REPORTS/PICS/VIDEOS for MIKA in Philadelphia, PA - Electric Factory

[InfiniteGreen]

Yay, people are coming back!!

 

Thanks for the reports, and don't worry we DEVOUR every word. Just keep 'em comin'!!!

 

And A.CLAY c'mon, don't keep us waiting too long!!

 

After the concert/meeting, we shared a cab with A.Clay and her son-in-law and dropped them off at a restaurant that is open late. I think they are planning to stay in Philly for a day or two so unless she finds a computer, you may have to wait. On the other hand, she is resourceful so I would not be surprised if she popped in tonight!

[Blue Sky]

oh OK, I will have to go off and do RL stuff for a bit, I will check back later.

And dcdeb, your counter is down to just over ONE day, how fast has that gone???

[lilmot]

It was an amazing show. I saw Mika in NYC at the Nokia in June and I think I liked this show even better if that is possible. I'm not good at estimating how many people were there, but it looked like it was sold out since the place was packed. Everyone was so into the concert---singing the words, waving and dancing around. I was so proud of my Philly people (and adopted Philly people) tonight! I think we made him feel very welcomed! When he spoke to the Philly crowd early on, he told us that he had a confession which I did not quite hear--- I believe it was something like he was a little worried about coming to the States and starting this tour, but seeing the turnout in Philly made him feel good?---Someone else with better hearing should verify or correct this!

 

I can't remember the order of all of the songs, but the unreleased stuff he played was Holy Johnny and Do You Love Me. Luke played the banjo during Holy Johnny! He's so talented... Mika and Saranyde also did Missionary Man.

 

I noticed that Mikey and Martin played a lot more riffs between songs than before---I liked that---and Mika called for a lot more audience participation where he would turn the mike towards the crowd to fill-in a word or repeat a scat he just finished.

 

I had a chance to meet mgpm, A. Clay and her son-in-law, Jack(very quickly---she's unmasked and lovely). MFCers are such nice people! I saw Cynthia Mulat very briefly when we were waiting for Mika outside, but did not have a chance to say hi because I was waiting to have a chance to say hello to Mika. So before Mika came out we were strictly told that he would just leave the building and we could just say hi---no autographs or pictures. When he came out, he slowed down and a few people did get autographs and spoke with him...I'll let them tell you their stories themselves (A. Clay has a great story, but I'll leave you in suspense so she can have the chance to do it justice!)...but I was happy enough that I was able to put my hand out from the back of several people and he shook it!

 

Thank you, InfiniteGreen for starting the reports for us. Sounds wonderful and glad you met some of the other MFCers. Thanks also to DS for another report! Yay!

[Sivan]

thanks for the reports guys!

[InfiniteGreen]

Thank you, InfiniteGreen for starting the reports for us. Sounds wonderful and glad you met some of the other MFCers. Thanks also to DS for another report! Yay!

 

You're welcome! Unfortunately, I took the no camera policy seriously and did not bring my digital, just a disposable in case it was confiscated. Don't fret, the place turned out not to be very strict about the cameras/cell phones at all and I saw a lot of people taking pictures even video, I think, so hopefully that will appear soon. Strangely enough, while they were not strict about cameras, they did frisk everyone at the doors and security made my husband throw away his ink pen and his eyedrops before they would allow him to enter! They also took away a basket of lollipops from someone.

[Oakie Doke]

It was an amazing show.

 

Yayy, it sounds great! Thanks for the report!

 

Welp....I'm back....it's 1:21am, my nose is still running from the cold, my ears are still ringing, and I'm still all jittery and happy!

 

Yay!

They checked you for cameras? I hope someone managed to get one in!

[dcdeb]

oh OK, I will have to go off and do RL stuff for a bit, I will check back later.

And dcdeb, your counter is down to just over ONE day, how fast has that gone???

 

I KNOW! :shocked:

 

I can scarcely believe it -- and have I mentioned that I can't wait???

 

dcdeb

[JackViolet]

Ok! Back! No pictures either, since I didn't even take a camera, but I know other people's vids will be up on youtube.

 

Got there pretty late (7:10ish?) and the line was looooooong. I left my coat in the car 'cause I thought we wouldn't have to wait much before the doors opened, but I still managed to pretty much freeze by the time we went in.

 

Rush towards the front, got a not-bad spot--then realized all the coffee had caught up with me and I needed to use the restroom, so when I returned I got a spot a bit further back. Pretty much center though, and as I told Deb--close enough. I could see the whole stage easily and I was only a few people behind mgpm. And actually, even though I was further than at the DC show, I enjoyed it so much more. I wasn't pushed or even too constrained, and I could actually move and dance to the music this time!

 

The concert itself was... phenomenal. I think you know I'm not given to much over-flattery, so I'm not saying this in terms of hyperbole but I think it was one of the best shows he's ever done. He looked healthy and happy, and well, kinda glowy, for lack of a better word. It's not like he had particularly more energy that at other times, but the energy he had was really radiating from him tonight, and he just seemed to be genuinely enjoying himself, almost crossing over to giddy at times. Very different from the shows when he's sick.

 

The setlist was the usual:

 

Relax

Big Girl

My Interpretation

Billy Brown

Holy Johnny

Any Other World

Ring Ring

Missionary Man

Stuck in the Middle

How Much Do You Love Me

Happy Ending

Love Today

Grace Kelly

Lollipop

 

...I think I'm not missing anything.

 

Anyway, the big thing is: he talked. A lot. Was almost uncharacteristically chatty. Kept making little asides, encouraging the crowd, making us interact with him--it reminded me of the way Christine said he worked really hard to win the crowd at Club Mod, except this crowd was already his. He even departed from his usual script on Billy Brown--he delivered the same information but rather than just doing the whole "they told me they'd never play this song in America and look at us now" stuff, he elaborated on it and made it into this little anecdote where he acted out the part of the label executive in a funny voice and with dramatic pauses, and was generally all-over playful.

 

Made us sing back to him a LOT. Billy Brown, certainly, and Grace Kelly of course, but also on Holy Johnny, Any Other World, Happy Ending... basically he seemed to be absolutely chuffed at the crowd and trying to see how much they could actually sing with him. He even had us sing back SITM, and then got up from his piano, came to the front for a bit of a sing-along and THEN he did an entire extended finale for it: first he staged a little exercise where he'd call out his nonsense-refrains to us and we'd call them back, in increasing difficulty (starting with zap-para-para and ending with something ridiculous like inchiga-inchiga-da-ram-cha-cha), and then he set us up looping "stuck in the middle!" while he went back to the piano and did his own new nonsense noises over it. Kept motioning to us with his hands, telling us to give him "more, more!" Kept grinning. Made tons of eye contact, all the time. Not to me--I was too far back--but I saw him looking at everybody, and not the blank sweeping-the-room look, but actually focusing on people. Was just super-involved in general--after Grace Kelly he even touched the hands of the people in front of him, which I think he almost never does...

 

Messed up on the lyrics to Holy Johnny, looked totally embarrassed, haha.

 

Began to stage even more structured sing alongs. On Love Today, he had the left side of the crowd do "Anyway you want to," the right side do "Anyway you've gotta" and the center do "Love, love me!" and carried on with that for a bit.

 

Him making us sing back Any Other World was weiiiird. I've never seen him ask people to sing that back before. But it was awesome. And that was about the point where I began to feel he was trying to test his ground, and it was making him really happy how far we were going with him.

 

Grace Kelly: made us finish all the colors for him ("I could be ---! I could be ---! Gotta be ---! Gotta be --!") and again, at the end, did a playful thing with the Kachinga, where he would go "Kachiiinngggggg" and we'd have to finish "AH!" "Kachiiiiingggg--AH!" Over and over and over. Everyone was jumping.

 

I don't want to make it sound like he actually sang any less though--he usually inserted these bits and if anything expanded the songs with them.

 

In the middle, he actually--and seriously, that's a big deal for him--said something that was incredibly heartfelt and, I think spontaneous and genuine, which explained a lot of the feel of the show. I can't remember it well, but he thanked us for giving him such a great reception, said that he was worried about playing that night 'cause it was the first show of the American tour but that we had now set him in a good mood for the rest of it with how great we were, and then said, seeming honestly half-taken aback: "It's really incredible, it really is, when you can play in a place you've never played before and get this kind of response."

 

Then he paused briefly, stood there looking at us for a moment, and then added in a slightly lower voice: "We may not get a lot of radio support in America, but it's something to know that we have this kind of support as a live act, that it's successful live." Then he grinned again and went back to do the next song.

 

These are not the actual words he used of course, but something like that, about being able to make a career out of live shows.

 

(Edit: now with mjoshi's video, what he really said was: "we may... we may have a hard time with radio, but at least we can say that our career in the United States is based on a live career.")

 

Of course I bet now he'll start saying that at all the shows.

 

I had not known, btw, that the skeleton-puppet thing is an entire little drama. Loved it. Loved the new (to me) shadow puppets too, and the audience was absolutely amazed by them.

 

Liked Saranayde too. Don't see what the problem is at all. She stayed towards the back for most of the show, in fact I forgot she was there half the time. The only times she came forwards (besides the duet on Missionary Man) was to clap and jump and egg us on to do the same when Mika was too busy to do it. And I loved Missionary Man and her part in it.

 

Basically, if he's anywhere close to this good in NY, he's going to blow you all away.

 

After-gig report coming up next, but it's not as exciting.

 

--Jack

[Fmbm]

What a great report, thanks Jack!

[Ruth]

I'm so glad I got up early to read this thread before work.

 

Lovely report Jack and the others, it's like being there even without pictures, your words paint the scene.

 

Thanks

[Yoppappop]

thanks for your detailed report jacky-jack !!

 

about sara, i think you got the same show that we got for the european tour, as for toronto, with missionary man... as a random question : did she take the skirt off ? in usa ?? if not, either he got the feed back that it was un-necessary, either he's not doing that in the US... i guess we'll have to wait a bit more US gigs reports to know that... and if not, same show than european tour (just for personal information)

 

i wonder why not the "sexy back - when doves cry" cover anymore ? maybe only for arenas ?? don't care, love missionary man better

 

hmmm... lots of unanswered questions...

[Valelia]

I don't know if this is from someone here, but I just found this on youtube.

 

It's Lollipop for the show tonight

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=mXFs9OzLab4

[vanessa]

Great report Jack !

[Louiza]

Thanks for your super detailed report Jack! You made us fell as though we were there!

[JackViolet]

After the show: met up with mgpm and her daughter--great to see her again! We were both curious if we could find Jerry and talk him into letting us backstage again (ha!) but Jerry was nowhere to be found. Apparently he wasn't even there that night. Eventually we began to give up on that idea and started heading towards the exit, when I saw Andy (sans camera). Totally startled the poor boy by calling out "Andy! I've been wanting to meet you!" and then realizing how it must look to him, "of course I'm sorry, you have no idea who I am. But I've been hearing so much about you."

 

Anyway, he was, as people said, super nice, and we started chatting, and I lost track of mgpm there. She didn't join in the conversation, she just headed towards the exit with her daughter. Anyway, Andy actually talked to me for a while and I went on to him about queer theory, hahah, poor guy. Probably bored the lad. He thinks you all and your obsession with his fluffy thing are crazy by the way. And that he doesn't get why he's so popular when he's just a camera man. Likely thinks I'm crazy too, but that's all right.

 

Towards the end I asked him what the best way to deliver some things to Yasmine was (I had a pair of earrings I wanted to give her), and he said he could pass them over or I could wait outside and pass them on to Mika, so I took the second option. I actually didn't really have anything for Mika this time except a shiny silver apple, but I really did want to give my present to Yasmine.

 

I tried to call mgpm at this point to find her, but no luck. Left the venue, went back to my car and put on the coat I'd left there, then came back and waited for Mika out back with some Ukranian girls, until I realized it wasn't the right place to wait, and made my way towards the barricades. (Accidentally left my shawl with the girls, to whom I'd lent it since they had no coats and were freezing, oh well).

 

At the barricades, if I am right, I stood right next to DS Nightly, though I did not realize he was an MFCer! Waited, waited, waited. DS was our knight and kept protesting against the changes they kept springing on us (from no autographs but pictures, to no pictures with him but OF him ok, to no pictures at all or we take your camera).

 

At some point Yasmine came out with Mika's mom and they got in the car. I wanted to go over and give her the earrings but the security wouldn't allow me. I asked a boy who was part of the staff and kept going to the car to pass them on at least, but he refused as well. So I waved to her and mimed that I had something for her, and then she spoke to the boy and he came out and took the earrings over. Hurrah! I hope she likes them...

 

Annnnnyway, eventually when everyone was half frozen to death Mika came over, and was lovely and amicable to everyone and shook hands, gave hugs, chatted a bit. No hug for me this time as I don't like to ask. He explained the Raffa story to some girls who asked about that, and actually had some interesting things to say on why he decided to include it and why he finds it funny (not Raffa's tragedy but the way it's told so that people can't really make out if it's real or not), etc. Pointed at me and my coat and asked the poor freezing girls next to me why so few of the people waiting for him were wearing coats, and appeared quite concerned. I didn't really have much to say, and ugh, I am a prat in situations like this. Just told him it was an above-the-norm excellent show and that I'd see him in NY, and handed him my silver glitter apple that he didn't know what to do with, and a teacup. I'd actually meant to ask him to sign it but ended up just giving it to him because of the no-autographs thing. He gave me a bit of a weird look. Then I brought up Yoppappop again and asked if he got the illustrated story she gave him from me in Paris, and he was confused for a bit but said he believed he did. (Ie, yes, and he never looked at it after he got it. ) Anyway, I seem to be incapable of having a non-awkward interaction with him 'cause I just stream random chatter at him and he just kinda looks at me and nods and smiles and moves on.

 

Andy was there (without the fluffy thing) and asked if I wanted to see Yasmine, but as I'd already given her my gift there was no need. Mika moved on to other people, and then they left, and so did the crowd.

 

I wanted to see the band though, so in a bit Luke came out and I gave him a choice of glitter apples and he picked a green one (knew it!). I tried to explain the gift (by lamely saying something like "you see, on mFC a bunch of us call ourselves apples") and mentioned Christine and Suzy. And--pay attention girls--he showed me that he was wearing your scarf! Luke is lovely.

 

At that point I was just shivering uncontrollably, but to my luck I met Cynthia Mulat and Naomi and lilmot! I had seen them standing around but it was not till they started talking with Luke that I realized they were from MFC. Cynthia, bless her heart, suggested I just go inside and see the band because now that Mika was gone, no one cared.

 

She was right, and I gave them their apples and we all talked for a bit (or rather, I chattered inanely) and Cynthia came in too. I apparently have a worse memory than Martin because I said I'd talked to them all before (when I couldn't get a ride home) except him 'cause he snuck out early, and he was like, "wait, I was the one on the street asking you if you had found a way home yet!"

 

Then Nadja came in (I didn't realize who she was at first, I thought maybe she was just one of Cynthia's friends ) and said that they were packing up, so everyone left.

 

I talked to Cynthia for a bit more, and she was extremely sweet and tried to make sure I wouldn't freeze or have to walk anywhere unsafe to get to my car, but all turned out all right.

 

And that's the end of it then.

 

--Jack

[JackViolet]

about sara, i think you got the same show that we got for the european tour, as for toronto, with missionary man... as a random question : did she take the skirt off ? in usa ??

 

Yup, she did!

 

By the way, note that I talked about you to Mika again... he will think I have a fixation..

 

Re: Lollipop video--Lollipop was actually the one song of the night where it wasn't amaaaazing, but just kinda normal. I think he was entirely worn out by that point.

 

An interesting thing is that a lot of what I liked about the show is that it wasn't necessarily super-high-energy all the way through (less jumping than other times, for instance), but just measured and with a lot of back-and-forth and puttering about--leisurely, almost. I enjoy that, it seems very comfortable.

 

--Jack

[Sivan]

thanks Jack! for the detailed review

[robertina]

thanks jack, sharp, precise and complete as always!

thanks also for giving Cynthia Mulat's news to us...i was worried as i never see her around anymore. glad she's fine.

[Savage Beauty]

Brilliant reviews, I'm sat here grinning like a maniac, I'm so happy for you having such a brilliant concert experience and then meeting him afterwards

[annabelle]

Thanks for these great reports, Jack!

[Gatagordinha]

Thanks InfiniteGreen, DS Nightly and Jack (hope I haven't excluded anyone?? ) for the great reports, it brings it all back to me so vividly I've actually got tears in my eyes, what a silly over emotional woman

 

Actually it was Jack's bit about Mika being so happy at his Philly reception that did it

[JackViolet]

Yeah, I found that really touching too, Gatagordinha. I just hope it wasn't scripted or I'll feel duped!

 

Oh, last thing: I just wanted to post a photo of what I was wearing. Firstly, so that if any other MFCers I did not recognize saw me at the concert, they can tell me so...

 

 

and secondly just 'cause I like it.

 

 

As you can see, my inspiration was the trademark Mika rosette.

 

--Jack

[mariposa]

Thank you everyone for the reviews so far!!!

 

Especially Jack, loved all the details!

Oh, and your outfit totally rocks!!!!!

[Gatagordinha]

 

As you can see, my inspiration was the trademark Mika rosette.

 

--Jack

 

Great outfit! And you definitely have the legs to carry off blue tights The pink sash is superb.

[cath85]

Yeah, I found that really touching too, Gatagordinha. I just hope it wasn't scripted or I'll feel duped!

 

Oh, last thing: I just wanted to post a photo of what I was wearing. Firstly, so that if any other MFCers I did not recognize saw me at the concert, they can tell me so...

 

 

and secondly just 'cause I like it.

 

 

As you can see, my inspiration was the trademark Mika rosette.

 

--Jack

 

LOVE IT!!!