Mika, each time you repeat one of your soundbites on stage, I like you a little less.

[norwalk174]

You know, I have to admit, I was a bit obnoxious with the scripted stuff at the concert I went to. I went with someone who had basically never seen/heard him before...

 

You know what it's like to watch a movie with someone who's seen that movie a thousand times and insists on telling you what's going to happen? I was doing that to my friend. I was really annoyed with myself even as I was doing it, but I couldn't stop myself! I just felt compelled.

 

So, I would hear the first note of something or even just see the way the stage was being set up, and I would turn to my friend and say "this one's not on the album... it's called Holy Johnny..." and Mika would immediately echo my exact words and say "this one's not on the album... it's called Holy Johnny...". I pretty much did that throughout the concert. Wow. I'm an ass.

 

i did the same thing but then my friend got mad so i stopped

 

woops i'm not supposed to be in this thread what can i say? i'm a lurker..

[JackViolet]

But speaking of PW, I keep hearing The Magic Position used in the ads

for this new movie opening tomorrow, "Definitely, Maybe." That's

gotta be a first for PW, doesn't it?

 

dcdeb

 

Yes! I want to see the movie and I just heard the song on tv today. Good for Patrick!!!

 

By the way, not that I want Mika to become Patrick--they both have their own style--but I really do love how Patrick uses his set list as more of a "suggestion" than a hard plan, and you never quite know what he will play or how he will act (shy? energetic? sexy? talky?) from show to show.

 

Also, I do know that the whole "I like you a little less" thing came across as inflammatory, but it's also true. The thing is though, the "little" I mean is really little, and considering all the other stuff he does that tends to make me like him more, I'm sure he comes out even in the end.

 

Finally, Deb, green stripes and brown pants sound just dandy to me!

 

--Jack

[Guest]

Too late for apologies.

 

You already saw him crying over your thread a few pages back.

[dcdeb]

Finally, Deb, green stripes and brown pants sound just dandy to me!

 

Oh, trust me... you'd need to see it to understand.

 

Remember Garanimals? Kids' clothes, where you'd match a top with a

zebra tag to pants with a zebra tag? That's what my hubby needs.

In fact, I've gone so far as to put index cards in his shirt pockets

with notes as to which pants match -- you know, "Black -- YES! Khaki

-- NEVER!"

 

Control freak? Who? Me?

 

dcdeb

[Aaurora]

Too late for apologies.

 

You already saw him crying over your thread a few pages back.

 

Was THAT was it was? I thought it was a bald man sweating.

[Guest]

Was THAT was it was? I thought it was a bald man sweating.

 

No, it's Mika's nose in all those pictures.

[babspanky]

I am in fact planning to maybe not go anymore, although not just because of this specifically.

 

But when I said that, everybody got upset too.

And anyway, considering Mika needs more support in the US, and my suggestion would enable him to connect with more people without alienating any who are already fans, I think it is in fact rather more useful than just chirping about how lucky we are even to have him within our borders.

 

If anything, I'm the one looking out for his success here. "He does what he does and if you don't like it, boo!" is not the best tactic to increase his fanbase.

 

--Jack

 

Not everyone. Don't flatter yourself.

[mgpm]

Personally...I feel very happy with the experiences I've had with Mika. When I saw him last June, he performed when he was sick...did a great job of it, too. On top of that he met with us fans for about 45 minutes. I had all that time to speak to him, clown around and take all the pictures I wanted. This was when he wasn't even feeling well. This was certainly more for the price of my ticket than I've ever got from any other artist I've ever seen.

 

I've seen a second show now...in Philly....and I really don't mind him repeating things. I guess if he were playing only to me and he repeated everything it would be annoying. But there are more people seeing him for the first time than not at every show, and I understand this...and I expect it even.

 

I understand your viewpoint, Jack. But I guess I feel that Mika gives so much of his time and tries to accomodate us that I wouldn't criticize him for repeating phrases in his shows. I feel like he's pretty hardworking (his schedule is brutal sometimes) and that he delivers on the music and the showmanship...in spades. He's very thoughtful of his fans, I think...and this, for me, would cover a host of sins, including repeating himself.

[babspanky]

I do agree that shows are more memorable when something unscripted happens. It makes the gig stick out from the "crowd" and feel more special. I guess sometimes it's just luck of the draw when something like that happens, like if something goes wrong. And when I say "goes wrong" I obviously don't mean something bad happens, but for example, at our show in Boston, Mika started playing Stuck in the Middle and he messed up and stopped the whole show and said something along the lines of "When you mess up, you mess up. And you just gotta start from the beginning!" And he laughed, as did everyone else, and started the song over. It wasn't embarrassing (at least it didn't seem embarrassing) or anything, but it was cute. He played it off really well and the crowed cheered. That's the kind of thing I mean by "luck." Sometimes stuff just happens that's funny.

 

Regardless...he's still amazing. As I'm sure you all are aware.

 

 

I'm beginning to think this is scripted now though, I've seen him cock this up twice.

[Ioana]

in interviews for example,he always goes on with the 'born in Lebanon...Royal Opera House...etc etc'

 

But the overly repeated parts are in that case meant to block personal questions ,now I dunno what the Billy Brown issue is,but it's probably like Zoots said,if you start following him obsessively, you may get annoyed with it

 

I have no complaints...seen two gigs,never minded

 

And why not have perfectly organized gigs? spontaneity is good,and he does have it, but mistakes because you rely on improv will be ranted about too

 

Poor man...he can never please 'em all...

[lollipop_monkey]

I for one forgive him his repetitionary banter. If I were rich enough/lucky enough/responsibility-free enough to see him 8 times a year I wouldn't care if he recited the banter verbatim. I'd be going to hear him sing, not chat.

 

A few people here really need a reality check. Not everyone sees a Mika concert week in, week out AND MIKA KNOWS THAT. Cut him some slack!

 

Jack is welcome to correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't think this is about those who attend numerous concerts and/or obsessively watch every YouTube video getting "bored" with hearing the same spiel to the audience over and over.

 

It's about making the audience - those specific individuals who have paid to hear you perform on that particular night - feel special, methinks. Mika is certainly capable of that. As mentioned earlier, he picked up on the Toronto/Montreal rivalry and mentioned something relating to that, and the crowd loved it. Or holding up Michelle's Mika-doll and chatting about it in San Fran - even the people who don't know us or Michelle or anything about that doll were laughing and clapping.

 

And who can forget that concert - Munich? Where he got a toy thrown on stage and said "who needs a fsking award when you can have this?" Cute, unique, and spontaneous. Sigh.

 

He also did great in Europe, using all the local languages. Yeah, it was the same old story, but to have an English/French speaking performer show up and speak Dutch or Norwegian creates a special rapport with the audience. Conversely, the scripted banter is lovely, but I'm certain Mika could take it one step further and expand on finding new ways to interact with the audience in ways that serve to build that rapport.

 

I think another thing he could consider is quantity. In LA we got the Billy Brown speech and the thank-you-for-coming-radio-play sucks speech, the second which was also in SFO. The difference was the aforementioned monkey doll speech in SFO. Other than that, there wasn't much in between. He could certainly throw in a few more moments of chatter - even two or three sentences would get him that much further in scooping the audience into the palm of his hand.

 

That said, I don't think he's too concerned. I think he really focuses on every minute detail of the vocals and the visual aspects., and not so much on everything else. In terms of his scripts, I believe he's taking an "if it ain't broken, don't fix it" approach - the crowd in LA went mad when he recounted the Billy Brown story. If he checks "default audience story" off his list and focuses instead on changing up the notes in Any Other World, that, I believe, is just Mika being Mika.

 

I'm getting close to crossing the border in terms of over analyzing, but I think it may also have to do with venue size. In the DVD, he gets wide eyed when talking about performing for 1500 people, and absolutely giddy when talking about performing for 3000. Stop to consider that the aforementioned 3000 people gig was not even a year ago, and now he's up to what, 10,000 or so, more at festivals?

 

He's making an effort to keep connecting with his audience, but he's doing it using the channel he knows best - music, rather than spoken words. That's why we get the uber extended, pied-piper-like Stuck In The Middle, and the Kaching-ah! thing on GK.

 

If he does eventually embark on an unplugged, acoustic tour with just him, Martin and Mikey, I'd be very interested to see how his audience interaction differs. He's a smart, sweet person, and his concerts are a transcendent experience based on the vocals, and he knows that. He just needs to come to the realization that singing isn't the only entertaining thing he can do with his mouth - we like to hear what he has to say along with what he has to sing.

[Christine]

spontaneity is good,and he does have it, but mistakes because you rely on improv will be ranted about too

 

Poor man...he can never please 'em all...

 

You may be right. People are still ranting on YouTube about a comment he made in Toronto last year. Personally I loved it though.

 

Not that I have any issues with Montreal but I thought Mika was pretty clever for picking up on the rivalry so quickly and saying something guaranteed to ingratiate himself with the Toronto audience.

 

 

(about 1 minute in)

 

There were very few people there that night that would be called Mika fans by today's standards. Unlike now, when he came out on stage people were not climbing all over themselves to get to him and singing along with every word. He really had to work at it but he won them over by the end of the night and it was one of the things that really stuck in mind afterwards, along with his voice.

 

I think it's a risk worth taking and I totally agree that he shouldn't be pandering to those of us who've seen several of his shows. I think unrehearsed banter is even more important for the people in the audience who aren't massive fans so that they can get to know him better.

 

I went to see Patrick Wolf at Jack's insistence even though I was extremely unimpressed with the way he publicly disrespected Mika. But he spent so much time talking about how he felt about Toronto and the people here and responding to the things that people were saying and doing in the audience that I was captivated by him. He was just ridiculously charming and you couldn't help but love him.

 

Mika is also ridiculously charming and it would be great if he demonstrated that with a little more than the very brief sound bites. Everyone in the audience has not seen hours upon hours of his interviews as we have.

[elanorelle]

Mana!

 

you can't sleep either eh?

 

well I can't right now I am seeing him in 18 hours and I am going BATTY!!!!!! :insane: :insane:

[JackViolet]

Jack is welcome to correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't think this is about those who attend numerous concerts and/or obsessively watch every YouTube video getting "bored" with hearing the same spiel to the audience over and over.

 

It's about making the audience - those specific individuals who have paid to hear you perform on that particular night - feel special, methinks. Mika is certainly capable of that.

 

snip snip

 

Thank you, Mana. That is indeed exactly what I mean. And yes, I'm very much with you on the quantity thing. He has a relatively short set, and he really doesn't talk very much in between songs. He has the time and the flexibility to add on plenty of improvised chatter even on top of the old stand-by stories if he would only be willing.

 

spontaneity is good,and he does have it, but mistakes because you rely on improv will be ranted about too

 

Mistakes? What kind of mistakes can you have with improv? Like wanting to tell us about a cool restaurant he stopped by on the way for lunch and confusing it with the restaurant he had breakfast at instead something? That would hardly be a big deal, and since it's improv no one would know he made any "mistake" anyway!

 

I'm not saying he should improvise his set list or his songs, and he already messes stuff up all the time even with his bulletproof script.

 

--Jack

[JackViolet]

I think unrehearsed banter is even more important for the people in the audience who aren't massive fans so that they can get to know him better.

 

This is a very good point. I've privately noted before that it seems to me that people who are not the kind of obsessive fans that we are leave Mika gigs without knowing anything about Mika except that yes, he can sing--and that's a shame. What they get from him on stage, apart from a few soundbites, is a pitch-perfect performance--which is great, but which you can also get on tv. I want to see him be more than an extremely talented jukebox on stage.

 

I went to see Patrick Wolf at Jack's insistence even though I was extremely unimpressed with the way he publicly disrespected Mika. But he spent so much time talking about how he felt about Toronto and the people here and responding to the things that people were saying and doing in the audience that I was captivated by him. He was just ridiculously charming and you couldn't help but love him.

 

Yup. I went to see him on a whim, without either liking his songs all THAT much, or being all that captivated by him--in part because of how much Kata and Yop gushed about his endearing, genuine stage manner. I left as one of his biggest proselytizers, and as Christine said, "insisted" that she go see him as soon as possible. His show immediately took the number 2 spot in my top-shows-of-all-time, and it was all almost entirely due to his stage manner and unguardedness. I am a bigger fan of Mika--I don't spend my time posting on Patrick Wolf forums or analyzing his music or anything--but well, for me, Mika's concerts currently rank below Patrick's. But they could easily rank above, and I want them to rank above, and that's why I made this thread.

 

--Jack

[JackViolet]

I've seen a second show now...in Philly....and I really don't mind him repeating things. I guess if he were playing only to me and he repeated everything it would be annoying. But there are more people seeing him for the first time than not at every show, and I understand this...and I expect it even.

 

Well Philly was amazing, Mgpm. That was actually a good example of his taking material that was scripted and yet making it seem spontaneous, anyway.

 

Of course it was also his first time performing that exact script in the states.

 

--Jack

[Ioana]

 

 

 

Mistakes? What kind of mistakes can you have with improv? Like wanting to tell us about a cool restaurant he stopped by on the way for lunch and confusing it with the restaurant he had breakfast at instead something? That would hardly be a big deal, and since it's improv no one would know he made any "mistake" anyway!

 

I'm not saying he should improvise his set list or his songs, and he already messes stuff up all the time even with his bulletproof script.

 

--Jack

 

I mean improvs in the show,not the chatter that always gets talked about,whatever it is

It's a curse having fans that point out even the smallest thing

 

Don't get me wrong,it is great that oppinions are shared

[norwalk174]

i went to 2 and they were both different in the way he said his stories and he changed it up a bit i don't think his shows are that scripted to be honest.. it seems like he does it a little bit differently every time.

[wolfs_cry]

in all fairness you are there to see a show (best one ever!!)and most shows have a script...

 

if he finds something that works and gets the crowd reved up and happy and seem to be enjoying themselves he just wants to spread that joy to everyone....

 

mind you i get enough joy just seein ghim

[suzie]

...I can't believe anyone can rate concerts based mainly upon the artist's interaction with the audience... It is important but don't forget he is a musician and not a politician to try and win over people with differently scripted speeches at each of his performances...

Besides, he is probably also trying to impress the local press with his funny stories and he is not a stand up comedian to create a new story for each night and each city.

 

I think the most important thing for him to concentrate upon during any show is:

 

- get the pitch right

- not fall over any break his leg

- not mix up the name of the place where he is performing...

 

I don't expect any more from him since he has been on the road for 1,5 years now, almost non-stop.

[Aaurora]

No, it's Mika's nose in all those pictures.

 

Gosh, no wonder I got confused. It doesn't have his trademark nose hairs coming out.

[Guest]

Gosh, no wonder I got confused. It doesn't have his trademark nose hairs coming out.

 

well, it's how it would look if he were peering out over it.

[mikaholic]

I'm beginning to think this is scripted now though, I've seen him cock this up twice.

 

To be fair...it does seem like a difficult song to play and sing. Especially when you're all over the place like Mika.

[Christine]

...I can't believe anyone can rate concerts based mainly upon the artist's interaction with the audience... It is important but don't forget he is a musician and not a politician to try and win over people with differently scripted speeches at each of his performances...

 

If people were only interested in Mika based on his music this forum would be dead.

 

Virtually every one of us is drawn to him personally. Everything from his style to his battles with dyslexia and bullying to his disarming charisma and exceptional sweetness with his fans.

 

People may like and respect Mika because of his music, but they love him for who and what he is.

[zoots14]

If people were only interested in Mika based on his music this forum would be dead.

 

Virtually every one of us is drawn to him personally. Everything from his style to his battles with dyslexia and bullying to his disarming charisma and exceptional sweetness with his fans.

 

People may like and respect Mika because of his music, but they love him for who and what he is.

 

Amen to that!