2023 - Mika @ Brava Madrid Festival, SPAIN, September 22 - REPORTS / VIDS / PICS

[Gabry74]

The last concert of the 2023 summer tour at the Brava Festival in Madrid was incredible.  During the day many artists went on stage and each artist had his audience, ready to support him in the best way. I loved Mel C and his fans and of obv Mika’s performance.  He managed to unite the whole audience. We all sang and danced his songs and when he got into the audience, I feared he would never come back, for the too much warmth with which they held him. It was the most inclusive Festival I have participated in. More than Pride at Disneyland Paris. I’ve had a lot of fun with the "big boy" on stage and I can’t wait to leave, because I already miss everyone. 

I share some photos and videos:

[Kumazzz]

YouTube channel @cryzt

 

Rain

 

 

Live Your Life

 

Happy Ending

 

Grace Kelly

 

Relax

 

Ice Cream

 

Big Girl

 

We Are Golden

 

[giraffeandy]

PART 1 OF MY REPORT (before Mika; warning - very long! ): 

 

I have to admit that I prefer concerts to festivals but since Mika was announcing only festivals for the summer and I really missed him after he cancelled Rome and the whole Magic Piano tour last year where I planned to go, I had to go somewhere ASAP.  One day in the middle of June, I felt the urge to finally buy a ticket for his festival tour and I decided quite spontaneously that I'm going to Madrid, since it was the easiest destination for travelling (capital city, direct flights). I bought the ticket and booked evyrything in one night.  I've never been to Madrid before and I love Spain, so I was also looking forward to visit the city for the first time. Later I even found another Czech fan who wanted to join me, so it couldn't be more perfect.

 

We arrived in Madrid the day before the festival and did some sightseeing the next day, as we didn't want to queue beforehand. We thought the stage will be quite high and big so that we will have a better view a few rows from the front (and we really did manage to get a perfect spot close to the front where we could see everything). So we only arrived after the door opening before 5pm. It was very easy to find the venue as we already saw many people dressed in pink in the metro (the dress code for that night was called "pink power") so we just followed the pink parade.  We both wore pink too but some of the outfits were far bolder than ours. It was really fun to see the whole crowd dressed in pink clothes.

 

The festival took place at a big parking lot. It was a very sunny late afternoon when we entered the venue. A bit later we walked to the main stage, at that time only a few people were already standing there so we had a really good spot before the majority of people had come. We quickly realized that even though Mika was the headliner for that night, he probably wasn't the artist with the most fans in the crowd (or at least with the most visible fans) – we saw many men wearing Spice Girls T-shirts, so it was clear that most of them came to see Melanie C. And yes, there were a lot of men at the festival in general – that was another uncommon thing for me as I usually go to concerts with mostly female audience but here it was mostly men (I would say probably 80 %), especially gay couples.   

 

The first artist was a young Spanish singer called Vicco – I thought it will be a man but before the start, I heard someone mentioning that her full name is Victoria. She had a shorter set and it was a good start of the show, even though I obviously didn't know her songs. Then there was Natasha Bedingfield, finally someone I knew. I really enjoyed hearing songs like Pocketful of Sunshine or Unwritten live. The next artist was another Spanish female singer called Belen Aguilera. She had a lot of fans in the crowd, but it wasn't really my cup of tea (a bit too electronic for my taste) and I was quite bored during her set to be honest. It was also one of the longer sets. But some of her slower songs she sang later were fine so it wasn't all bad at least.

 

The last artist before Mika was the long-awaited Mel C. You could feel the tension in the crowd with many male Spice Girls fans pushing their way to the front. I was quite nervous because our view got slightly worse as there were suddenly a lot of taller men standing around us. Mel C really was one of the stars of the night. I only knew a few of her solo songs like Never Be the Same Again but I saw a lot of guys fanboying and the atmosphere was vivid. Towards the end of her set, she started to sing some Spice Girls songs too. I liked her set a lot but at the same time, I was already mentally preparing for Mika to be honest.

 

As someone already mentioned in another report, between the artists there was a DJ and even though I often find DJs playing at concerts a bit annoying, this one was great. He played really good songs that manage to lift everyone's spirits. A lot of songs I haven't heard in a while but I was so happy to hear them again. We also managed to get a better spot again after Mel C left, we were standing near the barrier at the left corner of the catwalk. We could see the piano on the left as well as the whole catwalk so it was perfect. We also prepared the pink and green hearts for the fan action. Everything and everyone was ready for Mika!

 

Sorry, I wanted to write the whole report at once but it is taking longer than expected...  TO BE CONTINUED

Edited September 27, 2023 by giraffeandy

[giraffeandy]

Btw, on the website of Brava Madrid, there is a link to a Google form where you can choose the artists you want to see next year (Mika is there too!).

 

Just go to https://bravamadrid.com/ and click here: 

 

 

(the form is in Spanish but it's easy, you just have to choose the artists you like from the list – and you have to choose at least one of the Spanish artists too) 

[Kumazzz]

Mika mentions Brava Madrid and Melanie C at the Telematin on 28 September 2023.

 

 

[giraffeandy]

18 hours ago, giraffeandy said:

Btw, on the website of Brava Madrid, there is a link to a Google form where you can choose the artists you want to see next year (Mika is there too!).

 

Just go to https://bravamadrid.com/ and click here: 

 

 

(the form is in Spanish but it's easy, you just have to choose the artists you like from the list – and you have to choose at least one of the Spanish artists too) 

 

Today they even sent an email with the link to the form and there is a photo of Mika! 

 

 

 

Edited September 28, 2023 by giraffeandy

[Hero]

20 hours ago, giraffeandy said:

Btw, on the website of Brava Madrid, there is a link to a Google form where you can choose the artists you want to see next year (Mika is there too!).

 

Just go to https://bravamadrid.com/ and click here: 

 

 

(the form is in Spanish but it's easy, you just have to choose the artists you like from the list – and you have to choose at least one of the Spanish artists too) 

 

Who is "Mike"?   And Swen. Oh dear. 

 

[giraffeandy]

4 minutes ago, Hero said:

 

Who is "Mike"?   And Swen. Oh dear. 

 

 

That's weird, my list has correct spelling, I just checked it... 

[Hero]

4 minutes ago, giraffeandy said:

 

That's weird, my list has correct spelling, I just checked it... 

Oh wow, must be the translation mode. This software needs to LEARN! 

[Anna Ko Kolkowska]

11 minutes ago, Hero said:

 

Who is "Mike"?   And Swen. Oh dear. 

 

I see Mika. But Swen Stefani must be a typo.

[giraffeandy]

PART 2 OF MY REPORT (Mika!): 

 

Finally, the best part is coming! As I mentioned in part 1, this was the only (and my very first) festival I visited this summer and I haven't watched many videos from the other ones as I prefer to be surprised during the show but of course I still saw some photos of the stage from other gigs. The set was only 1 hour 15 minutes so I was expecting a more regular setlist with all the mandatory hit songs and also Live Your Life because of Spain. I wasn't quite sure about C'est La Vie but I thought he will probably sing it as it is his latest single. Other than that, I didn't expect many songs I haven't heard live before. 

 

The show started with Love Today and the intro where you see only Mika's silhouette holding the big flower against the red background, singing the first verse of the song  – it was impressive and set the mood from the beginning! The atmosphere was really great. Later during the chorus, Mika run to the front of the catwalk and we could finally see him clear, in his green glitter suit, glowing and smiling like always. I really missed him!  The energy, the dancing, the smile... I was so happy to see him again.

 

Then he started to talk in Spanish. I did expect him to speak a little bit of Spanish but he said he is going to speak only Spanish tonight which was quite surprising but I didn't mind – I do understand Spanish but I also have to admit that his Spanish is very Italian so sometimes I struggled a bit more than with Spanish people speaking Spanish.  However, his speeches were always very short with a clear message so it wasn't complicated to understand what he means even if he spoke with Italian accent or rather espaliano.  I also had a feeling that he usually speaks far more at regular gigs, I wasn't sure if it's usual for him to speak less at festivals (I only saw him at his "solo concerts" so far) or if he kept it shorter and simple because of the language but at least there was time for more songs in those 75 minutes. 

 

During Origin of Love, the second song if I remember correctly, we took part in the fan action with the pink and green hearts. Unfortunately, nobody in our closest surrounding was having the hearts but we saw some fans on the left side of the catwalk and Mika did notice the fan action and took one of the hearts too, so I guess it was quite a success. 

 

A few songs later, Mika changed to a pink suit to match the dress code "pink power", as he commented. He started to sing Big Girl and after a while, he entered the crowd on the right side of the podium and then walked towards the rear rows. As I mentioned before, we were standing near the barrier at the left corner of the catwalk so he was quite far away and we couldn't see him in the crowd. But of course we were still enjoying the song. Towards the end of it, he was coming back to the stage and suddenly we realized he is coming our way!  He really passed by, right next to us and I could touch the sleeve of his suit (I would never grab him in such a situation so I only gently touched the corner of the fabric for a moment to make sure it is real and this is really happening right now ). The fabric felt really nice and very comfortable.  

 

When he started to sing Overrated, I was really happy because I've never heard the song live and it's so great! And I wasn't sure if he will have time for any less famous songs during his shorter setlist so it was a nice treat. Then he also sang Rain – I absolutely love this song and I only heard it in Paris before with the symphonic orchestra but the mood of the slower version is very different – and I couldn't be happier at that moment because this song is really my all-time favourite (of course, there are many all-time favourites when it comes to Mika ) and hearing the studio version live was a dream coming true. I love to dance to this song, it's such a bop! Now I want to listen to Rain again but I have to focus and finish this report first... 

 

I was on cloud nine so I didn't even mind when Mika started singing Yoyo, the only song I'm still not a fan of, even though I would definitely prefer Tiny Love which he unfortunately had to skip. He sang Live Your Life as I expected but neither Lollipop, nor C'est La Vie. But at that time, I already felt too spoiled to complain.  Even though the setlist was shorter than usual and some songs were missing, the concert didn't feel too short. I felt so grateful afterwards and I think it was one of the best Mika gigs I've ever been to (but to be honest, I would probably say the same after every Mika gig if you have asked me... ). 

 

We waited for a while after the gig, finally seeing other MFCers near the stage but quickly realized he is probably not coming out later as we saw mellody going backstage with the yearbook. So we only greeted her and went back to our hostel as we were really exhausted after about 6-7 hours of sightseeing and at least 6 more hours of waiting for Mika – on that day we really spent about 18 hours on our feet.  But it was all worth it and it's another jewel in my collection of Mika experiences. 

[mellody]

Ooh, I just remembered a random bit from meeting Mika that I wanted to write down before I forget it again! When we talked about the tour and that it's selling well, he wanted to knock on wood but didn't find any, and I looked around too but couldn't see any and I remember thinking "oh no, will he think now that it's bad luck?!" 😅 But then he changed the topic (I think it was then that he said goodbye... maybe he wanted to go search some wood, haha! )... so I still don't know if he's still as superstitious as he's always been, or if it's more like a habit meanwhile - like I also developed the habit of not saying "good luck", because Mika thinks that brings bad luck - and I've stopped using it not because I believe him but, I don't know, it's just that in Mikaland you say "merde" or something like that if you want to wish someone luck, it's just a habit.

[krysady]

16 hours ago, mellody said:

maybe he wanted to go search some wood, haha! )

[mellody]

Just realized that I haven't even uploaded the original video of Mika getting the yearbook here on MFC - just in case Tiktok/Twitter reduced the quality when I uploaded it there, here's the original file:

 

 

 

[mellody]

Continuing my report with

PART 3, MIKA'S GIG!

On the one hand I like Love Today as the first song, but on the other hand I don't, because I miss it in the end. We Are Golden is great and all, but Love Today as one of the last songs always put a sort of climax to the show that I'm missing now. Stay High was great for that too, maybe also Lollipop when the song was still a huge party with balloons and confetti. Well, maybe Mika has a new song on his album that he can use for that instead, we'll see. However, in Madrid I really enjoyed that the show was starting with Love Today, because it felt so big and powerful, in particular with the videoscreen in the background, where you could only see Mika's silhouette with the flower at the beginning. That reminded me of his performance of Touches You in Asia 2009 or 2010, where he was dancing in front of a screen that lit up in different colours - I've always loved this, it's so simple yet so powerful. Which makes me think, actually I've liked those show intros most where you can only see his silhouette at first and the music is powerful and Mika does a certain dance or pose that makes everyone recognize him immediately. I never really got warm with the Lollipop intro where the music starts slowly and he starts the show by talking. So in Madrid we had that, powerful song (Love Today) and Mika's silhouette, with the flower, in front of the red lit screen. Fantastic start! He then gave the flower to the crowd, it didn't look like he was giving it to someone in particular to hold, as he used to, and so the flower went crowdsurfing. RIP flower. I suppose it was on purpose, we might not see these flowers again next year. They probably were too heavy and too delicate for Mika to want to keep them. Maybe he'll get different ones for the next tour, we'll see...

 

Next was Origin of Love, one of the 2 songs (besides C'est La Vie, which he didn't sing) that we had planned the fanaction for with the mostly pink (and a few green) paper hearts. It wasn't a lot of hearts, but I guess most of the frontrow had one, I could only see the crowd on the side where I was standing. Mika seemed to enjoy the hearts, and he took one (I think by Sandy, Fanny or Prisca, somewhere where they were standing), held it up, and at some point stuck it in his trousers.

 

I wasn't sure whether he'd do Big Girl in the crowd, as during one of the first songs his microphone had given a feedback when he was getting too close to the front of the catwalk, so I thought it might not be possible. But he did it! One time I think I saw the flower near him and was wondering whether they were trying to give it back to him  ... anyway, he brought a big boy from the crowd with him, I saw him getting over the barrier behind Mika but as he didn't appear on stage with Mika, I started wondering what had happened to him, if he had changed his mind when he realized Mika wanted him to come on stage, haha!  Turned out he just went up on stage a different way, so he took a bit longer.

 

Mika's dance moves during Ice Cream (and also some of the other songs) seemed particularly hot that evening, I suppose that might have been because of the crowd, that had already enjoyed the gogo dancers in their pink outfits a bit earlier... it just generally was a very warm and loving atmosphere at this festival, and you could tell that Mika felt comfortable performing there, and the crowd was happy to have him there.

 

For Underwater I turned on my phone light, as I usually do, and shortly after, Mika came to my side and reached out to take my phone.  The stage was too far/high to reach him, but one of the camera guys / photographers was so nice to hand it over to Mika (and later give it back to me). Sadly I didn't have my camera on... Mika seemed to look one time to see whether it was filming, but I think he noticed that it wasn't. At some point he was swiping on my phone, and then showed me the screen, where there was a message showing up - which I couldn't see from far away, so I thought maybe he had tried to turn on the camera but didn't manage, or I had gotten a message that distracted him... when I got my phone back later, it said that I had called the emergency number.  I'm not sure if Mika had tried to turn on the camera (which you can without knowing the code) and accidentially made an emergency call in that process, or if just holding the phone somehow resulted in that emergency call and he tried to click it away when he touched the phone screen and showed me the message... anyway, it was funny, lol! But also so typical, my phone can't just be like any other phone and do its job, but it starts to panic when it's so close to Mika and makes an emergency call.  Yeah, my phone represents me well.    Anyway, I have a nice phone cover with pink glitter hearts, and I loved that Mika held that up for Underwater, it matched well to the festival and the crowd.  But the pink-gold metallic colour on the plastic had started to come off already in the rain at Isle of Wight, apparently it's not waterproof... and I got the impression that it had come off even more in Madrid, so I hope Mika didn't have his hands covered in metallic colour after that, lol! 😅

 

I missed Tiny Love in the set, and also C'est La Vie, would have loved to hear that live... and in the end I had the feeling that Mika had to hurry to finish in time (not sure if it even was in time, I didn't check) ... it always feels a bit stressful when Mika has this sort of deadline for his show, like he also did at Isle of Wight and in Bristol - but all 3 gigs were fantastic nevertheless. Maybe he puts even more energy into his show when he knows he can't do as much as he'd like to.

 

Anyway, part 4 of my report will follow in the next few days, with the aftershow story and maybe some more things that I might remember about the gig until then.  

[Kumazzz]

36 minutes ago, mellody said:

Touches You in Asia 2009 or 2010

 

Here is @Blue Sky's video at Shinkiba Studio Coast in 2009 ( I was at there )

 

 

[holdingyourdrink]

4 hours ago, mellody said:

Just realized that I haven't even uploaded the original video of Mika getting the yearbook here on MFC - just in case Tiktok/Twitter reduced the quality when I uploaded it there, here's the original file:

 

 

I had made a transcript for those who couldn’t acoustically fully understand what he said. There is a lot of noise in the background, so here you go: 

 

 

“This is something I look forward to every year. We are backstage and it’s a very glamorous backstage - it’s not very glamorous, but this is very glamorous! [shows yearbook] …and it’s full of heart and that’s why I love it. 

It was a really good show! A very powerful show.

Now I have to tell you that I already saw a hint of this cover and it blew my mind, because you guys had no idea about the piano and you came up with it on your own. And it was insane synchronicity as my thoughts and my process started. It’s a huge compliment to have something like this happen. It’s a coincidence….’cause it’s not a coincidence. It’s a really beautiful thing to happen, so thank you with all my heart. Just for the cover! I haven’t even opened it, but I already find it beautiful. 

 

I have this impression that every single year the art just gets better and the drawings get better and the quality of the drawings get better and better and better. And I just want you to know that it doesn’t go unnoticed. 

And you guys have pictures that I don’t have! So… 

 

I am going to go through this properly, but I really want to thank you in advance and I will probably mention it again later. Thank you very much with all my heart, you are the best. And I’m a very lucky man to have so much love and creativity surrounding me. From a distance and very close. So thank you for all your hard work and investment. Your tiredness, your traveling, your tickets, your airline tickets, your drawings… but more than anything your love and creativity. Thank you.”

[Kumazzz]

TikTok

 

 

[Kumazzz]

Is it a correct setlist ?

 

https://www.setlist.fm/setlist/mika/2023/ifema-madrid-spain-53a3b37d.html

 

[Kumazzz]

I love this photo so much.

 

https://bravamadrid.com/

 

 

 

[Kumazzz]

Arepa Volátil

https://arepavolatil.com/brava-madrid-la-resena/

 

Reseña del Brava Madrid 2023

 

Mika

El artista esperado con ansias, comenzó el espectáculo con una entrada triunfal con «Love Today» que lo colocó en la cima del escenario y en el corazón del público.

Desde el primer instante, quedó claro que era uno de los momentos más esperados del evento. Con temazos como «Origin of Love», «Big Girl (You Are Beautiful)», y por supuesto el muy amado «Relax, Take It Easy» llevó a los asistentes a otro nivel.

¡La conexión entre Mika y su audiencia fue palpable! Y el aspecto visual y musical del espectáculo fue una verdadera explosión de potencia y creatividad.

Mika no solo nos cautivó con su música, sino que también nos sorprendió al anunciar su intención de hablar un poco de español durante su actuación, lo que generó aún más vínculo con la audiencia local.

 

Google translator

Mika

 

The eagerly awaited artist began the show with a triumphant entrance with “Love Today” that placed him on top of the stage and in the hearts of the audience.

From the first moment, it was clear that it was one of the most anticipated moments of the event. With hits like “Origin of Love,” “Big Girl (You Are Beautiful),” and of course the much-loved “Relax, Take It Easy,” he took attendees to another level.

The connection between Mika and his audience was palpable! And the visual and musical aspect of the show was a true explosion of power and creativity.

Mika not only captivated us with his music, but also surprised us by announcing her intention to speak a little Spanish during his performance, creating even more bonding with the local audience.
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Kumazzz]

 

On 9/24/2023 at 5:40 AM, Kumazzz said:

Flickr

 

Festival Brava Madrid 2023

Fotografia: Tamy Mauri (@ladelasupercam)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

They share more photos.

 

Flickr

Festival Brava Madrid 2023

 

 

https://www.flickr.com/photos/myipop/53211161496/in/album-72177720311407803/

 

https://www.flickr.com/photos/myipop/53211465388/in/album-72177720311407803/

 

https://www.flickr.com/photos/myipop/53211161461/in/album-72177720311407803/

 

https://www.flickr.com/photos/myipop/53211465408/in/album-72177720311407803/

 

https://www.flickr.com/photos/myipop/53211161346/in/album-72177720311407803/

 

[giraffeandy]

11 hours ago, Kumazzz said:

Is it a correct setlist ?

I think so. 

[mellody]

So finally here's the last part of my report...

 

PART 4, AFTERSHOW

So I had been told that someone would pick me up at the side of the stage after the show and that they had my phone number. I wasn't sure which side, but the side where the VIP entrance was didn't look wrong, so that's where I waited. I met some MFCers there, like @Anilado , @giraffeandy and @Roxane and said Hi, but sorry that I was a bit distracted because I was worried I might miss the phone call or the person picking me up. I'd had the yearbook with me in the bag for the whole gig - well, all of the gigs of the afternoon, and for the most part it was ok - when I still was in 2nd row, I asked Manuela to put it to her at the barrier, so it would be safer. And I still had it wrapped in bubble wrap, to protect it. Anyway when people started jumping for the act that was on before Mel C, they nearly jumped on the book, so I took it in my hand and held it for the rest of Belen's performance. Long story short, I had taken good care of it and was nervous whether it'd really work out that I could get it to Mika. Then the guy called me and asked me where I was - we had some problems understanding each other because it was so loud, but eventually he found me and took me backstage. Mika stood right in front of the dressing room container, he was taking photos with some of those VIP / Influencer people who had been standing in front of us during the gigs. I wanted to wait til they were done, because there were some more of them waiting, but the guy directed me to go straight to Mika - which didn't give me any time to mentally prepare for the situation, lol! 😅

 

The whole meeting felt like a dream - and I don't mean that like  (well, a little bit of that too ) but rather like you don't really know or understand what's happening, it's all surreal and when you wake up you're like "wtf was that?!"  There's a few bits I remember very clearly, and a few that feel like a haze, like "did he really say that or did I dream it?".  We said hello and hugged each other, when suddenly he said something like "careful, your flower!" and I saw that the big flower I had pinned on my jacket was falling to the floor. I have no memory about who of us picked it up, but it must have been Mika, because he said "it's much lighter than mine!". I had thought before meeting him that if he said anything about my flower, I'd tell him how much I loved his big white flower and that it's so fluffy... but of course in that moment I completely forgot and just said something about the needle I had attached to the flower and that that at least for the gig it stayed on. I *think* he complimented me on my outfit, that it looks beautiful, but that's one of those things that I might have dreamt, lol!  I didn't know where to put the flower and my rain jacket, so I just dropped it on the floor next to me, along with my handbag, and then Mika pointed on the gift bag and said something like "so this is the mysterious thing?", smiling - and so I gave him the book (and put the bag to the pile of my other stuff) and asked if it'd be ok if I filmed it, because the others would love to see his reaction (and at some point I also mentioned that they were waiting outside, also Roxane, who had done the back cover - not sure if that was when I gave him the book, or after the video) and he said yes, sure - so I started filming and you all know the result of that.  I didn't even hear everything he said, because I was so focused on getting the video right. SO f*ing relieved that my phone camera didn't fail me, because shortly after, when I was outside and tried to save something, it told me the memory is full (which happened to me more than once this summer, I just film too much at Mika's gigs! 🙈). And at some point while filming I looked at his outfit - normally I never look at people's outfits while talking with them, so I have NO idea why I did it at this point - well, maybe because I wasn't talking but just watching him talk. He looked really nice and elegant.  For some reason I thought that his shawl was a shirt and I thought that maybe I could comment on it later, that I liked it, but luckily I forgot, it would have been weird to tell him "I like your shirt" when it's actually a shawl, which I only noticed later in the video. 😅 After the video (I think... or was it before? ), Mika asked me if I enjoyed the show and I said yes, very much (and in my own perception I sounded like a complete idiot when saying that, because I couldn't think of any better words to describe this fantastic gig 😅), then he said something like that it was really good and he seemed surprised about that. I replied that they loved that he was speaking Spanish (not sure why that was the first thing on my mind because there surely were a million other reasons why there was such a fab connection between Mika and the audience, but well...) and he said "yeah, but it's hard!". Haha, I couldn't have told, to me his Spanish was perfect, because I even understood a few words (of the Italian, as I learned later )...  Anyway, I didn't say that... But then he said something about finally coming back to Berlin, he made this little gesture to it, of touching my arm with the back of his hand, like "hey, isn't that great?!" and it took me a moment to react because that topic came completely as a surprise to me. I sometimes like to think I'm more flexible than I used to be, but nope, I guess my brain just works too slowly. So I stammered something like "yes, that's wonderful!" (again feeling like an idiot) and then Mika said "and it's selling really well! Actually the whole tour is!" and I replied that that's great and I'm happy for him, and he said "I'm happy for all of us!", with a look on his face that showed that he must've been really worried about it and is very relieved now that it's selling so well.  Then came the bit about knocking on wood that I mentioned in my last post, and then he said that he'd get picked up at 6am the next morning so he has to leave, and we said goodbye and hugged again, this time without my flower getting in the way, haha! And I gotta say that those hugs really were the   parts of this dream for me, his jacket felt so soft and warm and... well, I had missed hugging him, it has been a looong time since I last even touched him. The occasions for that are rare, if you're waiting for a moment where it's appropriate and you don't just grab him, like some people do when he comes in the crowd. It's nice when he walks by right next to you while he's in the crowd, it's always a bit of an inner fight of whether to make space for him or to just stand a tiny bit in the way so he has to brush past you , but usually I make space when I can, so that makes the occasions even rarer. And sometimes you try but you can't, but instead you get a full body check by Mika, as @holdingyourdrink experienced, lol!  (not in Madrid, but at some other gig). Anyway, getting an actual hug by Mika is much rarer and I feel very very lucky for that.

 

Anyway, so I left (Mika was taking a few more photos with the other VIP's who apparently had been waiting patiently - I have no idea tbh, I didn't notice ANYTHING around but just was focused on Mika) and on my way out thought "damn, I'd have loved to have a photo with him in my flower outfit!" and for a moment I considered going back and asking, made a feeble attempt of attaching the flower back to my jacket but didn't manage, and because of that and because I didn't want to bother Mika again, I decided against it. Once I was outside (back in the festival area), I felt completely stupid for not finding more enthusiastic words about the show and about his mention of Berlin and for not asking for a photo and so I had a little breakdown that luckily no one witnessed because the other MFCers were waiting outside. 😅 Michelle told me where they were, and so I slowly made my way to the exit, while uploading the video on MFC's Tiktok. So I joined my friends, hoping that Mika might at least wave and smile to them, or maybe even stop for a minute to thank them in person for the yearbook, but after waiting quite a long time, it became clear that he had left. Anyway it was great to spend some more time with my friends, even though it was getting pretty cold and I was super tired. Then Prisca and me walked for 25 minutes to get to the station where the night bus would leave to take us to the city center, most of the others were in hotels near the venue. So it was about 5am til I finally was back in my bed, and I certainly did a lot less sightseeing the next day than I had originally planned to. 😅 Was nice tho to meet up again with Michelle, Bea and the French girls for Brunch and a bit of relaxed sightseeing.  

[TinyLove_CJ]

Thanks for sharing your wonderful experience @mellody! 

 

Even if I had time to prepare I still think I'd loose all confidence in front of Mika and become a blubbering mess!

 

Your time with him really does sound like a dream but a dream come true!