mellody

Yup, the speakers in front of the stage weren't there. btw they also weren't in London and I didn't notice any sound problems there. Only at some (but not all) of the arena gigs with those speakers, the sound was definitely too loud. The worst was in Luxemburg - which btw had been my fave re. the sound quality on the 2010 tour (I don't remember how it was in 2020, but this year's tour was definitely the first time I found the sound too loud at Mika's gigs) So maybe it's those speakers, or maybe @carafon is right and Massimo has problems with getting the sound at arenas right. One thing I noticed when thinking about this again was that my other favourite performer besides Mika surely had every tiny detail of his show planned, and I didn't mind at all. I'm talking about Michael Jackson, whom I was lucky enough to see live 3 times in the 90s. It can't get any more professional than that. There are surely different ways of performing, and different types of artists - and while I admire MJ's work, I could never be a fan of such a superstar who kind of stands above everything that is human (that's how it was with the superstars of the 80s and 90s). It's just a very different thing, absolute perfection, at least in public. Luckily Mika isn't that way, but has stayed human. And what you say about connection, idk, maybe Mika's definition of it has changed over the last few years. This "communion of spirit" as he used to call it, and that I described in my other post - the vulnerability absolutely is part of that. But as Mika said in Manchester, he hasn't been feeling that emotional for a very long time, and it seems to me this was the only moment on the tour where he could really let go and just feel. (And sadly I wasn't at this gig.) Anyway, the result of it was that his voice cracked, so maybe it's just that he still can't allow himself to feel too much and needs this "professional distance" to protect himself so he is even able to perform. (I'm amazed at the things that come to my mind in such discussions while I'm writing, because now I feel like " of course, that completely makes sense, why didn't I think of it before?!") ... and well, now that I think of it, that makes me very sad for him (and, selfishly, also for us, because it takes away much of the special magic from his shows), but it's very understandable. I hope it'll get easier for him over time and he'll be able again to lose himself on stage, like he used to... this was the first actual tour without his Mum, so that must have been especially hard for him. Agree, I thought the same.

@giraffeandy I haven't decided for sure yet, but as I prefer trains to planes and want to get enough sleep, I'll probably travel to Strasbourg by train the day before the gig, stay there overnight and travel from Strasbourg to Orange on the gig day. Accomodation in Orange is super expensive, so I'm not planning to stay there longer than necessary. Maybe you can ask @Prisca what her plans are, she usually travels on a budget as well, so maybe she has some tips or has a place in her car for part of your journey?

Why? Do you think he's responsible for the too loud sound? I didn't notice it at the festivals last summer and Massimo was there too. I think it's the speakers right in front of the stage, those were new for this tour (and too loud and taking up too much space). I suppose at the festivals it'll be ok, the festivals have their own sound system.

Please keep reporting them to us, Deb is forwarding all these fake accounts to Mika's team and they keep working on having them taken down. And of course also report them to the social media channel where you found the account and block them. Unfortunately that's all we can do. Here on MFC we can monitor who creates accounts and posts, but on social media it's out if our hands.

I agree, but the account I referred to has in their bio something like "Mika is the best", and several fans use his pfp... anyway you might be right that they try to pretend being another fan or official fan website. So ofc never send money, or even just give out any personal data like your phone number, address or full name to people where you're not sure if they're genuine. Sometimes even real accounts get hacked and try to get your phone number - keep asking them questions that only the real person would know the answer to! I nearly fell for it once when a friend's IG account got hacked and asked me for help while I was travelling.

nope, our bouquet was bigger. And sadly less fluffy.

Mika's stories from Bourges yesterday:

Bougez, with the wings! (by Fanny via mikafanclubtoo) 974BC7DC569208B360FE1AA9D98D32BF_video_dashinit.mp4 Haha, looks like he really wants to try out today how much the wings can take. I wonder if that's because they fixed them so they won't break that easily, or if it's the last time he uses them, because the next festivals are 2 months away, so he might plan a different show for those. Anyway, great energy!

I realized one more detail abot this today. The impression I got from parts of the show was a bit like at the ESC, where every word was rehearsed to the last detail and in addition read from a teleprompter. For the ESC I totally get that, and in fact I don't think Mika rehearsed every word he said at the concerts (and he definitely didn't have a teleprompter)... but at times it came across in a similar way, and sorry, at a concert I don't want to see this level of perfection, because (at least for me) it takes away so much of the emotions and of the connection. It's like you're trying to create the connection and the emotions not through the people (including yourself), their energy, and the emotions that music itself creates, but by "content" presented in a specific way. That works for TV shows because those are not about the interaction with the audience - and well, Mika did interact at the concerts, and of course also at past concerts he had certain elements that were well rehearsed and that he repeated again and again... so I'm not sure why the feeling this time was different, why his shows, although fantastic, didn't TOUCH me as they used to - or well, they did, at times, but those were rare moments, mostly created by the music itself and probably it was the moments when Mika lost himself in the music instead of thinking of his performance. I don't want to see him dance like Michael Hutchence, I want to see him dance like Mika. Maybe by doing so much TV the last few years, this "TV Mika" has become so much part of his personality that this is him right now, also at his gigs, and I just have to get used to it. But while I understand why he does TV and I enjoy watching some of it as well, I never was a huge fan of "TV Mika". Already when he did Casa Mika, and that was a really fantastic show and a great opportunity for him to have his own TV Show, amazing concept and stories too... but even back then I didn't like this way of acting on rehearsed scripts. I want pure and unfiltered emotions. Which you only really get at concerts, because even on an album you have the production of the music that puts the original emotions through a filter. (btw that's why I'd love an acoustic album, haha!) And I suppose I had expected this especially from this tour, because of the concept of the "apocalyptic ball" and the question he asks in his tour program "what would you do if the world ended?" - that this would mean not caring about perfection or it "going smoothly", but be more like "wrap your arms around everybody, if we're all gonna die let's party". There were a few gigs on the 2nd part of the Revelation Tour where he actually went to hug some fans (of those he knew) while walking through the audience. Not me, sadly, but this was such a surprising and beautiful gesture. And just one example of how he is capable of creating the intimacy of a small gig also in big venues, making an arena feel like a tiny club, where you feel connected to him and to everyone else in the venue as if you were all friends... and you're not jealous at all but simply very happy for the people he hugs, and it makes you feel so much love. Haha well but I guess I'm mixing things, maybe that latter thing is just me and my own way of seeing and experiencing things, which might be different now from what it was 4 years ago. Anyway, long story short, I want emotions at a gig, and not a perfect TV show. Thank you for sharing your experience, it's especially interesting to hear the point of view of someone who doesn't have this comparison to previous tours. That helps me to see where my discontentment is rather based on too many expectations than on actual facts.

This is the place: https://en.bluecargo.fr/gallery/images - wow, what a dream for the French fans! I had hoped that after all the French promo last year he'd start doing things like this also in other countries... but I guess I'll have to give up that dream - I just live in the wrong country (like everyone else outside France & maybe Belgium). Long shot, but if any of the French fans wins this prize for 2 and doesn't know who to take, I'd be happy to join.

Well yes, we usually set the events as an "all-day-event" instead of putting specific times, to avoid the time zone problems (it often used to show the events on the wrong days when we set a time, although we do specify the timezone of the event) and because when gigs are announced we usually don't know the detailled show times and it's too much work to edit it all later. And that's why you can't RSVP anymore on the day of the event, because then the "all-day-event" has already started.

So let me start then with some general thoughts about the tour... First of all, unlike on all previous tours, Mika's shows did NOT seem too short for me this time! I think his setlist was longer, at least 17 songs (mostly 18 or even 19), while on previous tours it was just 16... and he was talking a lot as well. It's weird, I thought his set had always lasted 2 hours, but maybe I'm wrong. I never thought "oh, I would want this to go on for much longer" or "I don't want this show to end" - which I'm not really sure whether that's good or not... it's good to pull everything out of the evening, but it's also good to stay hungry for more, I guess? Anyway, of course I did wish he had played or would still add a certain song, like OOL a the French gigs (after he had played it in addition to everything else at one of the first French gigs) or 30 Second(e)s / Jane Birkin / Tiny Love at the international ones. But I guess with the long setlist there wasn't much room for extras. I remember back in 2007/2008 he sometimes came back on stage after the usual setlist and played Relax for the 2nd time, if the gig was really great. Those were such special moments, because it was a thank you from him to the energy of the crowd, and it was an extra where he didn't give a damn, he just enjoyed himself and so did we. Which brings me to the next point I noticed about this tour: For the most part it all felt very planned and rehearsed, perfect to every detail. Of course things happen, like a wing that breaks, or the piano not fitting through the door. The latter turned out to be a great moment, because Mika did what he always used to do in such situations, he improvised. When his wing broke he just looked annoyed. I mean, it's relatable, it's the first song and he wants that to go well and pull the audience in without any technical failures to worry about. But it wasn't just that moment during Bougez, it's the overall feeling I got from the gigs, except for Dublin. That he wants it all to be perfect and looks annoyed if it isn't. The amount of times I've seen him pull an angry face if something went wrong or unplanned or his band members or crew didn't immediately understand what he wanted from them was noticeably higher on this tour than ever before. I remember one time - not sure at which of the gigs it was - thinking "what is that, he has this huge smile towards the audience but when he turns to his band he looks like he wants to fire them all right now?!" - not sure how to describe it, it felt like there were 2 Mikas on stage, the one who puts on a perfect show and the one who is unhappy with everything. Those were just quick moments, a passing second, but they made me stop short, more than once. Also I had the impression that his contact with the fans was less instead of more, compared to previous tours. Maybe I had just expected more because he had said before the tour that he would get closer to his audience than before. And then the gap between the stage and the barrier was bigger than ever at his gigs, the lights were sometimes so blinding that you couldn't really look at him (tho I think that depended on where you were standing), and he hardly ever stopped to meet fans after the gigs. Maybe he made more eye contact with fans at the gigs than he used to, with a lot more people, and he tried to get to the farthest point of the venue during Big Girl ... but to me that felt more like "how much can I do?" than really trying to connect with the people at the back. Tho I wasn't at the back, so it might have felt different for those who were - and maybe that's what he meant by getting closer to his fans - giving people in the very back the chance to see him up close for 5 seconds. Anyway, despite all this, of course I had a lot of fun at his gigs, as always. And I don't think I need to emphasize how amazing his rainbow piano, his wings and the apocalypso sign were. Still, the gig in Dublin was my fave of this tour. Despite the purely English setlist, despite the beautiful props missing - or maybe because of that, as it just felt less perfectionated and less planned in every detail, as the other gigs. I'd be interested to hear from others who were at the gigs how they experienced these things... I already talked with some other fans about Mika looking annoyed at times, and I wasn't the only one who had noticed this - but things like the gigs not feeling too short or the feeling of them being more planned and less spontaneous, I'd love to hear how others experienced this. I'd have more to write, but I need to sleep now, so maybe another time.

Finally caught up on watching this. He even says the show is like "if it's the end of the world let's party", but still didn't sing that song even once during the whole tour. Anyway, nice to finally see how the wings are controlled, simply with a remote control, haha! we're working on getting a new subtitling team together. There are not many left of the old team and we haven't had translations for most of the French interviews of the last few months, so there's a lot to catch up on. Anyway, Mika just shows the guy how his stage set works, he doesn't say anything new really, except quoting that line of "Last Party" when he's askes about the show concept. Ah yes, and he said the wing on the piano is like the old-style Disney wings.

It definitely isn't Mika himself. I think it might be a fan account, but if they claim to be Mika or an official account associated with Mika, then it's fake. I've moved your post to the thread where we talk about fake accounts.

Yes, that's what I thought as well, that they are borrowed from the company, like the brooch.