and signed on my sleeve :wink2: , the way he spoke was sooo gentle! Another regret I have is that I forget to bring him presents, and I forgot to take a picture of him in such a close range..

 

BTW, after I got back, I sewed his signature with black cotten threads, now I can always wearing this t-shirt without worrying that laundary will make me lose the signature, and I would smile everytime I saw this..

18746_332475921_zpsn7deqwho.jpg

Edited by yang
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P.S. Yang, it was great to be with you for your first gig. Front row crew, it was wonderful to see you all again! And I'm looking forward to today!

 Kira, it's so nice to meet you and Indy, I have a great time with you! Looking forward to see you again!

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Thanks a lot Christine and Yang, for great reports !! :-) I'm so happy to hear about a flirty and relaxed MIKA, enjoying himself among his fans and audience!! And I guess Nina won't wash her hair for a while, hehe...:-)

 

Love,love

me

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More video's.

 

Popular

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=epj7oZ59_Ok

Grace Kelly

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x6XGSy4rluM

Bllue Eyes

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ey7YmOvyZN8

Big Girl

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PEKFrfE7Pds

Talk about you

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GEEnWwocvy8

 

And from another user:

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DEldHEGC81A

 

 

Mika looks very happy and the crowd as well. :thumb_yello:

I'm getting used to Talk about you. :shocked: I think it's much better live on stage then on tv.

 

 

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But...everything else was fantastic and Mika was his old self again.

 

I'm very happy to hear this and i'm happy that you are (almost) satisfied :original:

 

I hope you and Deb will have in the future a lot of concerts like this in your continent :kachinga:

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I'm going to try to get gig reports done for both shows before I crash, but I'm starting with this one!

 

First, the venue. It was kind of weirdly located in Brooklyn, and was especially inconvenient since the closest subway to it wasn't running. It also didn't have the name anywhere, we only knew we were in the right place when we recognized Jess and Natasha! Queueing was pretty pleasant since there were places to sit and it was in the shade. New York is really nice this time of year, and it didn't even rain! I want to second the props to the venue people: they were so accommodating of us, checking on us all the time, and generally making sure we were having a good experience, and that getting in was fair, unlike so many other places! It was also super nice that they let us use the bathroom in the party they were having next door  :naughty:

 

When the time came to go in, their ticket scanners weren't working on our tickets, but they came by and checked them manually before letting anyone in, so we were all ready when doors opened, and we were all let in in order! I can't stress enough how great of an experience this was (especially after Webster Hall last night!). When we were in, they had a couple of openers: First a DJ set by a DJ for the venue, then Mika's opener, Astronautica. She was fine, but we were all just waiting for Mika...

 

Finally he came on!! I was surprised to see the whole band wearing suits, but I didn't get the impression that they were uncomfortable: Mika was still jumping around just as much as ever! The stage setup, as others have mentioned, was different from most gigs: the stage was right there was really small (they tried to put the buildings out, but they didn't fit!), and short enough to sit on! I always feel awkward taking pictures when Mika is that close, and you have to be really careful not to touch him when you're jumping and he's right in front of you!! It's a pretty funny situation to be in. He was definitely sweating on us. The gig went by so fast. Mika was so smiley, interacting with the audience a log, and just clearly happy to be back on stage. As Christine mentioned, he was talking about how he was happy to be back "doing his job" and speaking English! No complaints from me!

 

Overall, because of the stage setup, the whole thing felt less like a performance and more like a massive dance party with Mika right in the middle of it. Our spot wasn't great for hearing the songs because the speakers were behind us and we were right in front of the drums, so the drums were the loudest thing I could here. But Montreal was for appreciating the music: this was for jumping around, dancing, singing along, and having fun, and it was great for that! I think everyone including Mika was reminded of how great this is  :)

 

We waited around after the show, and he was really nice. Signing a bunch of stuff and talking to people. It was clear that he was happy to be there, and that was awesome. Really fun night!

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So here it is, my first report.

 

Yang, I love your report! The shirt looks great!

 

Popular sound so disturbing (like some rappers' trendy tunes), but at the same time so unusual and interesting! Bravo, Mika!  :thumb_yello:

Popular Song has been a HUGE crowd pleaser in both the New York shows. They dropped the piano off of it at this show (because it didn't fit on stage!) but I think the addition of the saxophone gives it a dancey vibe. A non-MFC friend of mine was at the Webster Hall show last night and said that Popular was his favorite :naughty:

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Thank you so much for all your reports and vids. I have to say I really really love what I saw and I can´t wait to read the other gig reports. I´m so in love with the new Songs :wub:

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Yang, I love your report! The shirt looks great!

 

Popular Song has been a HUGE crowd pleaser in both the New York shows. They dropped the piano off of it at this show (because it didn't fit on stage!) but I think the addition of the saxophone gives it a dancey vibe. A non-MFC friend of mine was at the Webster Hall show last night and said that Popular was his favorite :naughty:

 

I'm dying to hear live this version, it's still stuck in my head, but I suppose we won't hear it on the summer gigs :dunno: 

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Popular Song has been a HUGE crowd pleaser in both the New York shows. They dropped the piano off of it at this show (because it didn't fit on stage!) but I think the addition of the saxophone gives it a dancey vibe. A non-MFC friend of mine was at the Webster Hall show last night and said that Popular was his favorite :naughty:

Yes I am no fan of Popular but I did quite enjoy this.

 

Thanks for your report Yang, I love hearing about people's first gigs. I had forgotten how contagious it is to see people excited about a Mika gig. This crowd was full of 20somethings and 30somethings that looked like regular club goers and the majority were men! Talked to some husbands who were just as into Mika as their wives. It's easy to forget there's a whole fanbase out there that are not familiar "hardcores" when he doesn't tour here very often.

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