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REPORTS/PICS/VIDS: Mika @ Hammersmith Apollo, London FEB 28 2010

Fmbm

By Fmbm
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lollipop_monkey

lollipop_monkey

Posted
Posted
Not going to talk about the gig much. I thought Mika was fantastic as always but the entire night was ruined for me by the MFC. I have gone to 100s of gigs in the past from the biggest artists in the world at arenas to small bands at tiny clubs. The night before Mika I was at the o2 arena for Gaga and guess what... there was no numbering system. When people arrived later than others, no one batted an eyelid or caused an argument when they skipped past people in the queue to stand with their friends because there is such a thing as human decency. Lets compare that to Mika's fans, shall we?

 

I'm sorry to say this (and it is definitely not true of all of you) but you guys are the worst fans of any artist in the world. You guys are selfish, pedantic and think you have a bigger right of being there than other people. Guess what guys? We are ALL Mika fans. The fact you paid a stupid amount of money to come here from another country does not change that. Whether you live next door to the venue or the other side of the ocean, we all have the same right and expect the same level of enjoyment? But you guys manage to ruin peoples enjoyment including me. And no, this isn't just me. When I raised a point about it in the venue last night, people were backing me up and agreeing with it.

 

You guys actually expect someone who arrives later than their friend to queue on their own and spend the entire gig on their own because of your precious numberng system? How selfish and heartless is that? If I can see the biggest artist in the world the day before and find there is no numbering system in place yet there is no one pushing and everyone walking in calmly. Compare that to Mika where you guys would quite happily kill someone else if it meant you could get in the front row.

 

I await the abuse, the predictable comments of "But John supports the numbering system" but I honestly couldn't care less. I have been going to Mika gigs before most of you lot had even heard of him. The first year of gigs was amazing. The queues were a lot of fun and that is how I made friends with some of you here. From last year that all changed. I was actually dreading yesterdays gig before I'd even got there solely down to the fans. I have a ticket for the Brighton gig on Wednesday but I'll happily waste the money so I don't have to spend another night with some of the vilest people I have ever met. Again, this isn't all of you but I'm wondering if its a minority of you or the majority?

 

To conclude, I'd like to thank you for ruining one of my favourite artists for me. I don't think I will ever go to another Mika gig again.

 

The problem isn't when a single someone arrives later and meets his or her friend in line. The problem is that in the Mika community, we were seeing one or two people arrive - and hold a place for 20+ of their friends who turn up five hours later.

 

If I'm 6th in line, and two people pull that off, then I'm suddenly 46th in line. Is that human decency? Not in my opinion. By arriving early and being the sixth fan at the venue, I would think I should have my pick of spots inside the venue... but in that situation would now be relegated to second or third row, where I can't see the stage. I don't think that's fair at all. Maybe you don't mind having a whole row of people jump the queue and get in front of you, but trust me - most Mika fans do mind.

 

I understand your point that no one wants to be marooned away from his or her friends, but we turned a blind eye to that in the early days and it ended up out of control. This community is so cohesive that the prospect of someone holding a spot for a whole football team worth of people can and did happen. That's why the numbers system came to be in the first place. And again, I get that it's logistically frustrating - one has to coordinate with all his or her friends and get to the venue at around the same time, or else be separated in the queue, and have to scramble to meet up again inside the venue. But it's more fair, IMHO, than having the people who arrive at the venue the earliest get stuck further back because so many people queue jumped.

 

And for the record, you're wrong that no other fans have ever used the numbering system. The venue told MFCers to start it back in 2007 because they had seen it work for other artists. I've experienced myself at non-Mika gigs over here in Canada. It's not a perfect system, but at least a first-come, first-served approach levels the playing field.

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Naectegale

Naectegale

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Do you guys know if there's any way to meet Mika after the show? Like where outside Hammersmith can you wait for him to come out? Thanks :)

 

Last night, there was an orderly Q formed by barriers by the road between the Apollo and the little carpark under the flyover, to the right of the venue as you look at it. Security were very strict about lining up behind the barrier and as a result, the M&G was quite orderly

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guylainem123

guylainem123

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i can understand that it is frustrating not to be with friends at a gig, i really do. but if it is so important to be with your friends, instead of you moving up to the front, how about the friends move back to be with you?

 

that would work, wouldn't it? then everybody would be happy :blush-anim-cl:

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LilStar

LilStar

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Lors de son concert londonien du dimanche 28 février, Mika a assuré le show comme une bête... de scène !

 

Il a le diable au corps, et c'est peu dire ! Lors de son dernier concert, dimanche 28 février à Londres, Mika s'est lâché comme jamais. Quasi en transe, le chanteur s'est livré à des contorsions extrêmes et à des mimiques impossibles, comme s'il était possédé ! Par chance, son slim ultra-moulant empêchait largement tout démon de prendre place à l'intérieur, alors que l'interprète de Relax faisait simplement corps avec ses chansons.

 

Tout comme dans son dernier clip où il fait preuve d'une énergie débordante , Mika a donné de sa personne sur scène, ne se souciant ni du ridicule, ni de la fatigue. Pourtant, après une telle prestation, on doute que le britannique d'origine libanaise doit être complètement vidé. Espérons qu'il passe par un sas de décompression entre-temps, pour exorciser sa frénésie... et reprendre ses esprits !

 

hahaha!! :lmfao:

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sharonkitten

sharonkitten

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i can understand that it is frustrating not to be with friends at a gig, i really do. but if it is so important to be with your friends, instead of you moving up to the front, how about the friends move back to be with you?

 

that would work, wouldn't it? then everybody would be happy :blush-anim-cl:

 

I had to do this yesterday - coming with 3 friends none of whom wanted to queue before 4pm. I was happy to queue from 12noon. But in the end i decided my friends were more important to me than getting front row, as i know i will get front row one day. So i had to compromise. However, we were lucky and got 3rd row so i still had a great view and i got to spend time with my friends.

 

I know though that i could have queued alone earlier and got a better spot but i would have been on my own

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sarac

sarac

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Or..if it were say 2 others that were coming, just tell the person numbering to give you 3 numbers.

Imagine how it could have been handled. You queue, you get your number, you tell the numberer I'm waiting for my friend can I get a number for her... or guylainem123's suggestion would work just as well.

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guylainem123

guylainem123

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I had to do this yesterday - coming with 3 friends none of whom wanted to queue before 4pm. I was happy to queue from 12noon. But in the end i decided my friends were more important to me than getting front row, as i know i will get front row one day. So i had to compromise. However, we were lucky and got 3rd row so i still had a great view and i got to spend time with my friends.

 

I know though that i could have queued alone earlier and got a better spot but i would have been on my own

 

i've had to make that decision also in the past.... not for mika but for another artist. it was worth it.

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Abbyyy

Abbyyy

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Or..if it were say 2 others that were coming, just tell the person numbering to give you 3 numbers.

Imagine how it could have been handled. You queue, you get your number, you tell the numberer I'm waiting for my friend can I get a number for her... or guylainem123's suggestion would work just as well.

 

For future reference, would that go down well with people do you think??

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JustJen

JustJen

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Here's Toy Boy

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=13i-FqaPvgE

 

As I've put in the description, sorry for the shaking but I've been ill and by the end of the show I was really tired but I love the song so wanted to still get a video

 

Still have Touches You and Good Gone Girl to upload, but the speed youtube is going, I might not have them up until tomorrow

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PinkFlamingo21

PinkFlamingo21

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So here is my report-

 

I always expected that a Mika concert would be something spectacular...how wrong I was. What I saw last night was purely and simply out of this world. I can't find the words to express it except to tell I'm still a little shocked and in awe from it!

 

After a morning fraught with issues (mainly travel related) we arrived at Hammersmith at about 12:30 to join the queue, collecting numbers 46-49, ready for the longest wait ever. Although, surprisingly, it went pretty fast and the queue was actually quite fun! It was so nice to meet a few of you though I'm sorry I don't know all of your names/user names! Had a good time sat under a blanket singing along to a few songs, playing happy families and chatting to everyone. It was great to hear about your past Mika experiences, and everyone telling us how much we were going to love the show.

 

At half 3 ish we got moved to a proper queue after getting extremely confused about where I was supposed to be standing with the numbers thing. We got sorted eventually. And met musicstarlett in the queue and she sort of became part of the group after that :) We chatted to the people around us and ate a bit, then got let inside to sit a bit more.

 

It was at this point that I tackled the most annoying toilet of ALL TIME. With a 20 minute time limit on it and the longest cleaning cycle EVER! So that you had to wait 5 minutes between people. I know you don't really need to know about that but it was a significant part of my day! We said hi to he people we'd met and had to leave behind in the queue (they didn't get numbers) and returned to wait some more!

 

Before long, we were reordering ourselves, which again was easier said than done, but we managed it. We were let in to the next bit of the building. In the moments that followed I can quite honestly say, I was terrified. I had never been to a standing gig before and all around me I could just see heads everywhere all trying to edge forwards! We waited a while, then suddenly, the doors were open and crowd surged forward. I got in fairly quickly and moved straight down to the front and got SECOND ROW ALMOST CENTRE! I was so happy- it was better than I had ever hoped for!

 

It seemed like forever until Erik Hassle began, while they played like...1 piece of music over and over and over! Then finally it began. I liked Erik's voice he was good. I did not find him particularly inspiring and I didn't really know what to do with myself (you couldnt really dance), but he wasn't bad. My friend loved him.

 

Then another looooooooooooooooong wait in which we listened to the same song again! When I Just Want Your Kiss Boy by Kate Nash came on, people were so relieved to hear something new there was actually a cheer from the audience and people started to dance! Then finally the light went out.

 

THEN AN ALARM GOES OFF! I thought it was a fire alarm was SO annoyed that we were now going to miss the concert. Then it turned out it was part of the show :P The opening was immense (I particularly like when they screamed "We are not what you think we are"- nice bit of drama!), then we saw Mika. And WOW. He was like nothing I had ever seen, bouncing across the stage so effortlessly. And the atmosphere was amazing. Every song was perfectly in tune and it was so amazing to see Mika up close. The first few songs were so lively and had everyone was bouncing. Happy Ending had the most amazing atmosphere and all the people on the circle even were standing up. Was quite emotional really! Then he announced that in the last few songs something had changed (In my head: really?? I didn't notice anything!) and now it was just him and us (In my head: who was it before then? I'm so confused it looks the same) and now he was gonna be completely exposed (which got a massive cheer for multiple reasons i expect). Anyway I never noticed what was wrong so if anyone know, lets me know! It was around here that we had a fainting incident among our number, but lets not ponder that too much. The jumping thing in Love Today was so cool and we all went completely mad in We Are Golden. Touches You was probably among my favourites too. Before I knew it, he'd gone :( We all chanted MI-KA MI-KA and he came back for the encore! Yay! I got the feeling he was a little upset about the technical issues but he said we'd been a great audience :thumb_yello: Toy Boy was fabulous of course as was Grace Kelly and Lollipop was AMAAAZING! I want to know where they get those huge balloons from. The bins thing was cool too :).

 

Anyway, a few bows later, it was all over. The whole thing had passed in the blink of an eye. We said good bye to our new friend and returned home.

 

Congratulations and thank you to Mika for putting on such an incredible show. I'm still getting over it now!!! As is my throat. Hope everyone else had a wonderful time too.

 

 

P.S. I'll put my videos on youtube and post a link later but the filming and picture/sound quality is pretty awful to be honest. I wasn't watching what I was recording, I was too busy with what was going on live! The guy with Mika model, (we loved that in the queue by the way!) your head also stars in it if you are interested :P

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sariflor

sariflor

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Love Today (with the LGs and BGs - including Sariflor dancing with Mika)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L2cRZkEmpv8

 

(has taken 4.5hrs to upload!)

 

 

Thanks Sharon! Watching it again just makes it all seem real again I am still in shock, hahahah!!! I just could NOT believe my eyes when I saw him pounce and grab my arm, and pull me to the front :lmfao:

All I could remember were his eyes with a very determined look, staring at me through the mask :roftl:. At that point I nearly died. I thought 'WTF am I going to do now???'

 

 

 

i would have a solution if mika did that to me... drop down and play dead :mf_rosetinted:

 

:lmfao:

 

ohhhhhhh sariflor!! :aah:

 

 

Oh Guy, believe me, if I had thought about it, I would have said the same thing, but when it happens, you just somehow 'go' and it all comes naturally :naughty:. Oh dear!

I found another vid that gives more of a view, including when he sort of put his bum against me:

 

 

What a surreal night. When I came off, someone said that MamaP and John were standing there, staring at the stage in disbelief, wondering wtf had posessed Mika to do that :roftl:. They all thought that he'd gone mental, ahhahaha.

During the rehearsals, MamaP had decided that she liked my zombie, and said that I needed to be the last one to go out in the line, and I tried a few times to sneak into the middle of the line, because I didn't particularly want to be the last one, but every time she found me out and put me at the back again, saying that I was last :aah:, so I really tried very very hard not to be the last one, but she just insisted that I had to, and wasn't having any of it. Oh goodness, I am still in shock, haha.

After he put me back in the middle, I couldn't see anything, so I couldn't even figure out how to get off the stage until Imma came to get me and lead me out. I didn't know what Mika wanted me to do either, obviously, so I just kinda improvised and made sure that I was moving until someone told me otherwise :naughty:. Which Imma kinda did when she took my hand and lead me off the stage.

What a night!!!!!!!!!

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Citiesonfire

Citiesonfire

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Well.... That was pretty awesome :)

 

Didnt get there til about 5, but was still in the first bit of the outside queing, got COMPLETLY soaked when it started raining ( thankyou to the person that lended me there umbrella!)

 

Was about 4 from the front - center, was amazing...

 

And due to the fact i hadnt completley recovered from being ill - i now can barely speak! lets hope my voice comes back for bristol!

 

But seriously, that was a brilliant night - didnt even notice the apparent equiptment fault , def rates in my top 5 gigs :)

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