REPORTS/PICTURES/VIDEOS: Mika@Arena della Regina - Cattolica - Italy: 19-08-2010

[RAK1]

Wow, a weeks gone by already, so fast!

Guess I'd better do this report then:naughty:

This was my first time in Italy, and from the moment I got off the plane in Bologna, I could feel it was going to be a magical couple of days, and wasn't disappointed.

I travelled with Jazzy, and we got a train (air conditioned no less!) to Cattolica, and when we got there, we bumped into Tiibet coming out of the station. We were trying to find the hotel, which we knew was nearby, but at first couldn't find it, we walked up and down the road looking for a sign with the name on, but there wasn't one. So Tiibet went into this cafe (Cafe De Rose:naughty:) to ask where it was, and it turned out that's where the hotel was!

We then had an amusing 10 minutes trying to get the lady on reception to understand we had rooms there, and that we weren't all in the same room, thankfully a nice guy came over and translated for us, and we had to hand our paasports over til we paid (this is an important detail, bear with me).

We settled into our rooms, had a nap, got up later to go check out where the venue was for the next day (took pics of us by the stage), then went on down to the sea front to get some food. We found a lovely restaurant and had real Italian pizza, which was fantastic. Although I'm still baffled how Peperoni pizza, didn't actually have pepperoni on it:blink:

But it was very tasty none the less:naughty:

We passed a cafe on the way to the restaurant that had a tv, which was playing the Kick Ass video, bonus!

Next day, gig day.

We had a lie in, as the day before was pretty tiring from the travel, and we got up and had breakfast at 11ish, then walked down to the venue.

We got #93 and #94 in the queue, chatted with a few MFCers (Nezza, Mellody, Statue of Liberty, Tiibet, Guileitta, Yuls to name a few), wandered around, tried to even up my tan on my other arm, failed miserably:naughty:, had a sit down a couple of times in the cafe by the square for drinks to cool off (the weather was amazingly beautiful), just generally chilled out all day.

We got moved out of the square at about 3.30-4pmish, as they were starting soundchecking, as we were waiting at the side of the square, we saw Martin and Cherisse walking through to the stage, then Jimmy and Imma and finally David, who John (who was chatting to the Italian girls responsible for the birthday surprise) called over to arrange the best time to get the cake on.

One funny thing during the soundcheck, which some Oldlings might find amusing, was Martin playing the Crossroads theme tune. I was cracking up, and Jazzy didn't understand why:roftl:

We finally got pushed right out of the square for them to get the barriers up for letting us in later about 5pm, so we milled around at the side on the grass in the shade, and met up with Marina, and later Allegra. At 6pm Mama P came out to pick the Bride, BGs, LGs and the ToyBoy carriers. I was a bit annoyed at the reception the poor girl who was picked for the Bride got, some people behind me seemed to be screaming angrily at her, I felt so sorry for her!

We finally got in line to get in and I'd like to say Guilietta did an amazing job with the queue, we were lined up in single file, something to see when it's 100 people long!

We went in, and got our places, front row by the speakers on Martins side, fairly good veiw of the stage.

We sat down, and I realised I'd forgotten to give John some novelty Birthday sunglasses for Mika to wear!

Luckily he came out and wandered down to the barrier, so I asked him if it was okay to give them to him, he was great about it, turned them around and said "are they devil horns" because of the shape of the candles, which were red when you turned the glasses round:naughty:

The support act was a DJ, who was pretty good, didn't catch his name though, sadly.

Next up the show!

[ce_mika]

Wow, a weeks gone by already, so fast!

Guess I'd better do this report then:naughty:

This was my first time in Italy, and from the moment I got off the plane in Bologna, I could feel it was going to be a magical couple of days, and wasn't disappointed.

I travelled with Jazzy, and we got a train (air conditioned no less!) to Cattolica, and when we got there, we bumped into Tiibet coming out of the station. We were trying to find the hotel, which we knew was nearby, but at first couldn't find it, we walked up and down the road looking for a sign with the name on, but there wasn't one. So Tiibet went into this cafe (Cafe De Rose:naughty:) to ask where it was, and it turned out that's where the hotel was!

We then had an amusing 10 minutes trying to get the lady on reception to understand we had rooms there, and that we weren't all in the same room, thankfully a nice guy came over and translated for us, and we had to hand our paasports over til we paid (this is an important detail, bear with me).

We settled into our rooms, had a nap, got up later to go check out where the venue was for the next day (took pics of us by the stage), then went on down to the sea front to get some food. We found a lovely restaurant and had real Italian pizza, which was fantastic. Although I'm still baffled how Peperoni pizza, didn't actually have pepperoni on it:blink:

But it was very tasty none the less:naughty:

We passed a cafe on the way to the restaurant that had a tv, which was playing the Kick Ass video, bonus!

Next day, gig day.

We had a lie in, as the day before was pretty tiring from the travel, and we got up and had breakfast at 11ish, then walked down to the venue.

We got #93 and #94 in the queue, chatted with a few MFCers (Nezza, Mellody, Statue of Liberty, Tiibet, Guileitta, Yuls to name a few), wandered around, tried to even up my tan on my other arm, failed miserably:naughty:, had a sit down a couple of times in the cafe by the square for drinks to cool off (the weather was amazingly beautiful), just generally chilled out all day.

We got moved out of the square at about 3.30-4pmish, as they were starting soundchecking, as we were waiting at the side of the square, we saw Martin and Cherisse walking through to the stage, then Jimmy and Imma and finally David, who John (who was chatting to the Italian girls responsible for the birthday surprise) called over to arrange the best time to get the cake on.

One funny thing during the soundcheck, which some Oldlings might find amusing, was Martin playing the Crossroads theme tune. I was cracking up, and Jazzy didn't understand why:roftl:

We finally got pushed right out of the square for them to get the barriers up for letting us in later about 5pm, so we milled around at the side on the grass in the shade, and met up with Marina, and later Allegra. At 6pm Mama P came out to pick the Bride, BGs, LGs and the ToyBoy carriers. I was a bit annoyed at the reception the poor girl who was picked for the Bride got, some people behind me seemed to be screaming angrily at her, I felt so sorry for her!

We finally got in line to get in and I'd like to say Guilietta did an amazing job with the queue, we were lined up in single file, something to see when it's 100 people long!

We went in, and got our places, front row by the speakers on Martins side, fairly good veiw of the stage.

We sat down, and I realised I'd forgotten to give John some novelty Birthday sunglasses for Mika to wear!

Luckily he came out and wandered down to the barrier, so I asked him if it was okay to give them to him, he was great about it, turned them around and said "are they devil horns" because of the shape of the candles, which were red when you turned the glasses round:naughty:

The support act was a DJ, who was pretty good, didn't catch his name though, sadly.

Next up the show!

aww can't wait to read the next part!!! it sounds really exciting!! :boing:

[RAK1]

The show!

Got to say, for me the best of the lot!

It felt so magical with all the things going on in the crowd, with balloons and things, Mika being scared of a big moth (flying cockroach, my backside!), although at first we thought he'd electrocuted himself!

When he wore the Birthday glasses during BG, I was so happy. Wasn't sure he'd actually wear them at all, but was over the moon to see them on him. But completely stunned when he put them on again for OMS!

Couldn't believe he did that, Jazzy said he was being ironic:naughty:

I loved it when David hoisted him away from the piano, he said "get off me, you fool" but David got him up, and preceded to play Happy Birthday, with us all singing it to him, and then the cake came on. Mika looked so surprised, he was grinning from ear to ear.

It was such a magnificent show, in such a beautiful place, I can't get over how lucky I was to be there:blush-anim-cl:

After the show, I had to rush back to the hotel, to pay the bill and get our passports back, as I had to be away at 5.15am the next morning (luckily it was just down the road), so I left the birthday present I had brought with Jazzy, in case I didn't get back in time.

I rushed there and back, as I thought if he was doing an M&G it would be a good hour before he'd be out to see everyone, to be met by an excited Saskia and Jazzy saying we were going backstage to meet him!

The magic continued!

So John told us to follow him and we walked around this very windy walkway, to the back, and Saskia who was in front with her talking flower walked around this large pillar and was confronted by Mika standing there, and she let out a little startled shout, and turned back to us and said "he's here". Mika then walked round saying hello to us, then came over to Me and Jazzy and asked me how I was. I gave him some presents, first a toy for the dog, and asked if she was wary of squeaky toys, but apparently she's afraid of nothing. Then I gave him a birthday present I got made by a very talented jewellery maker I know, a moose head, yes, his nickname really is Moose, and he seemed to like it, as he wore it for the rest of the time we were there. Then I gave him the clog keyring we got from Amsterdam. This was quite funny.

Me. "This is for you, please don't hurt me!"

M. (big sigh and rolls his eyes) "You know I was looking at my phone the other day, and saw a the picture of them, and thought I really must send them to her"

Me. "Oh good."

M. (Looks at clogs) "Would it count if I sign these and give them back to you?"

Me. "How big are the other clogs?"

M. (Shows me with his fingers that the other clogs are bigger) "About this big"

Me. "No it wouldn't count"

M. "Okay"

He then said he'd be back and left the clogs and dog present, along with his beer, to go and chat to some more people.

Got to talk to Jimmy about Italian service stations, which I must say sound a lot nicer than the ones we have here, got my picture taken with Imma, and had a lovely chat with Cherisse, who told anyone in earshot that I was was one of the originals, and I said yes I'm a dinosaur, to which she replied "me too, it's been 4 years now". Got a few hugs too, which is always great:wub2:

Was given a piece of cake later on by Mama P, who is just wonderful. A lovely, lovely lady:blush-anim-cl:

Mika came back around to pick up his presents, yes the beer did get knocked over, but not by me, I tried to grab it as it went down, but wasn't quick enough.

Jazzy gave him her present, then Mellody gave him the tree necklace she had, which turns out was made from the same material the moose head was made from! Small world!

They chatted about the Arbon gig this weekend, Mika saying there were only 2 and a half people in Switzerland was quite funny.

Lots of chats went on, then we all went as Mika was heading off.

Jazzy and myself went back to the hotel to grab something to eat, where Mellody, Saskia, Nezza and Tiibet joined us not long after, and we chatted about how great the night was overall, before heading to bed for about an hour. Myself and Tiibet were catching the same train back to the airport, so we met up about a few hours later to go across the road to the train station, so we hung out most of the morning until we had to go to our respective flights.

And that's pretty much it.

Was on a complete high right up until yesterday over this and Edinburgh.

Can't wait to go to Italy again.

[Fmbm]

Me. "This is for you, please don't hurt me!"

M. (big sigh and rolls his eyes) "You know I was looking at my phone the other day, and saw a the picture of them, and thought I really must send them to her"

Me. "Oh good."

M. (Looks at clogs) "Would it count if I sign these and give them back to you?"

Me. "How big are the other clogs?"

M. (Shows me with his fingers that the other clogs are bigger) "About this big"

Me. "No it wouldn't count"

M. "Okay"

 

This made me laugh out loud. Thank you.

[Blue Sky]

Nice report Rose, thanks:thumb_yello:

[RAK1]

This made me laugh out loud. Thank you.

 

He's a tryer, you have to give him that.

[Jazzy]

FINALLY -

 

Over My Shoulder, Confetti Fight and Cake - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QP836_1LKME

 

And the Love Today Killing Spree - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pe7omvNJOWE

[Hilly]

WOW !! reading the reports for Cattolica was amazing,

I just wanted to have a quick look but then got glued to my screen !

 

Amazing concert, wonderful atmosphere, and the cake-surprise was fantastic. And oh my goodness, those sunglasses !!!!:mf_rosetinted:

Very thoughtful of the fans who organised it, and Mika seemed so happy !!!

 

What a lovely person he is, he seems such a genuine guy, really appreciating his fans and audience. Like him more and more !!

 

Again, just wonderful ! Would have loved to be there.

 

Fantastico, well done, bella Italia !!!

[tiibet]

Here's an audio recording of the show.

Unfortunately, it comes from my handycam and not my precious stereo audio recorder. Hence, its quality isn't exactly HQ, yet again, it's still listenable.

 

http://www.sendspace.com/file/lecfq5

 

Tracklist:

 

1 Relax, Take It Easy

2 Rain

3 Kick-Ass (We Are Young)

4 Happy Ending

5 Love Today

6 Grace Kelly

7 We Are Golden

8 Sweet Dreams (Are Made Of This)

9 Lollipop

 

Awww, thank you so much for this!!!!!!! Listening to Happy Ending now, absolutely love that special end he is using

[Piperita Patty]

Here's an audio recording of the show.

Unfortunately, it comes from my handycam and not my precious stereo audio recorder. Hence, its quality isn't exactly HQ, yet again, it's still listenable.

 

http://www.sendspace.com/file/lecfq5

 

Tracklist:

 

1 Relax, Take It Easy

2 Rain

3 Kick-Ass (We Are Young)

4 Happy Ending

5 Love Today

6 Grace Kelly

7 We Are Golden

8 Sweet Dreams (Are Made Of This)

9 Lollipop

 

 

Matt, come sempre, grazie mille!

 

And thank you all for your great pics and vids.

It was lovely meeting you all (flower team and all the others!).

[mellody]

So John told us to follow him and we walked around this very windy walkway, to the back, and Saskia who was in front with her talking flower walked around this large pillar and was confronted by Mika standing there, and she let out a little startled shout, and turned back to us and said "he's here". Mika then walked round saying hello to us, then came over to Me and Jazzy and asked me how I was. I gave him some presents, first a toy for the dog, and asked if she was wary of squeaky toys, but apparently she's afraid of nothing. Then I gave him a birthday present I got made by a very talented jewellery maker I know, a moose head, yes, his nickname really is Moose, and he seemed to like it, as he wore it for the rest of the time we were there. Then I gave him the clog keyring we got from Amsterdam. This was quite funny.

Me. "This is for you, please don't hurt me!"

M. (big sigh and rolls his eyes) "You know I was looking at my phone the other day, and saw a the picture of them, and thought I really must send them to her"

Me. "Oh good."

M. (Looks at clogs) "Would it count if I sign these and give them back to you?"

Me. "How big are the other clogs?"

M. (Shows me with his fingers that the other clogs are bigger) "About this big"

Me. "No it wouldn't count"

M. "Okay"

He then said he'd be back and left the clogs and dog present, along with his beer, to go and chat to some more people.

 

haha, your clogs conversation made me LOL! wondering bout the first sentence i quoted though... mika wasn't there when we walked in, was he? it took about 5-10 minutes til he came, we were all sitting around, and saskia+me only noticed him when he was already talking to you. actually, we first noticed that john had come back, and then... oh look, there's mika too!

[RAK1]

haha, your clogs conversation made me LOL! wondering bout the first sentence i quoted though... mika wasn't there when we walked in, was he? it took about 5-10 minutes til he came, we were all sitting around, and saskia+me only noticed him when he was already talking to you. actually, we first noticed that john had come back, and then... oh look, there's mika too!

 

I'm sure he was there when we got round there.

It was pretty quick when he came out to us, when we got in there, I was quite surprised thinking we'd have to wait.

[FREDDIESDOUBLE]

Nice reports , reading late

 

Me. "This is for you, please don't hurt me!"

 

M. (big sigh and rolls his eyes) "You know I was looking at my phone the other day, and saw a the picture of them, and thought I really must send them to her"

 

Thats sweet , sooo did he send?

[RAK1]

Nice reports , reading late

 

Me. "This is for you, please don't hurt me!"

 

M. (big sigh and rolls his eyes) "You know I was looking at my phone the other day, and saw a the picture of them, and thought I really must send them to her"

 

Thats sweet , sooo did he send?

 

Well, as he's not been back here yet, and I'm sure he'll have forgotten again, what do you think?:roftl:

 

Also, unless he remembers that thing I signed to be a Big Girl, he hasn't got a clue where I live!

[FREDDIESDOUBLE]

Well, as he's not been back here yet, and I'm sure he'll have forgotten again, what do you think?:roftl:

 

I think you have 0,zero,none,nil chance of ever seeing those clogs .. BUT ... How I would love him to prove me wrong

 

The whole cake thing is just great , just knewwwww it would be a fun one

[RAK1]

I think you have 0,zero,none,nil chance of ever seeing those clogs .. BUT ... How I would love him to prove me wrong

 

The whole cake thing is just great , just knewwwww it would be a fun one

 

I agree, but it's fun to tease him about it:naughty:

It was tasty cake, the filling was gorgeous:licks_lips:

[mellody]

I'm sure he was there when we got round there.

It was pretty quick when he came out to us, when we got in there, I was quite surprised thinking we'd have to wait.

 

really? that's weird, we didn't see him. well, like i said, we only spotted him when he was talking to you, so in any case it couldn't have been saskia who let out a startled shout.

 

totally agree, the cake was delicious!

[FralovesMika]

I think you have 0,zero,none,nil chance of ever seeing those clogs .. BUT ... How I would love him to prove me wrong

 

The whole cake thing is just great , just knewwwww it would be a fun one

 

I'm glad you appreciated the idea FD!

 

I agree, but it's fun to tease him about it:naughty:

It was tasty cake, the filling was gorgeous:licks_lips:

 

really? that's weird, we didn't see him. well, like i said, we only spotted him when he was talking to you, so in any case it couldn't have been saskia who let out a startled shout.

 

totally agree, the cake was delicious!

 

And that you two appreciated the cake on the other side i was too shy to taste it LOL

[RAK1]

I'm glad you appreciated the idea FD!

 

 

 

 

 

And that you two appreciated the cake on the other side i was too shy to taste it LOL

 

I wasn't sure to be honest, I went over to look at it, and talk to Cherisse. His mum had been cutting it, and just handed me a plate!

I thought it would be a bit awkward to refuse, so I took it.

Still just a little intimidated by his mum, although I do think she's wonderful. Wouldn't like to get on her wrong side.

[Jazzy]

haha, your clogs conversation made me LOL! wondering bout the first sentence i quoted though... mika wasn't there when we walked in, was he? it took about 5-10 minutes til he came, we were all sitting around, and saskia+me only noticed him when he was already talking to you. actually, we first noticed that john had come back, and then... oh look, there's mika too!

 

Yeah he wasn't there when we got there - remember we were all sitting on the little wall thing and talking about updating twitter and that. I think it was about 5 minutes then he strolled over to us and went CIAO!!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Siiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiigh I love him.

[FralovesMika]

I wasn't sure to be honest, I went over to look at it, and talk to Cherisse. His mum had been cutting it, and just handed me a plate!

I thought it would be a bit awkward to refuse, so I took it.

Still just a little intimidated by his mum, although I do think she's wonderful. Wouldn't like to get on her wrong side.

 

Same here, to be honest i ran away when i saw people who distributed the cake eheh, I guess you get the right choice, I respect his mother a lot but she's quite intimidating for me too, i don't know how to explain it remind me someone or i find some similiraties like it's better to not get angry.

[Gracekelly85]

really? that's weird, we didn't see him. well, like i said, we only spotted him when he was talking to you, so in any case it couldn't have been saskia who let out a startled shout.

 

totally agree, the cake was delicious!

 

I didn't eat the cake....

[Louiza]

I've just finished reading this thread. The idea of having a birthday cake was brilliant and the confetti and flowers were so wonderful too. Loved reading about this special gig and the birthday party m&g:wub2:

 

Also thanks for the vids everyone!!! The moment when everyone was singing happy birthday and the cake being brought on stage was so heartwarming to watch:wub2:

 

 

 

I think you have 0,zero,none,nil chance of ever seeing those clogs .. BUT ... How I would love him to prove me wrong

 

Haha I would love him to prove you wrong too!! But where could he send those clogs to?? As much as I'd love to get them one day I know thats it's too difficult for him to send/give them to us. Seeriously though what matters the most is the fantastic surprise that winning the clogs was and that he actually bought them and told Rose that he wants to send them even though we all know that something like that is almost impossible:wub2:

[FralovesMika]

I've just finished reading this thread. The idea of having a birthday cake was brilliant and the confetti and flowers were so wonderful too. Loved reading about this special gig and the birthday party m&g:wub2:

 

Also thanks for the vids everyone!!! The moment when everyone was singing happy birthday and the cake being brought on stage was so heartwarming to watch:wub2:

 

 

Awwwwww Thanks for your words Louiza

[Louiza]

Awwwwww Thanks for your words Louiza

 

Its true what I said. Watching the vids you can see how he loved the cake surprise:wub2: