2009 - New York, NY at United Palace Theatre Oct 16 - reports, pictures and videos

I didn't think Perez said anything about seeing Mika in NYC -- I only saw

him tweet about being in NYC on Saturday for some club opening he

was doing.

 

And even if he did see Mika, I don't think his not tweeting about it means

anything negative.

Hi Deb.

Ya, Perez tweeted sometime in the middle of last week to someone in LA that he couldn't attend something as he would be in NYC to see Mika.

Perez is usually such a cheerleader for Mika that I am surprised that he wasn't at the Dylans' Candy Bar with Mika then at the NYC show & then I thought that Mika would have attended the halloween thing that Perez was doing yesterday.

Also I notice that the new "Rain" vid isn't up at Perez's yet.

You are probably right - but - I am a little surprised as Perez is usually on top of Anything Mika!!

Sweet all round

Thanks for all the reports

Seems a happy bunch of MFCers

Also I notice that the new "Rain" vid isn't up at Perez's yet.

You are probably right - but - I am a little surprised as Perez is usually on top of Anything Mika!!

That's because I wasn't home to tell him about it!

Question....does he wear that hat just during Dr. John?

Question....does he wear that hat just during Dr. John?

Yes, as far as I can remember, just for that one song.

 

Over all? Evening sucked. Big time.

Too bad that you think that, but if you were in front row probably you would do the same thing...

Is so boring stay in just want place watching a concert, you have to enjoy it...too bad

But Mikas was having fun (:

It was a little Mexican restaurant, and we were a little unenthusiastic because just about no one in there spoke English, and we didn't speak Spanish.

 

 

It was a FANTASTIC evening!

That's so niceee

Ok Mika if you want mexican food, I can cook for you ok XD

Thanks Deb! I've got something up my sleeve for that performance. :-]

Thanks for posting such great reports everyone! So glad that Mom4Mika's dream came true! I was worried that reading this thread would make me green with envy, but instead, I feel as though I've experienced it vicariously with everyone. And I had a great visit with my cousins who were visiting from overseas. Sometimes, you have to put family first -- but I don't know if I'll do that again!!!

Thanks Deb! I've got something up my sleeve for that performance. :-]

Oh wow. The imagination goes wild...

Thanks for posting such great reports everyone! So glad that Mom4Mika's dream came true! I was worried that reading this thread would make me green with envy, but instead, I feel as though I've experienced it vicariously with everyone. And I had a great visit with my cousins who were visiting from overseas. Sometimes, you have to put family first -- but I don't know if I'll do that again!!!

Awww, Joanne, you were so missed! But you did the right thing, I'm sure,

and when Mika comes back to NYC I expect to have you standing right

next to me!

Hi Deb.

Ya, Perez tweeted sometime in the middle of last week to someone in LA that he couldn't attend something as he would be in NYC to see Mika.

Perez is usually such a cheerleader for Mika that I am surprised that he wasn't at the Dylans' Candy Bar with Mika then at the NYC show & then I thought that Mika would have attended the halloween thing that Perez was doing yesterday.

Also I notice that the new "Rain" vid isn't up at Perez's yet.

You are probably right - but - I am a little surprised as Perez is usually on top of Anything Mika!!

OK, so not to drop names or anything, but Perez has just told me that

both he and Lady Gaga were in LA on Friday -- so whoever thought they

saw her in NYC was mistaken.

And he also said that he LOVES the Rain video

So I think there's no problems at all.

OK, so not to drop names or anything, but Perez has just told me that

both he and Lady Gaga were in LA on Friday -- so whoever thought they

saw her in NYC was mistaken.

 

And he also said that he LOVES the Rain video

 

So I think there's no problems at all.

someone else dressed like lady gaga in NY?

Oh wow. The imagination goes wild...

 

 

 

Awww, Joanne, you were so missed! But you did the right thing, I'm sure,

and when Mika comes back to NYC I expect to have you standing right

next to me!

Yes! And I am taking you on the subway!

someone else dressed like lady gaga in NY?

Must have been! Why not? I would, if I could get away with it!

Yes! And I am taking you on the subway!

It's a deal!

Back from NYC!!!!!

Don't really have time to report right now but I can say that it was AMAZING!!!!!

PAGE 1

My jaw-dropping trip to NYC to see MIKA:

TRANSPORT to/from NYC:

HOTEL:

~Comp wine in LOBBY 4-6 pm~

Page 2

My jaw-dropping trip to NYC to see MIKA:

THURS. OCTOBER 15:

Had made reservations at cuban restaurant: Victor's Cafe,

but also had tickets to the MET

--and because of time of day & rain and

taxis very difficult to come by--we were compelled to alter plans

and just dine at the Lincoln Center--

at: The Grand Tier--I think it was called.

. . . in the the MET section of the LINCOLN CENTER

Page 3

My jaw-dropping trip to NYC to see MIKA:

FRI. OCTOBER 16:

Stumbled to the LOBBY,

just before they turned the complimentary coffee pot off.

(Had taken 2 glasses of their wine up to my room for a night cap the evening before.)

There in the WALL STREET JOURNAL was MIKA!

LIFE & STYLE

OCTOBER 16, 2009

A Belter's Return

On his new album, Mika makes a big production out of teen dreams

By JOHN JURGENSEN

Following up his 2007 debut album,"Life in Cartoon Motion," British pop singer Mika earlier this month released "The Boy Who Knew Too Much," mixing the glam theatricality of Elton John and the vocal bravado of Freddie Mercury with a dose of Broadway storytelling. His stage show, now touring the U.S. and Canada ahead of European dates in 2010, involves a space theme, marionettes and a video cameo by Sir Ian McKellen. "I've spent too much money" on it, Mika says, but no matter. "That's part of building."

The musical exuberance is at odds with MIKA's studied writing process. Finding he could no longer compose in his London living room as he once had, Mika punched in at a rented studio every day at 11 a.m., broke for lunch at the same Italian restaurant and adjourned at 9 p.m. to the same pub. The routine substituted for his "fantasy of working in the Brill Building," the former song factory in New York, the 26-year-old says.

'We Are Golden'

In what sounds like the big finish of a musical, Mika sings about "teenage dreams in a teenage circus," backed by a chorus that included "random kids I found on the street." For the first single from the new album, Mika wanted to boldly announce his return: "I'm aware that one year away in pop music is like a decade," he says.

'Dr. John'

To a high-stepping piano riff, Mika calls up memories from his teen years when he was depressed and "drinking too much." He sought refuge in comic books and his own imaginings, including this song's mythical witch doctor who could fix anything. Mika also found direction at the piano. "It felt like I had fire in my fingertips," he recalls.

'I See You'

"I call it my stalker song," Mika says. Sung from the perspective of an invisible observer, the slow-building ballad came out of a musical fragment Mika wrote when he was 17 years old and had a tendency to fall in love with people he'd never spoken to.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1000...030094978.html

After the coffee kicked in, TOOK LONG WALK FROM HOTEL back down to LINCOLN CENTER to try a Cafe, "at 65" at Lincoln Center's ALICE TULY HALL (OJ/Pastry for me) & investigate where the Lost & Found was 'cause I left a cap in the restaurant where we had dinner the evening before. (Stopped along the way to purchase an I-pod cord, some drinking water & some GOLDEN FACE GLITTER--which was applied liberally to facial age spots later!)

Took a cab to an interesting SPANISH Restaurant La NACIONALE &

had some very authentic/delicious Gazpacho & Paella.

Then high-tailed it in another

TAXI to take TEA,

LOBBY LOUNGE,

35th of MANDARIN ORIENTAL

overlooking Central Park:

Then another TAXI to our Hotel to

relax & wait for our car/driver to take us to

upper, upper, upper Broadway to see MIKA!

PERFORMANCE VENUE:

History-

This is the spectacular United Palace Cathedral (aka Palace Theater), occupying a full city block at 4140 Broadway, at 175th Street in Washington Heights. Go here for photos of the interior. The 7-story structure was built in 1930 by Loews and “designed by Thomas W. Lamb in Byzantine-Romanesque-Indo-Hindu-Sino-Moorish-Persian-Eclectic-Rococo-Deco style,” as David W. Dunlap wrote in “On Broadway: A Journey Uptown Over Time” (Rizzoli International Publications, 1990). This place was one of Loew's five Wonder Theaters in New York City and one of the most spectacular palace theaters of the 1920s. The 3,293 seat theater was home to vaudeville and movies. By the 1960s, however, movie places, unable to make expenses, closed.

The Palace is now home to Reverend Ike's United Church. I was astounded to learn that Reverend Ike (Frederick Eikerenkoetter) purchased this property in 1969 for a piddling $600,000! What a coup de theatre for them. Recently, in addition to its function as church headquarters, music concerts are also being held at the Palace with names like Neil Young, Annie Lennox, Van Morrison, Bjork and Iggy Pop. The performances are managed by Andy Felz, who formerly ran the Beacon Theater.

Reverend Ike himself is quite a controversial character. Rather than a maintain a secretive and defensive posture, typical of most wealthy religious organizations, regarding the church's and the Reverend's affluence, Reverend Ike has made it the cornerstone of his ministry with outrageous actions like the "Blessing of the Cadillacs," where wealthy congregants were invited to drive their luxury cars past the church's doors for his laying on of hands. The reverend owns a fleet of Rolls Royces appointed in mink, multiple mansions and flaunts diamond rings and expensive suits.

I want to see Reverend Ike in action and the interior of this place. I will report back when I do.

~Venue SLIDESHOW~

http://www.theunitedpalace.com/slideshow1.htm

TRANSPORT to & from PERFORMANCE VENUE:

Ordered this:

This was sent:

NO, actually THIS was sent:

~Our car's interior not quite elaborate as this one's:

Driver said they didn't have ordered car available,

so they sent what they had without increasing agreed-upon fee!~

Page 4

My jaw-dropping trip to NYC to see MIKA:

FRI. OCTOBER 16:

THANX everyone for the great PIX--

THE SHOW WAS INTENSE.

MIKA WAS FIERCE.

THE VENUE (as you can see) was AMAZING.

SLIDE SHOW--

http://www.theunitedpalace.com/slideshow1.htm

TEAM MIKA WAS SPOT ON.

MIKA & his BACK-UP SINGER iMMa didn't seem to ever stop moving.

I kept wondering how they will keep any meat on their bones by the

time the tour is over.

Page 5

My jaw-dropping trip to NYC to see MIKA:

FRI. OCTOBER 16/early SAT. OCTOBER 17

SOME MAJOR EXCITEMENT AFTER THE MAIN EVENTS--

We had with, Deb's help, tried to calculate when to have our driver pick us up from

the palace. But MIKA had come out for the after show visit earlier than expected,

so we decided to wait at this Restaurant and get a drink & a bite to eat.

We were seated at the first table (R-side) just inside the entrance door.

It was, for me, comical to converse because of the language differences.

So, after I figured things out, I ordered really simply and pointed to the

choices--

ending up with a glass of red wine and two meat pies.

My back was to the door and my sister across the table from me was facing the entrance door. So, my sister decided to mess with me and said "Oh, look who's coming!" Of course, I turned around to look for MIKA and she said "Ha, made you look!"

OK, so no more than maybe three minutes later, in walked (like about 6" away from the table we're seated at) MIKA with 2 (or three?) people. MIKA was passing right to my right, focussing toward the back of the Restaurant!

I looked, my jaw DID really drop. I thought, "It's MIKA; no it's not MIKA, YES IT IS MIKA," as they ambled toward the back of the Restaurant. There was a bit of talking and signing, I believe. They were speaking with several people toward the back--very near a short, lighted hall to the rest rooms.

"M" used the RR, yep, & then sat down for a second near the back wall of the Restaurant. The couple, seated the other side of room divider from us, decide to "go for it" and approached MIKA for a pic. (That pic is on this thread for you to see.) Shortly thereafter, MIKA and the first folks he came in with were seated on the left side about mid-way back toward the front of the restaurant.

Anyway, this is just the sort of thing you believe will never happen. It took a lot of determined restraint to behave, but my sister & I felt MIKA had earned the right to privacy and to be left alone. Bit by bit, a good number of MIKA's "mafia" entered and were seated at small tables near his. His Mother joined MIKA at his table. His sister & Audrey were seated across an aisle near them, against the room divider. When Mrs. Penniman sat down across from the man next to MIKA, I could no longer see MIKA. But when I stood up to get change for both myself and my sister to pay the check, I believe I caught MIKA's eyes and feel that he looked at me. I just looked back. I don't think I even nodded.

My sister said the same sort of thing happened to her and she did mouth a silent "good show" back to MIKA.

So before long it was time to leave: Our car had come for us.

I left a few feet in front of my sister, but before crossing the street, looked back to see if she was following me, she was. She had exited the restaurant but behind her, just inside the door the manager was wildly waving for us to come back, and a female employee on the left side of the room divider--not far from where MIKA was seated--was also wildly waving for us to come back.

So, what do you think we BOTH thought? "MIKA, MIKA is summoning us back for some reason" -- yep, that's what we were thinking!

Nooooooooooooo: My sister had left without her walking stick! How pitiful is THAT!

Page 6

My jaw-dropping trip to NYC to see MIKA:

early SAT. OCTOBER 17:

Driver drove us back into Mid-town along the river:

it was beautiful with the lights on the water,

We were in awe--yes, shock and awe--as a consequence of

our totally jaw-dropping experiences of the day.

Just kept muttering:

"I can't believe it; I can't believe it" all the way back to

our hotel.

SAT. OCTOBER 17:

BACK TO REALITY

PIX MY SISTER TOOK DURING THE TRIP:

Interior detail: United Palace:

http://twitpic.com/ml4w8

Going to check the merch stand before the show:

http://twitpic.com/ml3il

http://twitpic.com/ml42e

How the "after show" thing was set up:

http://twitpic.com/ml35z

My perfectly RIDICULOUS ride to the United Palace:

http://twitpic.com/ml4ba

http://twitpic.com/ml4g0

http://twitpic.com/ml4j8

http://twitpic.com/ml4m9

"Christopher"--at our Hotel:

http://twitpic.com/ml3cy

Was tickled pink with his 'MIKA'-signed business card

when we surprised him with it the next morning!

Views from the LOBBY LOUNGE at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel:

http://twitpic.com/ml6du

http://twitpic.com/ml5jx

http://twitpic.com/ml5d2

http://twitpic.com/ml5s8

http://twitpic.com/ml650

Rest Room:

http://twitpic.com/ml85t

I loved your report A.Clay, very entertaining to read. Especially the part about your sister leaving her walking stick behind, just hilarious.

OK. Finally got back from New York with Cheeseygoodness.

Here is my report:

We took the subway and got the restaurant around 4pm and then other MFCers showed up. Everyone was nice:wub2:

The opening act sucked, he only played I think 3 songs.

Then Mika came on:mf_lustslow:.

I have to say it was his BEST performance ever! He was laughing and smiling the whole time. The only bad part was the security guards:sneaky2: They were so rude and inconsiderate. We could all tell Mika was not happy that they pushed us back while he was singing. I think it was because of some girls who were trying to grab at him, they were standing right next me:sneaky2:

I just wanted to say a BIG thank you to Deb who got us after show passes:huglove: That was the best. I gave Mika the thank you album filled with notes from everyone who participated with the jacket and he told me to make him another one:wub2: and I got his autograph.

Then cheeseygoodness and I went around outside and waited for him to come out with about 30 other people. I think we were the only MFCers there:blink:. We weren't allowed any pictures with him just autographs. But since I already had one I just thanked him again for wearing the jacket so much I got all teary eyed thanking him, he shook my hand and said Oh that was you! and gave me a hug:fangurl:

The best Mika concert ever!!

Uploading pictures and videos now.

That's awesome, Foalbaby! Whatever happened with the charm necklace?

OK. Finally got back from New York with Cheeseygoodness.

 

Here is my report:

 

We took the subway and got the restaurant around 4pm and then other MFCers showed up. Everyone was nice:wub2:

 

The opening act sucked, he only played I think 3 songs.

Then Mika came on:mf_lustslow:.

I have to say it was his BEST performance ever! He was laughing and smiling the whole time. The only bad part was the security guards:sneaky2: They were so rude and inconsiderate. We could all tell Mika was not happy that they pushed us back while he was singing. I think it was because of some girls who were trying to grab at him, they were standing right next me:sneaky2:

 

I just wanted to say a BIG thank you to Deb who got us after show passes:huglove: That was the best. I gave Mika the thank you album filled with notes from everyone who participated with the jacket and he told me to make him another one:wub2: and I got his autograph.

Then cheeseygoodness and I went around outside and waited for him to come out with about 30 other people. I think we were the only MFCers there:blink:. We weren't allowed any pictures with him just autographs. But since I already had one I just thanked him again for wearing the jacket so much I got all teary eyed thanking him, he shook my hand and said Oh that was you! and gave me a hug:fangurl:

 

The best Mika concert ever!!

 

Uploading pictures and videos now.

aww that's super sweet! i wish i waited afterwards, we went out through the front door, so it was really empty and i was too scared to stick around by myself. i was wearing a red glittery sequined dress after all. haha. he's so awesome and sweet!!!