Christine

How is scrawling something in huge black letters on a poster "silent"? It's there for all to see and that's what the person who put it there intended. I don't understand this at all. Everyone knows there is homophobia in Italy - and everywhere else in the world, to some degree or another. What is the purpose except to wind up a bunch of Mika fans?

Break the silence about what? That there's homophobia? That's no secret is it? This whole thing seems very ill conceived to me. I am sorry that someone would deface a picture of Mika that way and even sorrier that anyone told him about it.

Yes MikaVEVO is real. The post on Andy's site just pertains to Andy. If people are pretending to be Mika, then Mika is going to have to sort that out.

The difference between you and young fans is that when I tell you it's not real you just accept that as fact. If you tell a 16 year old they don't want to believe it, so they need proof What YouTube account are you talking about? I know he has a Vimeo but a YT account he had years ago is gone now.

A notice from Andreas Dermanis about fake social media accounts. If you notice any young fans falling for this can you please direct them to this link: http://andreasdermanis.com/news/19-social-media Thanks

This is never the case in North America. Freebies (concerts, hotel rooms, drinks, etc.) are incentives for you to spend time in the casino and gamble but no one forces you. Not sure what it's like in Monaco though.

Oh please can we not start round #115 of the "Mika is so tired/sick/sad/angry" hysteria that seems to crop up every few months. Let me remind everyone of his tweet just two days ago: "The past few months have been so fragmented and relentless. But it hasn't hurt me." So happy for you that you had a great experience! Thanks for the report. This last bit is what blew me away at my first gig and turned me from someone who was just checking out the latest act from the UK to a diehard fan. I couldn't believe that voice I was hearing in a tiny club. Please all Mika fans take note!!

Yes of course! I have only been to one festival where Mika was playing and it sucked compared to a regular gig. But I think if I went again I would show up later so that it wasn't such a difficult and unrewarding experience. You can't change how these festivals work, you can only change how you prepare for it. That's all I meant. Aw Karin, I am sorry so many things were conspiring to make you feel sad but don't take it so personally! You said yourself things were great in Barcelona which was just a couple of weeks ago so I'm sure it's nothing like that. Anyway thanks for your honest and detailed report. It's interesting to read other people's perspectives. I am also feeling that disconnect with Mika on stage and it's probably affecting my enjoyment of the gigs although it doesn't upset me. In Montreal I felt he was performing over the audience rather than connecting directly with the front rows but then I saw him spot Sunshine951 and his eyes lit up and even though he wasn't looking at me it felt like he was more in touch with the audience from that point on. He also kept coming over to sing directly to a man in a wheelchair who was so thrilled and I thought that was really sweet.

Yes I don't begrudge anyone being disappointed or even complaining about not meeting Mika, especially after waiting all that time. But I think it's inaccurate to characterize him leaving without talking to people as not caring about old fans. He met people all 3 days he was in Montreal. Agreed to a meeting to receive the MFC yearbook. And there was a private M&G in NYC the same week. I have never been to any of these European festivals but I recall it was always hit and miss and he wasn't available as regularly as he is during a regular tour. I would have expected your chances of meeting him at 3:30 or 6 am are very slim. Regular gigs are usually over by 11 pm which is a totally different story.

Yes, I do not blame him at all. I just think it's misleading to say that it's not possible and he has to wait for an invite. It's not like Mika sits at home and waits for a promoter in Minneapolis to beg him to come play there. There are artists that are nowhere near as big a draw as Mika who tour everywhere all the time. I have never met anyone who knows who Yelle is except other Mika fans, and the brother in law of a friend who was her Canadian promoter in 2008. But she comes to North America on a regular basis and does more extensive tours than Mika does. It is not a question of no promoter being able to make money from Mika, it's a question of Mika not benefitting enough to bother. Someone out there is always able to make money, even from the smallest acts. Otherwise there wouldn't be any gigs you could go to except for Katy Perry, One Direction, etc. I go to small shows all the time. I saw Lily Allen in a dive bar that my brother has played in that has a max capacity of 200 people. I understand what Yuna is saying about people being big in Japan giving them more backing in South Korea but surely this is not the case for Korean artists. Surely Korean artists are able to tour even if no one in Japan cares about them. We're talking about the UK and Mika is a UK artist who has sold millions of albums. It's not like no one has ever heard of him. If his management can get him on Radio 2 or perform on a TV show then surely they can set up a couple of dates in the UK, if they thought it was worthwhile. The question is whether it is worthwhile or not, not whether it is possible or not.

Yes, this is the crux of the matter. Mika can spend his time making more money elsewhere. I think he has done tours at a loss in the US because there is still potential for him there to gain a bigger audience or build a reputation so they can sell his music to TV and films, etc. NPIH has already come and gone in the UK so it seems lucky that there's even one show in London unless he has some other promotional plans soon.

But surely he doesn't expect people to wait forever. It was 3:30 in the morning. I heard people were waiting at 6 am this morning. I mean where is the cutoff? If Mika stayed in the venue for 3 days should he still expect fans to be waiting outside for him when he leaves? I was commenting on what Saskia said about how he should have informed people not to wait because he didn't intend to stop. Just because the van drove by people later doesn't he mean he knew they were there when he was in his dressing room or wherever. Also I assume Mika was not driving the van so there is no reason to think he was looking at fans...unless you saw him looking...? Judging by his tweets he was reading the New York Times instead. If people want to believe he purposely shunned them I guess you can but I don't know why anyone would want to believe that when they don't know for certain whether it's true or not. I would have thought if he was purposely avoiding/hiding from people or he was too tired to even say a quick hello then he would not start tweeting. But if that's what you want to believe, go ahead I guess. I didn't say that either. I asked why people queue as if it's a Mika gig and then blame the organizers when it operates like festivals do. You can pretty much count on this queuing system not working at festivals because most people do not go to festivals to cling to the front row all day and all night so they are not bothered if someone gets in ahead of them. The fact that people will exit the front rows before Mika comes out should be the bonus of festivals - turn up late and still get to the front. But Mika fans turn it into a hell that is worse than a normal gig by queuing and refusing to leave the front.

I don't know who he told this to and where they live but this is not how things work in North America. I worked for a booking agency and we had a roster of clients. It was our agents' job to go out there and book the artists. I think Mika's agency in London has a sister agency in Toronto and one of the agents I worked with now runs it so I am sure it operates similarly in the UK. Mika did a 17 date tour in North America and he didn't have the same promoter at all shows. It is extremely unlikely that these different promoters simultaneously "invited" him in the way we think of an invite. As if it's a party or something. No artist would ever start their career if that is the case because no one is going to invite someone they've never heard of with no touring experience to their "party" if you know what I mean. I would think it is more of a situation of putting it out there that he wants to tour and promoters come back with offers. If Mika can get a gig in Minneapolis or Portland he can get a gig in Manchester or Glasgow. It's the same process.

Some really nice pics from this gig. Thanks for posting I felt this way after the Montréal show because I thought the setlist was severely lacking. I am not even that hungry for new songs per se, just songs that work well at gigs. Fortunately the "goodies" (as you call them ) were in store the next day so faith was restored. I guess you just have to hang in there. What do you mean about new fans/versus long-time fans? That is not my experience at all. I think Mika might be "changing" in the sense that he is insanely busy and does not have the time and energy to hang around after every gig like he used to. Although I recall it was always hit and miss with the festivals and there were many times fans didn't get to see him so this is nothing unusual to me. I guess we'll see during the autumn tour. I understand your disappointment but I guess I didn't get the assumption that Mika knew you were there and the onus was on him to tell you to go rather than to make your own decision about whether it's a good idea to wait for him in the middle of the night. Why would he tell someone to inform people waiting that he wasn't even going to wave to them? That would be more effort than actually waving. I would think the fact that he didn't wave is all the proof you need that he didn't know you were there. Indeed. I heard about a lot of chaos and some Mika fans being injured because of a rapper at a festival recently but these festivals shouldn't be treated like Mika gigs with fans queuing up and clinging to the front row all day and night. Of course it's hell but it's your choice and it's not the fault of the festival organizers. You can only place so much blame on irresponsible performers as well. I love the Arctic Monkeys but I'm in my 40s and their fans are young men in their 20s. I don't stand in the front row because these men are going to drink and push and crowd surf, etc.so if I don't want someone's foot in my face I stand somewhere else. And if Mika had a set after Arctic Monkeys I would still have to stand somewhere else during the Arctic Monkeys set if I didn't want someone's foot in my face.

That is nonsense though. Everyone (including Mika) has played in venues where the capacity was significantly smaller than the Adelphi. I have seen Mika at least 5 times in venues that were less than 800 people - during a regular tour. These were not promos or TV shows or private gigs. They were dates on his tour. I saw him just 3 months ago in a room of 450 people. The only reason he wouldn't sell enough tickets is if the venue is too large. This is the case with every artist regardless of how many tickets they can sell. Just because he can no longer sell out Brixton Academy 3 nights in a row doesn't mean it's impossible for a promoter to book him into a venue. I would guess that it's simply not worth Mika's time because he's working on a million other things that are making him money or potentially opening up opportunities for him.

Really hope to read your first gig report when you come back!

Yes it's more LICM than TOOL was. I agree with him about Good Guys though. Mika has explained it many times but I still don't understand what he means. It's not like Rufus Wainwright and Bowie have even gone anywhere.

Haha good for you! Naomi Wolf (longtime feminist writer) has started a controversy this past week about how some young women's speech patterns today in North America are undermining their ability to be taken seriously and hurting their careers etc. There are some counterarguments against women modifying their speech: it is just a way to silence women's voices and society should change its attitude (which I don't agree with), and these speech patterns irritate older generations simply because they are different and eventually they will be overruled by younger women's habits (I think this is possibly true). http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/jul/24/vocal-fry-strong-female-voice Wolf talks about how these speech patterns weaken their written essays and exams: She also talks about how some of these speech habits are a misguided attempt to placate others: You can make an argument I suppose that MFC is not uni or the workplace and coming across as "polite" is more important than getting your ideas across. But I still think when someone feels the need to point out that what you're saying is "only" your opinion they are not just reacting to a perceived rudeness but they want to make sure no one listens to you because they don't agree with your opinion. As far as I'm concerned the rude behaviour in this scenario is not making a strong declaration about what you think but in telling someone that it's "only" their opinion. Because it strongly implies that the opinion doesn't have any merit.

That's unfortunate but it's good that you're sensible! NA dates will be much cheaper and you'll have time to saved up. Your time will come. But this is all I was referring to when responding to your comment on me being direct. I don't support being direct because I want to be provocative and abhor censorship. I think everyone should be direct and clear because expecting people to read between the lines and acting passive aggressively instead of saying what you mean is no way for adults to communicate with each other, especially in writing. Men do not communicate this way and no one expects them to. No one expects me to not assert myself in any other area of my life. I have been praised for my written communication style at work. I have avoided problems for myself and my company by laying things out clearly in writing so it can't be disputed later. I am not interested in reverting back to some self-deprecating and deferential teenage girl style of writing to appease a few people on a message board who have made it very clear they don't respect what I have to say anyway.

"Special" is in the eye of the beholder. I can't believe there is anyone around here (surely not many) who didn't think their first gig was special, no matter what the circumstances were. Fans are often sad when they haven't seen Mika in awhile and sometimes when people complain about post-gig depression and missing Mika it upsets the people who have never even been to a gig before because it seems a bit selfish. My response to that is "you don't know what you're missing". I know that sounds terribly unsympathetic but what I mean by that is that no matter how great you think it's going to be you don't know how great it is until you experience it first hand. It is nothing like watching YouTube videos. It is nothing like listening to CDs. In my early gig days I would be tired and jetlagged and headachey and my legs were sore, etc. but the moment Mika came on stage it would all disappear. I could not see anything but Mika. I could no longer feel my sore legs, the pushing, the heat. It was just euphoric. I can't guarantee you or anyone else this exact experience obviously but there must be a lot of fans who feel similarly or they wouldn't go to/want to go to so many gigs. In any case you are going to a few gigs so if the first one isn't perfect because Mika didn't sing your favourite song or the festival was unpleasant, you can look forward to the other gigs. I am sure you will have a great experience, so don't worry about "special". You are going to be there instead of watching it on Periscope so it will be the most special Mika gig you've ever seen I totally agree with that approach. Well perhaps it doesn't help but I see people who have the patience and disposition of a saint also being censored. So I have taken a page out of Mika's book and decided I don't care what anyone thinks about me and am no longer going to waste my time even attempting to be diplomatic because it's not effective anyway. There is a recurring joke on the show Good Wife where one of the judges in a courtroom interrupts the solicitors every time they make an argument in order to clarify with them that it is just their opinion. She gets annoyed with them and rules against them unless they pander to her by prefacing every argument with "In my opinion, your honour...". This is a joke because it's absurd. It should go without saying that anything you present in order to persuade people of your point of view is your opinion. MFC is not a court of law but it's also not kindergarten and it's not unreasonable to expect other adults to be familiar with how expressing one's opinion works on a forum. If I say what I think, it is OBVIOUSLY my opinion. What's more people who are reading it already know this because they love to point it out by saying "it's ONLY your opinion". As if the very act of asserting what one thinks without saying "in my opinion" somehow invalidates that opinion and it needs to be publicly dismissed so no one listens to it. I don't understand why anyone should have to engage in this phony social ritual that does not exist in real life (not in my world anyway) just to sort of humble themselves before other posters on the forum. Why shouldn't anyone stand up for their opinion instead of apologizing in advance for even having one? If you're not confident in what you're saying then why say it at all? Sure truth is not unchanging. But that doesn't mean we can't discuss what is true or untrue in a given moment. As I said if BBC1 starts playing tracks from this album then I will surely be wrong in what I said. Until that time it is an objective and provable fact that the album is not being played on BBC1, it's not simply my opinion.

That is a shame that you can't travel to see him although it's perfectly reasonable and understandable. I would think every other touring UK artist goes to Scotland so I can imagine your disappointment when other dates were not announced with London. I am impressed with your self awareness and honesty. Perhaps I would not have to fear having my character attacked and being accused of insulting people if some others on MFC were equally self aware. More importantly if they realized that, while there's nothing wrong with having these feelings, it is not rational to place the responsibility for these feelings onto other people. Particularly people you have no relationship with other than being a fellow member of a club. People who therefore do not owe it to you to censor themselves and only discuss facts and express opinions that affirm your belief that Mika is perfect, everyone should love him unconditionally and everything he does is an unqualified masterpiece. In your case I would advise a couple of things. First I assume you are going to a gig this year..? There will be thousands of people there who will make you believe that Mika is the most special extraordinary artist that every graced a stage. This works for me even in my most jaded moments. To go to New York City and see people so excited and so receptive to him is infectious and reminds me how much I have loved him and why. And secondly I would advise you to separate your friends from your feelings about Mika. As I said if I sensed someone was not receptive I would move on to another artist to find common ground with my friends and music. If some of your friends think he's okay but do not understand why you feel as passionately as you do then perhaps try to convince them to go to a gig. I have done this with a couple of people and I have rarely heard of anyone walking away from a gig without a very positive impression of Mika. Even people who did not go to the event to see him or were only there to accompany their wife, friend, etc. One of my friends said that it is a good thing that Mika is only making fun music and not asking people to follow him on a spaceship to meet Jesus because he is so charismatic and so totally in command of the audience he could convince anyone to do anything.

I am sure your passport will arrive on time. Just don't dawdle and apply for it now. This is not the first time someone has made jokes about Mika's balls believe me.

Ha, well I do not want to marry him but I love big band music and I love his schtick. My friend calls it cheesy but I think it's entertaining the way he interacts with the audience and tells jokes and bonds with his fellow Canadians (even if it's not sincere since he's married to an international model and not hanging out at Tim Horton's ). I guess it's also something I would get sick of after 20 gigs but I have only seen him a couple of times. Marilyn I think Mika doesn't know what he's doing exactly or at least it is not assured to the point where he can discuss it in public. I think he is juggling so many balls up in the air and the way the next one falls is going to determine the next move he makes, and so on. I told him I was coming to London and he said "it's sold out isn't it?" Well...almost... Then he said he wanted to do another show. Does this mean he would like to do other shows in the UK? I think so. Does it mean he is going to do them? I don't know and I don't think Mika knew at that moment either.

No, don't feel that way. It's just my experience because I have been going to gigs for 8 years. I can't maintain that kind of awe and obsession for the entire length of someone's career. His performances are very very good and he is very connected to the audience and its energy. This has not changed in any negative way over the years and he exudes a confidence that wasn't always there before. I just can't stand listening to Billy Brown for the 50th time at this point I don't know whether or not any of these songs have single potential. I just think Promiseland and the Good Guys remix sound like they were produced in the 21st century, in contrast to the rest of the album. I love other songs on the album too but that doesn't mean they are going to chart high in the UK or US or Canada. I guess I have a hard time relating to this because I don't care what anyone else thinks about Mika or any other music I listen to. Yes I did try to share his music with a lot of people early on but if the person was not receptive then I turned them on to Amy Winehouse or Paolo Nutini or Adele or Sam Smith or Sia. It's just something I want to share with people so we can go to gigs together and help each other discover new music. I find North Americans like old school R&B and Brits (especially Mika fans) like more poppy electronic stuff (Katy Perry, Lady Gaga, Calvin Harris). And no one I know would listen to Taylor Swift or Pitbull if their lives depended on it. Just about everyone I know slags off Michael Bublé but I love him and don't give a flying f*ck what anyone else thinks!!

I can hear that things are changing. I think autotune is going out of favour and is only used on artists who can't sing rather than on everyone. There was a time when I could not tell the difference between Katy Perry and Kelly Clarkson because their voices were manipulated to sound identical. I think OMI's song is only heavily auto tuned because the vocal came from a song made in 2012. It will be interesting to see if they drop the autotune for his next single because he's actually a good singer and doesn't need it. Another trend I am hearing is this kind of lame late 80s pop-rock that I wasn't too crazy about at the time and really cannot stand 30 years later. Is any of this groundbreaking? Hardly. But IMO nothing groundbreaking has happened in music since the mid-1980s. Whether what Calvin Harris is doing is good music or not is a matter of opinion but there's no denying it has turned him into a superstar and I have no doubt he'd be where Mika is today (without the French/Italian success) if he hadn't completely changed things up and started making mainstream club music. The difference between Mika and Calvin Harris is that I think Calvin Harris' heart was always in the club music and he didn't get into it to follow a trend but in order to start one. And he has been outrageously successful at it.