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2015 - Lokerse Feesten in Belgium: 31 July REPORTS/VIDEOS/PICS


Kumazzz

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I will have a look on FB Hélène, no don't worry, I did not know if I could put your husband's name here on MFC because he is on the pic with the banner behind me  ;) 

Of course you can (his username is Scanman here)  :)

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Well well 

This day, was ... disappointing. The organization was really bad, we had to change our tickets for bracelets, with ONE window (1/15 !! oO ) open for sixty people. there were 4 doors to enter in the festival but they opend just 2 so everyone could push and crush the others, there was no line to wait it was a mess.

The stage was tooooo high, we couldn't see all of it. I was on the righ and I couldn't see Max .. -___-

The bands before...FLEMISH RAP. Ho-my-god why? X) Second group, of rock'n'roll-punk, they did a lot of noise but they were nice. Then finally Milow, that I liked very much, it was very calm but felt good after the rap and the rock'n'roll ^^

 

And then Mika, it was a “clean show, well done but not very personal. We're more used to ear Mika speaking a lot and joking. I really hoped to hear Ho girl you' Re the devil or Promiseland but he did Staring At the sun:) It's not my favourite but it is nice to ear it live:) In the middle of the concert, during Relax (you will understand the irony afterwards.) two young couples came beside us, completely drunk/high I do not know they couldn't stand up by themselves, they pushed very hard, made fun of Mika Hooo girly Mika, Mika you are a girl, mika I love you They screamed in my ears like like assholes, it really started to irritate me, not only by their lack of respect towards Mika (I did not even hear when he spoke in his microphone because the other idiots broke my ears) and then THIS *** spilled all of his beer on my shirt and the trousers of my friend!!! I am not an aggressive person, but frankly, I would have hurt them so bad !!!! I was so much irritated that I missed 4-5 songs. That got me so much mad that I was not able any more concentrate on the show.

 

And at the end, Mika who didn't stop, even to say goodbye, so that we can stop waiting... I was so disapointed of this day :( It was quite bitter in my mouth. The "ambiance" --> I don't know how to say it in english ^^ was weird, not as magical as it used to be. I remember only the bad organization of the festival, very unpleasant people (not fans eh;);)) and a weird ambiance. There is not only the show part which is important, it is the whole day, speaking with friends, waiting and be excited which makes that magic moment each time. But friday, I didn't get that feeling ...

 

So I'm waiting for september, hoping that it will be much better and much pleasant ;) I'll post my photos when they'll be on my computer ;)

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I uploades my pictures  :) You can find the album here: http://s745.photobucket.com/user/Statue_of_Liberty/library/Mika%20at%20Lokerse%20Feesten%2031s%20July%202015

 

I especially like those pics:

 

Lokeren_41_zpsdztpshna.jpg

 

Lokeren_59_zps6nokwgrl.jpg

during Staring at the Sun :wub2:

 

Lokeren_12_zpsxpebfeq1.jpg

 

Lokeren_56_zpsusq0vaet.jpg

 

Lokeren_54_zpstfxdhmp5.jpg

I FINALLY caught the jump this time - but thanks to my perspective it looks like he doesn't have feet  :lmfao:

Edited by Statue_of_Liberty
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Did someone share this rather bad review already? :(

 

http://www.demorgen.be/muziek/mika-valt-uit-de-toon-na-eerste-dag-lokerse-feesten-a2410252/

I can only use google translator, maybe a native speaker could translate the interesting part for real?

 

Mika valt uit de toon na eerste dag Lokerse Feesten Mika: te jong om al passé te zijn

300x999_7905057.jpg?v=pk7DeZi©alex vanhee

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Mika zong zijn feelgoodsongs ontzettend slordig, en de band waarmee hij zich omringde speelde flets en routineus

300x999_7905058.jpg?v=pk7DYM0©alex vanhee

Milow kreeg in 2007 plots de kans van zijn leven toen Mika (**) ter elfder ure moest afzeggen voor Rock Werchter, en hij als jonge beginneling mocht invallen. Vrijdag stonden ze voor het eerst samen op de affiche, maar eerlijk: vandaag zijn ze meer dan ooit elkaars gelijken. Mika - nog altijd maar 31- toonde zich in Lokeren een gedreven performer. Iemand met uitstraling, die op de koop toe wist hoe je een wereldhit moest schrijven. En inderdaad: 'Grace Kelly' - altijd gedurfd om met je grootste classic te openen- 'Relax (Take It Easy)', 'Big Girl (You Are Beautiful)' en 'We Are Golden' gaven allemaal present. 

Heerlijke feelgoodsongs die perfect pasten op een stralende zomernacht. Alleen: Mika zélf zong ze ontzettend slordig, en de band waarmee hij zich omringde speelde flets en routineus. Dankzij het prachtige decor, waarbij kleurige wolkenkrabbers een dromerige skyline nabootsten- oogde het allemaal wel prachtig.  Maar je hoorde lang niet altijd wat je zag. Zo liepen er meer dan eens vooropgenomen achtergrondkoortjes mee, die op de koop toe slecht in de livemuziek werd gemixt. Daardoor duurde het opvallend lang voor Mika het publiek meekreeg. Veel volk nochthans op de Grote Kaai, en ze bleken de hits ook létterlijk uit het hoofd te kennen. Maar toen na 'Love Today' geen bisronde volgde, leek niemand dat heel erg te vinden. Mika is nog wat jong om al passé te zijn, en je voelde aan alles dat hij het kon. Alleen: hoogtijd om te herbronnen.

Edited by Statue_of_Liberty
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It actually says Mika's band played pale (that's the literal translation, I'd translate it as "bored") and routinely. The decor looked beautiful though they, but too much of the songs had pre-recored backing vocals which were very badly mixed with the live music (although it looked and sounded all very live to me?? I remember a gossipmagazine writing the same when he performed at the Sportpaleis --').
They say it took Mika long to get the audience with him (well yeah, they were serving drank at the front row and in the middle of the audience????) and nobody minded he didn't do any encores (well, almost everyone who I talked to who saw the performing of Mika were actually sad the gig was over, so I guess that journalist doesn't really like Mika :'))

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Well well …

This day, was ... disappointing. The organization was really bad, we had to change our tickets for bracelets, with ONE window (1/15 !! oO ) open for sixty people. there were 4 doors to enter in the festival but they opend just 2 so everyone could push and crush the others, there was no line to wait it was a mess.

The stage was tooooo high, we couldn't see all of it. I was on the righ and I couldn't see Max .. -___-

The bands before...FLEMISH RAP. Ho-my-god why? X) Second group, of rock'n'roll-punk, they did a lot of noise but they were nice. Then finally Milow, that I liked very much, it was very calm but felt good after the rap and the rock'n'roll ^^

 

And then Mika, it was a “clean” show, well done but not very personal. We're more used to ear Mika speaking a lot and joking. I really hoped to hear Ho girl you' Re the devil or Promiseland but he did Staring At the sun:) It's not my favourite but it is nice to ear it live:) In the middle of the concert, during Relax (you will understand the irony afterwards.) two young couples came beside us, completely drunk/high I do not know… they couldn't stand up by themselves, they pushed very hard, made fun of Mika “Hooo girly Mika, Mika you are a girl, mika I love you” They screamed in my ears like like assholes, it really started to irritate me, not only by their lack of respect towards Mika (I did not even hear when he spoke in his microphone because the other idiots broke my ears) and then … THIS *** spilled all of his beer on my shirt and the trousers of my friend!!! I am not an aggressive person, but frankly, I would have hurt them so bad !!!! I was so much irritated that I missed 4-5 songs. That got me so much mad that I was not able any more concentrate on the show.

 

And at the end, Mika who didn't stop, even to say goodbye, so that we can stop waiting... I was so disapointed of this day :( It was quite bitter in my mouth. The "ambiance" --> I don't know how to say it in english ^^ was weird, not as magical as it used to be. I remember only the bad organization of the festival, very unpleasant people (not fans eh;);)) and a weird ambiance. There is not only the show part which is important, it is the whole day, speaking with friends, waiting and be excited which makes that magic moment each time. But friday, I didn't get that feeling ...

 

So I'm waiting for september, hoping that it will be much better and much pleasant ;) I'll post my photos when they'll be on my computer ;)

 

It was actually Dutch rap, not Flemish. It was a band from Holland and literally no-one liked their performance. There were even people complaining 'cause apparently they were cursing and throwing bottles into the audience?

 

Also, the height of the stage is actually a common height for stages during festivals. It makes they can store things underneath the stage, and let people see something of what's going on on stage that are standing at the back. I know it makes it more difficult to see what's happening on stage when you're at the front, but that's something you choose for imo. 

 

It was the first time people were already waiting outside the doors so early, so you can say it was bad organisation, but it was actually something they weren't prepared for 'cause that never happened before with any of the other big names that played at the festival. I came in at 22h when Milow as playing and managed to get into the first rows 'cause everyone left their places after each gig (which is actually a very handy thing when you don't want to see any other bands perform, right? :D)

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It was actually Dutch rap, not Flemish. It was a band from Holland and literally no-one liked their performance. There were even people complaining 'cause apparently they were cursing and throwing bottles into the audience?

 

Also, the height of the stage is actually a common height for stages during festivals. It makes they can store things underneath the stage, and let people see something of what's going on on stage that are standing at the back. I know it makes it more difficult to see what's happening on stage when you're at the front, but that's something you choose for imo. 

 

It was the first time people were already waiting outside the doors so early, so you can say it was bad organisation, but it was actually something they weren't prepared for 'cause that never happened before with any of the other big names that played at the festival. I came in at 22h when Milow as playing and managed to get into the first rows 'cause everyone left their places after each gig (which is actually a very handy thing when you don't want to see any other bands perform, right? :D)

That is my experience of festivals, definitely :thumb_yello:

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Some really nice pics from this gig. Thanks for posting :flowers2:

 

Anyway, Mika. His performance was average compared to other shows I have seen. 

....

 

There's no point for me in travelling to see the same show again and again and again.

 

I felt this way after the Montréal show because I thought the setlist was severely lacking. I am not even that hungry for new songs per se, just songs that work well at gigs. Fortunately the "goodies" (as you call them :naughty:) were in store the next day so faith was restored. I guess you just have to hang in there.

 

But I have the feeling that Mika is changing the way he's going and I'm not sure if I want to go that way with him.

....

 

If he decides to go a way where he focuses on new (and very young) fans and isn't into that kind of contact he used to have with his long-time-fans that's fine.

 

What do you mean about new fans/versus long-time fans? That is not my experience at all.

 

I think Mika might be "changing" in the sense that he is insanely busy and does not have the time and energy to hang around after every gig like he used to. Although I recall it was always hit and miss with the festivals and there were many times fans didn't get to see him so this is nothing unusual to me. I guess we'll see during the autumn tour.

 

I understand your disappointment but I guess I didn't get the assumption that Mika knew you were there and the onus was on him to tell you to go rather than to make your own decision about whether it's a good idea to wait for him in the middle of the night. Why would he tell someone to inform people waiting that he wasn't even going to wave to them? That would be more effort than actually waving. I would think the fact that he didn't wave is all the proof you need that he didn't know you were there. :dunno:

 

I came in at 22h when Milow as playing and managed to get into the first rows 'cause everyone left their places after each gig (which is actually a very handy thing when you don't want to see any other bands perform, right? :D)

 

Indeed. I heard about a lot of chaos and some Mika fans being injured because of a rapper at a festival recently but these festivals shouldn't be treated like Mika gigs with fans queuing up and clinging to the front row all day and night. Of course it's hell but it's your choice and it's not the fault of the festival organizers. You can only place so much blame on irresponsible performers as well. I love the Arctic Monkeys but I'm in my 40s and their fans are young men in their 20s. I don't stand in the front row because these men are going to drink and push and crowd surf, etc.so if I don't want someone's foot in my face I stand somewhere else. And if Mika had a set after Arctic Monkeys I would still have to stand somewhere else during the Arctic Monkeys set if I didn't want someone's foot in my face.

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It was actually Dutch rap, not Flemish. It was a band from Holland and literally no-one liked their performance. There were even people complaining 'cause apparently they were cursing and throwing bottles into the audience?

 

Also, the height of the stage is actually a common height for stages during festivals. It makes they can store things underneath the stage, and let people see something of what's going on on stage that are standing at the back. I know it makes it more difficult to see what's happening on stage when you're at the front, but that's something you choose for imo. 

 

It was the first time people were already waiting outside the doors so early, so you can say it was bad organisation, but it was actually something they weren't prepared for 'cause that never happened before with any of the other big names that played at the festival. I came in at 22h when Milow as playing and managed to get into the first rows 'cause everyone left their places after each gig (which is actually a very handy thing when you don't want to see any other bands perform, right? :D)

 

yeah wel, they spoke dutch so .. it felt the same for me :P But the problem was not the langage, it was the style of the music haha ! And yess, they where throwing bottles of water, we were wet in 2 seconds x)

 

The area of the festival was pretty small, so I don't think a stage that huge was necesseray. And if it was just a "normal" stage, it would have been enough and anyone could have seen .. :/

 

 

I understand your disappointment but I guess I didn't get the assumption that Mika knew you were there and the onus was on him to tell you to go rather than to make your own decision about whether it's a good idea to wait for him in the middle of the night. Why would he tell someone to inform people waiting that he wasn't even going to wave to them? That would be more effort than actually waving. I would think the fact that he didn't wave is all the proof you need that he didn't know you were there. :dunno:

 

 

Indeed. I heard about a lot of chaos and some Mika fans being injured because of a rapper at a festival recently but these festivals shouldn't be treated like Mika gigs with fans queuing up and clinging to the front row all day and night. Of course it's hell but it's your choice and it's not the fault of the festival organizers. You can only place so much blame on irresponsible performers as well. I love the Arctic Monkeys but I'm in my 40s and their fans are young men in their 20s. I don't stand in the front row because these men are going to drink and push and crowd surf, etc.so if I don't want someone's foot in my face I stand somewhere else. And if Mika had a set after Arctic Monkeys I would still have to stand somewhere else during the Arctic Monkeys set if I didn't want someone's foot in my face.

 

Mmmh no, he knew we were there I think. He comes 1x/year in Belgium, he has a lot of fans here and not everyone can go to other gigs in France or wherever... So it's logic that we'll wait after his show (and I think there's not a single show where nobody waits :P ) Plus, the van passed just beside us, and at the time we were still like ... 25 30 people ? So it's difficult not to see us ! But Saturday, he posted a picture with Doriand "in the studio in Brussels" so maybe he had to go to sleep early to work the day after I don't know... But at the time, we didn't know that...

 

I didn't say that the poeple reaction was the organizers fault. It was a bad organization because they opend the ticket line 30 minutes before opening the doors and let everyone "queuing"as they wanted so that poeple who didn't care could easily push and go past. And it was the same for the 4 doors at the entrance...

I don't understand either why they programmed such differents artists, it brings different people and fans, who don't react the same way. I had no trouble during the others shows, it was in the middle of Mik'as that drunk people annoyed me...

It's a pitty that some poeple have to drink that much to "have fun" and react like dumbass .. but that's another debate

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yeah wel, they spoke dutch so .. it felt the same for me :P But the problem was not the langage, it was the style of the music haha ! And yess, they where throwing bottles of water, we were wet in 2 seconds x)

 

The area of the festival was pretty small, so I don't think a stage that huge was necesseray. And if it was just a "normal" stage, it would have been enough and anyone could have seen .. :/

 

 

 

Mmmh no, he knew we were there I think. He comes 1x/year in Belgium, he has a lot of fans here and not everyone can go to other gigs in France or wherever... So it's logic that we'll wait after his show (and I think there's not a single show where nobody waits :P ) Plus, the van passed just beside us, and at the time we were still like ... 25 30 people ? So it's difficult not to see us ! But Saturday, he posted a picture with Doriand "in the studio in Brussels" so maybe he had to go to sleep early to work the day after I don't know... But at the time, we didn't know that...

 

I didn't say that the poeple reaction was the organizers fault. It was a bad organization because they opend the ticket line 30 minutes before opening the doors and let everyone "queuing"as they wanted so that poeple who didn't care could easily push and go past. And it was the same for the 4 doors at the entrance...

I don't understand either why they programmed such differents artists, it brings different people and fans, who don't react the same way. I had no trouble during the others shows, it was in the middle of Mik'as that drunk people annoyed me...

It's a pitty that some poeple have to drink that much to "have fun" and react like dumbass .. but that's another debate

 

Well, they use that same stage for smaller festivals, the big festivals have even higher stages. It's just a normal stage for a festival and when I stood more at the back watching Milow I was very happy the stage was that heigh 'cause I wouldn't have seen a thing if it wasn't. I know it does feel like it was huge when you stood in front of it, but if you stood at the back it definitely wasn't. 

 

I think queuing only works when you can talk with the security and get them to let the first 100 people or so go in first before opening all the other doors, but I guess that's not very likely to happen on any (Belgian) festival. I thought the organisation was actually good compared to some other bigger and professional festivals ('cause this festival isn't in the hands of big organisations, but is done by a bunch of very enthusiastic people who don't get pay for their work during the year).

 

The only thing that really annoyed me was the fact they were serving drinks in and in front of the audience which helped people getting drunk and that didn't really helped the atmosphere. 

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The stage was really huge, must have been twice as high as any festival stage I've ever seen. Not saying it was a bad thing, it was easy to see the performances even very far away. I probably spent an hour trying to decide where to stay but ended up front as usual to take some pics even the view was definitely better from the middle. 

 

I wrote a little report here:

http://mikagigs.com/2015/08/03/gig-reports-mika-lokerse-feesten-in-lokkeren-belgium/

 

And more photos here (sorry can't remember if I linked them earlier or not):

http://mikagigs.com/2015/08/01/photo-galleries-mika-lokerse-feesten-in-belgium-72015/

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The fact he didn't stop to say goodbye, I think the organisation of the festival has something to do with it.  
The security guy at the end (the most reliable one with his black backpack) clearly said that they didn't want Mika to be on the street. Once he was outside the gates they wouldn't cover him anymore. And if he wants to leave then they wanted him to actually leave.  

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Videos by    K'mille AC  my Twitter friend Camille wants to share her YT vids to the MFC. Merci mille fois Camille !! :huglove::flowers2:

 

Grace Kelly

 

Talk About You

 

Big Girl

 

Popular Song

 

Rain

 

Staring at the Sun

 

Underwater

Edited by Kumazzz
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Mmmh no, he knew we were there I think. He comes 1x/year in Belgium, he has a lot of fans here and not everyone can go to other gigs in France or wherever... So it's logic that we'll wait after his show (and I think there's not a single show where nobody waits :P

 

But surely he doesn't expect people to wait forever. It was 3:30 in the morning. I heard people were waiting at 6 am this morning. I mean where is the cutoff? If Mika stayed in the venue for 3 days should he still expect fans to be waiting outside for him when he leaves?

 

Plus, the van passed just beside us, and at the time we were still like ... 25 30 people ? So it's difficult not to see us ! But Saturday, he posted a picture with Doriand "in the studio in Brussels" so maybe he had to go to sleep early to work the day after I don't know... But at the time, we didn't know that...

 

I was commenting on what Saskia said about how he should have informed people not to wait because he didn't intend to stop. Just because the van drove by people later doesn't he mean he knew they were there when he was in his dressing room or wherever. Also I assume Mika was not driving the van so there is no reason to think he was looking at fans...unless you saw him looking...? Judging by his tweets he was reading the New York Times instead.

 

If people want to believe he purposely shunned them I guess you can but I don't know why anyone would want to believe that when they don't know for certain whether it's true or not. I would have thought if he was purposely avoiding/hiding from people or he was too tired to even say a quick hello then he would not start tweeting. But if that's what you want to believe, go ahead I guess. :dunno:

 

I didn't say that the poeple reaction was the organizers fault. It was a bad organization because they opend the ticket line 30 minutes before opening the doors and let everyone "queuing"as they wanted so that poeple who didn't care could easily push and go past. And it was the same for the 4 doors at the entrance...

 

I didn't say that either. I asked why people queue as if it's a Mika gig and then blame the organizers when it operates like festivals do. You can pretty much count on this queuing system not working at festivals because most people do not go to festivals to cling to the front row all day and all night so they are not bothered if someone gets in ahead of them. The fact that people will exit the front rows before Mika comes out should be the bonus of festivals - turn up late and still get to the front. But Mika fans turn it into a hell that is worse than a normal gig by queuing and refusing to leave the front.

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About the queueing and organization. I agree that the numbers don't make sense at a festival, and i was surprised they were done at all. We arrived at 10:30am, after a 3 hour drive from germany, but yes, it'd have been enough to arrive much later, not just because of the chaos with the wristbands (which was foreseeable). But mainly cause there weren't actually any excellent front row spots, like you have at other gigs. Like nina said, she took quite a while to decide where to stand. We had all the time in the world to move around to different front row places to see which was best, since the mika and milow fans who went directly to the front were maybe 50 ppl. The venue was divided in 4 quarters by barriers, and the stage had a podium - so if you count the middle aisle, front row was huge. Only from the middle aisle you were able to see the whole stage, in the "classic" frontrow, parallel to the stage, you saw only half of it. I'd say the stage was at least 3m high, the podium maybe 2,50m. I chose a spot on the side of the podium, where i couldn't see the whole stage but was close to the podium and saw mika when he was centre stage or at the piano. Anyway, i'm surprised under these circumstances that anyone complained about the organization. While yes, there was chaos with 50 fans trying to get wristbands at one open counter at the same time, i was sure everyone would be happy with their spots in the end, as there still was so much space, so much movement of ppl who couldn't decide, and also the advantages of 2nd/3rd row that you'd see more of the stage than from the front.

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I thought the festival was actually nicely organized. The toilets were very clean (um, I think I'm generally traumatized by festival toilets  :aah: ) and the security was nice and relaxed (meaning they didn't complain about my camera, lol).

 

About meeting fans. He has actually done a lot of official fan meetings this summer. I know the signing sessions are usually in Italy or France and that way available just for Italian or French fans but he must have met thousands of people giving signatures and taking photos. From his point of view it's a huge amount. It must be quite tiring with his schedules.

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About meeting fans. He has actually done a lot of official fan meetings this summer. I know the signing sessions are usually in Italy or France and that way available just for Italian or French fans but he must have met thousands of people giving signatures and taking photos. From his point of view it's a huge amount. It must be quite tiring with his schedules.

 

Yes I don't begrudge anyone being disappointed or even complaining about not meeting Mika, especially after waiting all that time. But I think it's inaccurate to characterize him leaving without talking to people as not caring about old fans. He met people all 3 days he was in Montreal. Agreed to a meeting to receive the MFC yearbook. And there was a private M&G in NYC the same week. I have never been to any of these European festivals but I recall it was always hit and miss and he wasn't available as regularly as he is during a regular tour. I would have expected your chances of meeting him at 3:30 or 6 am are very slim. Regular gigs are usually over by 11 pm which is a totally different story.

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I agree that this was an 'average' gig and I realise I'm very lucky to even be able to say this as it means I have seen enough gigs to be able to make comparisons. I did enjoy it a lot though, I had a great spot and Mika performed as the showman we all know. The setlist was quite classic but that was what I expected and I was happy to even get one new song when he did SATS. The letdown was not the organisation IMO, I talked to a security guy in the afternoon, he was very kind and relaxed and let me have a look around, I agree about the toilets, never seen that before xD... Just the wristband thing was a mess but it's kind of our fault not theirs. No for me really what made it a not so special gig was the audience. Even ppl at the 2nd row clearly had no clue about newer songs and didn't bother responding to his usual 'interactions'.. Only with Happy Ending did they really interact (I'm posting my vid below). Oh well, never mind, I had fun as always :biggrin2:

And about him not stopping, I'm not surprised at all, out of the 10 times I've seen him in 2015 (including a lot of times at The Voice which is always tricky), he has stopped only once. And actually when I say stop I mean he was just walking through from the venue door to his van XD

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Wel, I can say that we had not the same feeling about that day, that's all :) I can have my opinion too don't you think ?

I have been to several festivals to see Mika and this one was the "worst" I've done. (Even if it was not awfull he, don't say what I'm not saying ;) ) That's all :) It was a "package", not only the organization or whatever, it was the people too, the fact that I was tired, that I didn't enjoy so much de bands before, except Milow ..

So I'll not argue with you about it, everyone can say what he needs to say :)

(I'm not mad, peace love and Relax !) :) :)

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I uploades my pictures  :) You can find the album here: http://s745.photobucket.com/user/Statue_of_Liberty/library/Mika%20at%20Lokerse%20Feesten%2031s%20July%202015

 

I especially like those pics.

 

 

 

Lokeren_56_zpsusq0vaet.jpg

 

Lokeren_54_zpstfxdhmp5.jpg

I FINALLY caught the jump this time - but thanks to my perspective it looks like he doesn't have feet  :lmfao:

 

Excellent photos !!!

:bow:

Could you share the HIGH-RESOLUTION ORIGINALS if you like ?

Thank you very much !!

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So, here's my report about this trip I shouldn't have taken. As I said, we arrived around 10:30, after a 3 hour drive from Germany. If I'd had my way, we'd have been there much later. I also thought we might not get a good spot if we arrive later, but for once, I didn't care about that because I hadn't slept enough for a week already (my son kept waking me up at 4am every night :aah:) and all I wanted to do was sleep, instead of bothering about getting to front row. I wasn't alone tho, and well, I hadn't come to Saskia to sleep but for going to a Mika gig together, and usually I care about getting to the front as much as she and Nina do. So off we went in the morning.

 

Although I tried to sleep a bit in the car (without success), at some point in the afternoon I felt so unwell - not only tired but really ill - that I would've immediately swapped the rest of the day, including the gig, for lying down in my bed and sleeping until the next morning. My bed was a few hundred kilometres away tho, so I just moaned to everyone who would listen (sorry guys :teehee:), waited and hoped it would get better.

 

Which, luckily, it did. Lots of chocolate and a slice of Pizza later, I was still tired but apart from that everything was ok again. So, the usual feeling before a gig. Fast forward the wristband chaos and getting our places in the venue (which we could leave and come back to any time - at least in our group, where the others kept one's place in the meantime), with some moaning about the high stage. On my left there was a Milow fan in a wheelchair, she'd been waiting for at least 2 hours outside as well, to get a good spot. Tho I guess she could see even less of the stage, as she was sitting in the wheelchair. We had a little chat, she was very nice. :) At some point I asked her whether she'd stay for the Mika gig after Milow, and she said she'd leave after half of the Mika gig, since she had to work the next day. I was happy to see later that she stayed til the end. :naughty:

 

Like the others, I hated the first band. Actually I didn't bother much about them, until they started throwing the water bottles around. I wasn't keen on getting wet, neither on having my bag and everything inside soaking wet, that was what really bothered me! And we had to endure them for one whole hour, this wasn't like I usually know from a festival, that the first bands play for half an hour maximum, and only the last ones do a full set. Apparently every band had exactly one hour. I'll come back to that later.

 

The 2nd band I really enjoyed. I wouldn't even say it's not the kind of music I usually like... guess I wouldn't buy their CD, but one or 2 songs like that at a club for dancing are just fine for me! So I enjoyed their gig, kept dancing, clapping and singing along, and smiled about one of their two bassists, who constantly had a huge grin on his face and was clearly enjoying himself up there! :lmfao:

 

I was surprised how many Milow songs I know. His gig was a big contrast to Mika though, very mellow, and not really the kind of music you want to hear when you're already in danger of falling asleep while walking. :lmfao: It'd be fab for a seated gig, when you've got enough sleep. Anyway, I enjoyed the music and sang along to the many songs I knew. Btw, the girl behind us translated for us what he said at the beginning of his gig - which was, that he was famous thanks to Mika, because Mika had cancelled his performance at a Belgian festival a few years ago, and Milow got his spot instead. and apparently that's where his carreer took off from. Nice to hear. ;)

 

Then, finally, it was time for Mika. I was looking forward to get some action, and dance - to ignore the tiredness and to get warmer, because since the sun was gone, it had gotten pretty cold again. I had hoped to hear Promiseland at the gig, but when I realized that Mika would probably also just have an hour on stage, I saw the chances for that vanish. Still I had made a small banner saying "Take us to Promiseland". :teehee: I think I held that up 2 or 3 times during the gig, but of course without much hope. I wonder if that (and my tweets about it in advance) was the reason why I got no eye contact from Mika for nearly the whole gig. Maybe he thought I was too demanding, or whatever. I'm so used to get at least a quick look from him during one of the first few songs, a look that tells me "thanks for coming", that at some points during the gig I got really sad, and I kept questioning myself what was wrong. Didn't he want me to be there for some reason? Had I chosen a bad spot somehow so he didn't see me well (a blinding light behind me or something)? Should I just have kept my mouth shut about wanting to hear Promiseland? I guess most of it was just my sleep deprivation, but really, it somehow destroyed the gig for me. I don't blame Mika, he might have had his reasons, or indeed not noticed me, or whatever. I'm surprised myself about how important this eye contact is for me. There have been gigs before when I didn't get it, but usually that was because no one did (cause Mika generally was in a bad mood, for example).

 

I still kinda enjoyed the gig, especially the faster songs, as I just wanted to jump and dance. But it just wasn't the same as usual. And then, finally, during the last song, Love Today, he looked at me. It was different from usual, not this "thanks for coming", but whatever else. Can't interpret it. And it doesn't matter. It's just that I didn't have the feeling that he appreciated I was there. And again, I'm surprised how important this is to me. But if (I have the feeling that) Mika doesn't care whether I'm there or not, why should I bother travelling to so many gigs? That was the feeling I had at the end of the gig.

 

And then, well, the missing M&G, the fact that he apparently passed in his car tho I'm sure he must've seen us waiting (it was a similar situation as in Barcelona, about 40 fans waiting at 3am at the exit where the cars come out, and no other concert goers around (anymore) at that time), and only half an hour later a security guy said "you guys know that Mika left here at this exit half an hour ago?!". Topped by the tweet about some random newspaper article, as if saying "Who cares about you guys waiting there in the cold, this is more important". Sums up my feelings of that night.

 

In hindsight, it might just have been some unfortunate circumstances that came together, or even if my interpretations were somehow right, it surely was just his mood of one evening, cause I know he ususally wouldn't think like this. See Barcelona - he couldn't wait to get out of his car to meet us there. Anyway, right there and then in Lokeren, it didn't feel good at all. And I can understand Saskia very well, cause she had that 2 times in a row now - no eye contact at all, though he looked at everyone else around her, and no m&g.

 

In addition, I kinda compared the gig to Cattolica. I wanted to go there first, but it was a bit too complicated, so I chose to do Lokerse instead. I was hoping for at least *something* that would make me think my choice was ok. But it just wasn't, that's a fact. And the things I invested into going to Lokerse (even more lack of sleep, freezing for hours, plus the 4 hour flight delay on the way back) just wasn't worth the outcome. But ofc that's no one's fault, except my own, certainly can't blame Mika for that. ;)

 

A few more words about the gig itself. At the very beginning, I had the feeling he was in an excellent mood. But I think it was after the right vs left singing competition for Big Girl, it somehow changed. For a few songs, he didn't have eye contact with anyone anymore, he suddenly seemed not to perform for the crowd anymore but more for himself, if you know what I mean. Maybe he realized at this point that this crowd wouldn't follow him like he's used to from his gigs. Maybe this frustrated him. It got better again after a few songs, but this sudden change really felt weird to me.

 

Also, to get back to the length of the set. Mika left the stage 5-10 minutes before the next act (Martin Solveig) was supposed to come on. Usually there was half an hour between sets. They might've officially given him 15 minutes more, but surely not 20-25... :bleh: he also said it before one of the last songs, that they're already giving him signs from the side of the stage. :teehee: Guess that's why he didn't give an encore - 1. leaving the stage for 2 minutes would've meant even more delay and 2. they might not have let him back on. :naughty: ... that's also why I didn't expect one, referring to what the journalist wrote. ;) I could imagine Mika was also a bit frustrated himself about the limitations he got from the festival, so he couldn't do more songs.

 

Anyway, to end my report with some positive things: I massively enjoyed Love Today (not only because of the eye contact ;)), it's always one of my fave songs live, and it certainly was my fave this evening. I loved Mika's outfit, much better than Valentino suits. And I enjoyed finally visiting Saskia in her not-so-new-anymore home, since she moved away from Berlin last year. And of course it was lovely to meet all the MFCers, especially those I haven't met for ages. :wub2: I'm looking forward to Luxemburg and Zurich now, hoping for all the things I missed on Friday - Promiseland, eye contact, and maybe even a M&G after the show. :biggrin2:

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