REPORTS/PICS/VIDS for MIKA LA Surprise Show 04-15-09

[guylainem123]

Amen. I am in love with this album already. (Although I haven't warmed up to GGG yet, but keeping an open mind for the recorded version.)

 

I cannot get the other three out of my head. I was in the grocery store today and literally could not overcome the compulsion to sing Blue Eyes out loud. I don't think I've ever done that before... walking up & down the aisles singing to myself.

 

these songs have been stuck in my head since the LA gig. i'm sure the album versions will be great! i can't wait!!!!

 

singing in grocery stores?? did you get dirty looks?

[Jennifer B]

My hubby Garth, went to the concert in my name since I couldn't get a babysitter and fly in He didn't go early since he was working, and didn't stay after. He only does crazy "fangurl" things when I am around. He was very considerate knowing how much I wanted to be there. Hopefully I'll get a chance this summer??!!!!!

[Haley & Megan Meyer]

My hubby Garth, went to the concert in my name since I couldn't get a babysitter and fly in He didn't go early since he was working, and didn't stay after. He only does crazy "fangurl" things when I am around. He was very considerate knowing how much I wanted to be there. Hopefully I'll get a chance this summer??!!!!!

 

We hope you do too!

[charlottechristy]

I hope so too. Would love to see you again. Hopefully, SLC! That would be so amazing. Of course, it would mean more to us ..

 

My hubby Garth, went to the concert in my name since I couldn't get a babysitter and fly in He didn't go early since he was working, and didn't stay after. He only does crazy "fangurl" things when I am around. He was very considerate knowing how much I wanted to be there. Hopefully I'll get a chance this summer??!!!!!

[Emerald]

When I firt heard "Relax", I didn't really like it. Now it is one of my favourites (all are, but "Relax" is specieal ^^). And "Billy Brown" was really not my favourite and now I like it very much! So I understand you're a bit *sad* Avoca, but maybe you'll grow fond on them as others said. And I'm sure the recorded versions will be different. I think maybe you should wait for the album and listen to them then (with the good quality and all).

[lollipop_monkey]

I'm sorry for whatever confusion there was, Daisuke -- your name most

definitely WAS on the list that I sent, so I'm glad that you were at least

able to get in to the show.

 

Deb - I think what happened was that Allison was referring to an outdated version of the list when Daisuke arrived. Kind of unfortunate, but as he said, we managed to get him in as Andrew's +1, so it worked out okay in the end.

 

It was interesting to me to note that many of the new members who

signed up to the MFC just days before the secret gig didn't claim their

MFC wristbands.

 

We don't know if that means they didn't see the MFCers at the park on

Tuesday night and stood in line, or what... but we do realize that next

time (if there is a next time!) we need to have a sign or something and

make sure that anyone who WANTS to be a part of the MFC group

can be a part of the group!

 

Yeah, Andrew and I noticed that when we were talking with Allison about how many people were on the list who hadn't claimed their wristband. A lot of unfamiliar names were the ones that went unchecked.

 

I absolutely agree that we need a big honking sign for the next gigs. In fact, thinking about it more, as a long-term goal I think it'd be nice to have a few flags done - I'm thinking a couple for North America, one for France, one for England, and one for other parts of Europe. And if we're lucky with dates in the future, ones for Australia, Asia, and South America.

 

I think another problem is that when MFCers who sort of know each other get together, we can seem to others like a sort of established, impenetrable clique. I think an obvious flag might serve as a welcome mat for newer members to come up and join in on the fun.

 

For anyone interested, here's a link to my pictures and vids from the show.

 

{By the way, Does anyone know of a good place to host 100+ MB files? MediaFire won't take most of the songs, and putting it on YT is nearly pointless, seeing how they've been removing links like lightning lately.}

 

Hi Daisuke! I'm Mana, Andrew's wife - I'm the blonde who was in front of you most of the night.

 

Sorry If I jumped on your toes during Love Today, btw.

 

It seems you can get away with posting your content on YouTube as long as you don't give it any titles or keywords indicating what it is.

 

Thanks for your pics and vids! And stop by MFC more often, we don't bite.

 

didn't you guys have a sign that read MFC? or did i just dream that?

 

Yeah we had a makeshift paper one. I'm glad we had that one, at least - at the M&G, Mika said he'd seen that picture below on the Roxy's blog, so at least he was aware just where us nutters came from.

 

Edited April 20, 2009 by lollipop_monkey

[Haley & Megan Meyer]

Deb - I think what happened was that Allison was referring to an outdated version of the list when Daisuke arrived. Kind of unfortunate, but as he said, we managed to get him in as Andrew's +1, so it worked out okay in the end.

 

 

Yeah, Andrew and I noticed that when we were talking with Allison about how many people were on the list who hadn't claimed their wristband. A lot of unfamiliar names were the ones that went unchecked.

 

I absolutely agree that we need a big honking sign for the next gigs. In fact, thinking about it more, as a long-term goal I think it'd be nice to have a few flags done - I'm thinking a couple for North America, one for France, one for England, and one for other parts of Europe. And if we're lucky with dates in the future, ones for Australia, Asia, and South America.

 

I think another problem is that when MFCers who sort of know each other get together, we can seem to others like a sort of established, impenetrable clique. I think an obvious flag might serve as a welcome mat for newer members to come up and join in on the fun.

 

 

 

Hi Daisuke! I'm Mana, Andrew's wife - I'm the blonde who was in front of you most of the night.

 

Sorry If I jumped on your toes during Love Today, btw.

 

It seems you can get away with posting your content on YouTube as long as you don't give it any titles or keywords indicating what it is.

 

Thanks for your pics and vids! And stop by MFC more often, we don't bite.

 

 

 

Yeah we had a makeshift paper one. I'm glad we had that one, at least - at the M&G, Mika said he'd seen that picture below on the Roxy's blog, so at least he was aware just where us nutters came from.

 

We think that it's definitely a good idea to have some huge honking signs for next gigs (wouldn't want to miss out on meeting any mfc'ers when Mika comes around our way....hopefully soon). That would be awesome. Also cute with some flags as well. Great ideas.

[AwesomePossum]

yea I didn't know where you guys were in the park. i figured the front, but... and sometimes introducing yourself to new people (esp if you're not sure they're the right people) can be a bit awkward

 

I totally went though, even though I didn't think I was going to get there on tuesday; my time conflict got cancelled and I found myself driving 120 miles north to LA instead of home.. weird

 

but thanks for everything anyway

[LeiRe]

Thanks everyone for sharing!

[sienna]

 

I was asking Mana earlier if we were brainwashed by Da Stare or are these songs really that good. I can't believe anyone who heard them live didn't think they were brilliant.

 

I have no idea how I would feel if I only had the videos to go on since my experience is so different. But judging from the studio video clips on how the music is being mixed and how great the songs are live I can't imagine any Mika fan will be disappointed with the outcome.

 

It took me a long time to warm up to LICM but I think it will be love at first listen for many of the tracks on this album.

 

I wouldn't worry about the arrangements. It is supposed to be stripped down from the album and they threw this show together very quickly. We thought they were doing soundcheck before the gig but they were actually rehearsing so I expect the live sound to develop as well and you'll probably hear something different by the time the actual tour rolls around.

 

Interesting reflection Christine!

 

To be at a show in person and only listen to videos or sound files can of course never be compared…but…when you “know” an artist and have had the honour to follow his work, or at least snippets from it in his vlogs, I don’t think there is very much doubtfulness to believe that this new material is going to be as fantastic as the previous!

 

You guys did a really good job to let the rest of us be a part of the experience.

 

Three of the songs went right in to my heart! TB, GGG and BIOTG!

 

With the song Blue Eyes it is a little harder…it is soooo difficult to hear both the music and the lyrics from the clips, but I believe in this one to!

 

I don’t think you can pick up new songs this easy is from an artist in general based on this kind of material, but in this case I’m definitely biased of course!

[zoots14]

My hubby Garth, went to the concert in my name since I couldn't get a babysitter and fly in He didn't go early since he was working, and didn't stay after. He only does crazy "fangurl" things when I am around. He was very considerate knowing how much I wanted to be there. Hopefully I'll get a chance this summer??!!!!!

 

I met your hubby and his friend at the ice cream truck... seemed like a very nice guy!

[mari62]

Mana, have just finished reading your whole report and I'd like to say something:

 

First of all I'd like to tell you you're really a skilled, talented and sensitive writer, you're excellent at describing and putting emotions into words!!

I enjoyed and loved every single word of it, therefore I should quote it all, but its too long and I'm gonna quote just some of the most interesting, meaningful and touching phrases to me

 

I believe all the nice things you say about Mika are true and I think most MFCers feel the same

He's a really special, generous, sensitive guy and an absolute sweetheart

in a way I feel as if I were there and the last part I quoted about our friends and family in real life and when you thank us all touched me so deeply that brought the tears to my eyes

Thats why I'd like to hugely thank you for writing this amazing report and for sharing so many details !! It really means a lot to me

Part Two - The Waiting

At some point during the show Mika made a point of telling the audience that it’s all about us, he can’t do it without us, etc. It’s the typical stuff you hear, but for some reason coming from Mika it sounds totally genuine. That’s one of the things I love about him.

 

Part Three - The Gig

 

Hehe. He also messed up the lyrics during SITM. I have the sense that often when Mika messes up his lyrics it’s because for a moment, his mind drifts – he’s thinking about his next move. Maybe what crazy thing he’s going to d next, such as picking up one of the old megaphone thingers and trying to sing through it, which he indeed did. I think it was during Stuck InThe Middle that he looked up at the guitarist and bassist and gestured at them, then at his own eyes – as if to say “watch me, take your cues from me.” He didn’t gesture at Cherisse, though – after more than two years of touring with Mika, she knows he’s running the show, and if he zigs or zags, they need to follow. And it works so well.

 

Toy Boy, It felt like we were standing in his livingroom, hearing him perform something obviously near and dear to him. The whole vibe was just amazingly raw, casual, real… just, well, magic. He was so playful about it – his expressions when singing these lyrics were so fitting. Like when he sang “But your mama thought there was something wrong” he almost looked infuriated, forcefully spitting out the lyrics… but then when he got to “didn’t want you sleeping with a boy too long” he had a playful, naughty smile on his face, and sang the words through that smile.

 

Mika was SO real and SO believable that I was just stunned.

 

I don’t know how anyone could watch that performance and not be blown away. Mika just radiates such earnest, endearing, accessible talent - we’re not crazy for being diehard Mika fans. We’re just…blessed. That song is so beautifully crafted, so perfect, and his delivery so authentic. You can’t fake that. Maybe I’m being naïve, maybe every aspect of this is nothing more than commercial marketing, meticulously calculated to sell albums. And I suppose that’s possible – but I simply don’t believe it. I really feel that one just cannot calculate the “realness” of Mika, the sparkle in his eyes when his lyrics are sung back at him, the visible outpouring of himself that goes into these songs. I had this vision of Mika being a collector of, say, little glass globes. And each globe is a song, carefully created and then set out for display for the world to see. And at the Roxy that night, you could see him unveiling these new globes for the first time, excited to share his latest strokes of genius with the world, but at the same time slightly apprehensive. And Toy Boy, I think, is a particularly special little globe to him – one that he spent a lot of time creating, and one that now shines just a little brighter than some of the others.

 

This whole Mika thing is just THAT special. Seventy-five years from now, there’ll be fans born in the year 2070 who will hear Mika’s music and wish they’d been born a hundred years earlier and could have been around to watch his star start to shine. And we get to. Some of us have been following him since the very beginning, some more recently, but we get to BE there. Not even at the gigs, per se. We get to wait on pins and needles for this new album, and we get to be right in the middle of the chaos and the magic and all of that when it finally hits shelves. Lucky, lucky us. And then, through MFC, we get to share in the magic as it happens in other parts of the world. We get to make friends with people who understand just how freakin’ special this is. Magic like this doesn’t happen every day. Maybe not even every lifetime. And we get to drink up every drop. *

 

 

Part 4 - Meet and Greet

 

At this point we realized that it was important for us to set a precedent for this meet and greet, to be civil about things and not crowd Mika or make him feel like he was there to herd cattle or anything. Andrew gave us a stern talking to about following Mika around, and got us all into a U-shaped line so that Mika could visit with each of us and then move onto the next person.

It’s funny, in the videos the background music is really loud, but at the time, I didn’t even hear it. It didn’t permeate my conscious in the slightest. I sat on a ledge thing, and got told off by the venue security guy who told me I was going to fall onto the floor below. My bad. The guy then asked John, who was nearby if we were fans – and John replied with “yeah, they’re the die-hards.”

Sure, we don’t know him personally, but there is some sense of attachment, I think – that we celebrate his successes almost as though they’re our own. And that night was such a success – the crowd at the Roxy were so very into it, very receptive of what he had to offer.

 

It’s obvious that Mika truly appreciates the efforts we go to in terms of travelling to see his shows. You’d think after all the hopping on planes and trains that went on over the 19-month LICM run that he’d be over it, but I firmly believe he still finds it very heartwarming and maybe even slightly hard to believe. He knows, obviously, that people really connect with the music, but he clearly loves it when he sees that people are willing to go to lengths to see him perform. That’s why he gets so smiley when he hears people have travelled. That’s why he sends hot chocolate to the people who are willing to sacrifice an entire day sitting on a sidewalk in the queue. truly believe Mika appreciates what we do. His gratitude is genuine – something that I think we’d be hard pressed to find in very many other popular artists.

“I’m glad, that was enough champagne to get a lot of people very drunk.” I’m telling you, he’s got a heart of gold. He made his way around our semi-circle, taking the time to talk to each one of us, giving everyone a little slice of his undivided attention. He has this way of just connecting with people that a lot of people just don’t have. I think a lot of it is his body language – Mika is a master at commanding attention while fostering an appropriate vibe for the interaction. With his fans, it’s almost always a very open, very warm vibe. He’s very touchy, and that adds to the warmth of his interactions. When he was talking with Charlotte and Sara, Charlotte mentioned she liked his necklace. He told us it was actually perfume, then unscrewed the top and dabbed some on Charlotte and Sara’s wrists. It was very soft and slightly floral, almost like baby powder. That was just one example of the very non-stressed, casual nature of the meet and greet. It was way better for Mika, and better for the MFCers there, too.

 

Part 5 - Meet and Greet continued

Mika went around and talked to each MFCer, and then asked if we’d like pictures. He asked if we wanted a group picture or individual ones, hesitated for a moment, then said “ahh, let’s do both.”

 

He's a great picture-poser. He grabs you and pulls you into him like you're BFFs on the last day of school, taking a few pictures since you're going on holiday and won't see each other all summer. So sweet.

 

*sappiness warning*

 

Often our friends and family in “real life” don’t quite get what all the fuss is about. Your fellow MFCers, however, totally understand. They know what it’s like to see a new video blog with 15-second snippets of new songs, and to have it make your week. They know what it’s like to stand outside a venue before a show, and to have that feeling of excited energy knowing you’re about to see something amazing. They know what it’s like to see Mika somehow manage to show off that million-kilowatt smile while singing at the same time, his eyes literally sparkling when a crowd full of people sings his lyrics back at him. And they know why all this matters so much. They know why you hang on to little details of his career, why the music touches you, why it resonates so deeply.

 

To put it simply, your fellow MFCers feel the magic.

 

So to all my MFCers in LA, thank you for everything. It really, truly wouldn’t have been the same without you all. And to everyone who sat at their computers around the world waiting for all the details, thank you. Thank you for contributing to the sense that all across the world, we’re a family of Mika fans who might come from completely different walks of life, but are yet linked through this crazy world of musical and creative brilliance.

 

I can’t wait for the next chapter in the Mika story. We’re in for something awesome, guys. I can just feel it.

[mari62]

And last but not least the part about meet&greets, which is very important for us and I think every MFCer should read it carefully

At that point I was just elated that the night had gone so well. For the most part, the queue was orderly. The majority of people respected the order of the queue, and the security staff at the Roxy were firm without being obnoxious. Mika was on fire, totally bubbling with energy and in top form, vocally. All these things worked together to make for a really great, really enjoyable gig experience.

 

And when we were fortunate enough to get a meet and greet it turned out really well because everyone there kept sight of some basic notions of respect.

 

When Mika came into the room no one crowded him – he was able to move freely around the area, taking time to talk to each and every MFCer there without having others crowd him physically or interrupt when he was speaking to another person. I totally understand that it’s easy to lose sight of reality when Mika walks into the room – I know that starstruck state of mind makes people go a little loopy. But if we can ALL stay in that state of mind where we respect our fellow MFCers, and Mika, then with any luck we can have some really great future meet and greets where everyone walks away feeling mellow and happy – Mika included. But, it takes all of us. As soon as two or three people get worried that they won’t get his attention and start pushing ahead and demanding things, everyone else gets freaked out and suddenly you have a situation where it’s a mob scene instead of a mellow meet-and-greet comprised of the most dedicated fans. We don’t want that. No one wants that. And going forward, sure there will be dates where things just don’t work out. Mika might be tired or feeling ill, and it might not be possible to have any sort of meet and greet whatsoever. Or Mika and his people might be rushing to get out of the venue and onto a tour bus in time to get to another city for another show. And often in the entertainment industry, things change rapidly.

[avoca]

What, more repetitive and flat than the PDP Rain?

 

yes actually. the lyrics are very various, even too baroque for my tastes and I LOVE baroque, it's my period (I'm an historian). it's the music that I hate as well and find flat. but then I hope that one doesn't benefit from the acoustic version and in the definitive version of it will match more my tastes.

 

Ow:huglove:

Now, don't be sad darling... I'm sure there will be a song that you'll like in the EP or in the album... He'll surprise you, you'll see it!

 

thx, sweetey.

[Fmbm]

I only took videos on Wednesday, but somehow this picture ended up on my camera

 

 

Not the best quality, but

[Suzy]

 

 

Not the best quality, but

 

Just look at that Adam's apple. "Apple". Ha. Figures.

[Fmbm]

Just look at that Adam's apple. "Apple". Ha. Figures.

 

Exactly

[guylainem123]

I only took videos on Wednesday, but somehow this picture ended up on my camera

 

 

Not the best quality, but

 

you better hide it from rose....

[Fmbm]

you better hide it from rose....

 

Oh no, why?

[Fmbm]

I was texting Brittany earlier and remembered that during "Big Girl" he was so close that you could hear his normal singing voice and his amplified singing voice, if that makes sense...

So say he didn't have a microphone but was just singing. Well, it sounded like that.

[iadoremika]

you better hide it from rose....

All gone.

 

[Fmbm]

Just had another flashback

(This will probably be happening a lot where I remember little bits.)

 

During the meet and greet, Andrew and John were talking about their Blackberries. I just thought it was such a typical male conversation and very cute

[guylainem123]

Oh no, why?

 

she has an obsession for pretty necks.. that's all i'll say about that

[guylainem123]

All gone.

 

 

good thinking.... & we all know he loves bowties, so it's all good!

[Fmbm]

she has an obsession for pretty necks.. that's all i'll say about that

 

So do I

 

Rooooose, come out come out wherever you are