mellody

yeah, depends on the venue and the security guard you get. you can be lucky, but i prefer to take just a small bag. well, like i said, i'm taking the night train (to save me the hotel costs and because it was the cheapest option) - and no idea where else to go really except for the venue... wouldn't make sense to hang around the city for hours with my luggage, don't have a hotel... and guess i won't be the first one at the venue at 10:30, so the venue with my fellow mfcers is the best place to be! of course if i had the option to sleep in, i probably would. wow, that's expensive! for example in munich it was 2 euro for the whole day! but thanx for the info.

weouw, what happened there?! does anyone know? thanx everyone for the reports+pix+videos!

coat depends on the weather... and if we have an organized numbers/queuing system, and the parking lot isn't too far away, maybe i can leave some stuff in someone's car... but usually the way i do it at gigs is have a small handbag on my shoulder, for money, camera etc., and take an empty plastic bag in which i can stuff my coat etc. to put it between my feet at the gig. if it's not allowed to hang the jacket over the barrier (that depends on the venue...). most important though: SMALL bag. i'd never bring a whole rucksack full of stuff, because it takes ages til the securities are finished checking that at the entrance. about the queuing time, i'll just come directly from the station to the venue (after i found me breakfast somewhere...), as i'm taking the night train to amsterdam, and leaving for luxemburg directly after the gig. no idea how long it takes to get to the venue, but guess i'll be there around 10:30.

i thought you were going to japan? aren't the venues there as big, so he can take the show with him?

well you still have almost 2 weeks.

i had posted the toyboy one on page 12 already. but hadn't seen the lollipop one yet, thanx!

toy boy, including all the talking! - picture quality is horrible, but you can hear very well what he's saying, so funny! ... they (david?) start playing the theme from the addams family and mika saying "you can take the idiot out of the small club, but you can't take the small club out of the idiot" - LOL, love that quote!

just found this more close-up video of GGG: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nvXxtPEuIP4

fab pix, t4p! still none of ida's costume though. BUT... the setlist!! wtf is "bugsy malone", after ggg? edit: this song i guess? - did he sing it? did they play it? and interesting, the rain intro is called the "nightmare sequence"...

@suzie: i've been to amsterdam in 2008, which was quite huge... eye contact is still possible (maybe you won't notice if you're short sighted tho, lol! ), about the getting squashed see my last post... but yeah, you're right, you can see the whole set better from the back, and the thing that disturbs me most, if the stage is too high you might not always see mika. like in amsterdam, it had a little walkway, and this was blocking the sight to certain parts of the stage, or you might not see mika anymore when he's behind his piano, stuff like that. i still wouldn't want to stand in the back though, as i like seeing mika's face expressions, gestures etc. not only on the videoscreens but "live", i want the eye contact, and especially i wouldn't want anyone to stand before me and blocking my sight. people never keep in exactly the same place all the time, so even if you're standing behind a small person first, there might suddenly be a 1,90m guy in front of you, or someone who keeps waving their arms in the air. i had that in london when i was a BG - it was nice to see the whole set at once, which you can't from front row, it's ok for me to do that 1-2 times as i'm going to so many gigs... but as for the gig, i'd always prefer front row, it's just the best gig experience there imo, even if it has some disadvantages in huge venues.

which other gigs are you going to? rome, and...? udine? it's always more difficult in 2nd row though when people are pushing than it is in front row. if you're front row, you can breathe because you get air from the front, you have space in front of you for your arms, and you can hold on to the barrier if people try to push you aside. that's not really possible in 2nd row, so i guess i'd always prefer front row at the side to 2nd row if i want to avoid the pushing. normally at the side the pushing isn't that bad either.

they had to persuade you to be a BG? it's hard to believe that with so many people they couldn't find enough! or did they specifically want someone who had done it before? thanx for the quick report, lovely of mika bout the group pic, hehe!

arrgh, i wish he didn't make it that obvious that part of the voice is coming from tape! running from runniiiiiiiiiiiiing on the tape, and mika puts away the mic before the runniiiiiiiiiiiiing is finished! apart from that, fab video, t4p!

thanx! fab to hear the whole intro! and love it how he rips off her dress! can't wait to see close up pix or vids of that costume, long and short version! thought he might do the dance with ida instead of imma then, but this hasn't changed...

well, it's the original text from the opera. she sings "if you don't kill sarastro, you're not my daughter anymore". maybe that's why he kills everyone during LT. we should SO bring water pistols to one of the (summer) gigs and shoot back at him when he shoots the audience! does he think he can shoot me without me trying to defend myself?!

was thinking, he does already have the costume for it...

you'll see what wonders wonderland can do if you try that - it will kick your ass!

so, since i heard that he did GGG in barcelona, did he have that intro with queen of the night there as well? any videos of the song?

ah, thanx to the lyrics you posted i think i could figure out now what ida sings, it's this part: Fühlt nicht durch dich Sarastro Todesschmerzen, So bist du meine Tochter nimmermehr. she starts with the first line, and keeps repeating the last line. so basically she tells mika that he's not her daughter anymore.

like i said, i understand NOTHING of that opera singing, that's one reason why i never listen to opera, because i wouldn't understand the text even if it was in my own language! i know that the original song is german, but that's what i was wondering, whether she sings the original german one, or another language. laura, so the girls behind you started singing that in german then? anyway, can't wait for your video of it!

bought some plastic grass yesterday to accompany the flowers. if i go on like that, my costume won't be just a flower garden but the whole wonderland! well, why not, it's alice in wonderland, and although we have all the characters, we have no one being the "wonderland" yet!

OMG! that gives me goosebumps, LOVE it!! just wish the video was longer and we could see more of the costume, arrgh! i SO want to see that live!! does anyone understand in which language she sings? i never can make that out in opera singing...

well, ticket... good point... have one for the 27th, but getting the one for the 26th (yup, standing!) from axie, but i think she's still in hospital, so tbh no idea really if i'll have a ticket at all! but wouldn't be the first time, i'm sure everything will work out in the end. i got used to the fact that in mikaland a lot of problems get solved only last minute and you just can't plan with lots of security but have to be flexible.

hope so... pha, now i get blamed for listening to you! nah, had made the decision already before i read your post. i would've gone by train, not plane... but it was too complicated with staying overnight and getting back. oh wow that costume sounds fab, can't wait to see pix/vids of it! or even see it live in paris. if ida will join only for very few shows though, i wonder if they'll just leave it out for the other ones, or if they'll find another singer? it's strange that they make such an elaborate costume for only a few shows. although... they made a whole stage set for only ONE show at pdp, so who knows... maybe they'll film one of the shows that includes ida for a dvd. i wouldn't be surprised if it was paris again (just that this time i wouldn't even mind )...

anyone else dressing up? as mika has the blacklight back, i'll be wearing my blue space princess/galaxy girl costume again - i included some special blacklight effects in it when i made it (see here: http://twitpic.com/12h8t2), and am happy that now finally that's coming to use! probably wouldn't have been dressing up if that wasn't the case, but with the blacklight in the show, and mika's own blue queen of the night costume, i just have to do it.