2024 Apocalypse Calypso Tour reviews

[mellody]

The Apocalypse Calypso Tour is over, so we're removing the list of tourdates from the front page... but to give you an easy overview of where to find the reports thread for a certain date, we've listed them here. If you were at one of the gigs and haven't yet told us about your experience, please do so - we love collecting all the memories of this wonderful tour, so anyone who wasn't lucky enough to attend those gigs can share our experiences from afar.  If you took any photos and videos, feel free to upload them in the reports thread, or leave a link to where you've posted them on social media. Thank you, and enjoy reading/looking through those memories, as every gig is a little different.

 

26.02.24	Clermont-Ferrand / Zenith	REVIEWS / PICS / VIDEOS
03.03.24	Bordeaux / Arkea Arena	REVIEWS / PICS / VIDEOS
03.03.24	Lille / Zenith	REVIEWS / PICS / VIDEOS
04.03.24	Rouen / Zenith	REVIEWS / PICS /VIDEOS
06.03.24	Rennes / Le Liberte	REVIEWS / PICS / VIDEOS
09.03.24	Nancy / Zenith	REVIEWS / PICS / VIDEOS
10.03.24	Strasbourg / Zenith	REVIEWS / PICS / VIDEOS
12.03.24	Reims / Reims Arena	REVIEWS / PICS / VIDEOS
13.03.24	Tours / Palais des Congres	REVIEWS / PICS / VIDEOS
15.03.24	Dijon / Zenith	REVIEWS / PICS / VIDEOS
16.03.24	Annecy / L'Arcadium	REVIEWS / PICS / VIDEOS
18.03.24	Grenoble / Le Summum	REVIEWS / PICS / VIDEOS
19.03.24	Lyon / L'Amphitheatre 3000	REVIEWS / PICS / VIDEOS
21.03.24	Montpellier / Le Zenith Sud	REVIEWS / PICS / VIDEOS
23.03.24	Marseille / Le Dome	REVIEWS / PICS / VIDEOS
25.03.24	Paris / AccorArena	REVIEWS / PICS / VIDEOS
26.03.24	Esch-Sur-Alzette / Rockhal	REVIEWS / PICS / VIDEOS
28.03.24	Geneva / SEG Geneva Arena	REVIEWS / PICS / VIDEOS
29.03.24	Amsterdam / AFAS	REVIEWS / PICS / VIDEOS
31.03.24	Brussels / Forest National	REVIEWS / PICS / VIDEOS
02.04.24	Berlin / Tempodrom - NEW VENUE!	REVIEWS / PICS / VIDEOS
04.04.24	Brighton, UK / Brighton Centre	REPORTS / PICS / VIDEOS
05.04.24	Wolverhampton, UK / Civic Hall	REPORTS / PICS / VIDEOS
07.04.24	Manchester, UK / O2 Apollo	REPORTS / PICS / VIDEOS
09.04.24	London / Eventim Apollo	REPORTS / PICS / VIDEOS
11.04.24	Dublin / 3Olympia	REPORTS / PICS / VIDEOS
16.04. 24* *rescheduled from 07/03	Brest / Brest Arena	REPORTS / PICS / VIDEOS

[mellody]

And maybe we can also use this thread for general tour reports/thoughts/discussions that are not about a specific gig, but about the overall impression. We already have the setlist discussions https://www.mikafanclub.com/topic/36804-apocalypse-calypso-tour-setlist-discussions/ but of course the tour included a lot more than just the setlist.

 

[mellody]

So let me start then with some general thoughts about the tour...

First of all, unlike on all previous tours, Mika's shows did NOT seem too short for me this time! I think his setlist was longer, at least 17 songs (mostly 18 or even 19), while on previous tours it was just 16... and he was talking a lot as well. It's weird, I thought his set had always lasted 2 hours, but maybe I'm wrong. I never thought "oh, I would want this to go on for much longer" or "I don't want this show to end" - which I'm not really sure whether that's good or not... it's good to pull everything out of the evening, but it's also good to stay hungry for more, I guess? Anyway, of course I did wish he had played or would still add a certain song, like OOL a the French gigs (after he had played it in addition to everything else at one of the first French gigs) or 30 Second(e)s / Jane Birkin / Tiny Love at the international ones. But I guess with the long setlist there wasn't much room for extras. I remember back in 2007/2008 he sometimes came back on stage after the usual setlist and played Relax for the 2nd time, if the gig was really great. Those were such special moments, because it was a thank you from him to the energy of the crowd, and it was an extra where he didn't give a damn, he just enjoyed himself and so did we.

 

Which brings me to the next point I noticed about this tour: For the most part it all felt very planned and rehearsed, perfect to every detail. Of course things happen, like a wing that breaks, or the piano not fitting through the door. The latter turned out to be a great moment, because Mika did what he always used to do in such situations, he improvised. When his wing broke he just looked annoyed. I mean, it's relatable, it's the first song and he wants that to go well and pull the audience in without any technical failures to worry about. But it wasn't just that moment during Bougez, it's the overall feeling I got from the gigs, except for Dublin. That he wants it all to be perfect and looks annoyed if it isn't. The amount of times I've seen him pull an angry face if something went wrong or unplanned or his band members or crew didn't immediately understand what he wanted from them was noticeably higher on this tour than ever before. I remember one time - not sure at which of the gigs it was - thinking "what is that, he has this huge smile towards the audience but when he turns to his band he looks like he wants to fire them all right now?!" - not sure how to describe it, it felt like there were 2 Mikas on stage, the one who puts on a perfect show and the one who is unhappy with everything. Those were just quick moments, a passing second, but they made me stop short, more than once.

 

Also I had the impression that his contact with the fans was less instead of more, compared to previous tours. Maybe I had just expected more because he had said before the tour that he would get closer to his audience than before. And then the gap between the stage and the barrier was bigger than ever at his gigs, the lights were sometimes so blinding that you couldn't really look at him (tho I think that depended on where you were standing), and he hardly ever stopped to meet fans after the gigs. Maybe he made more eye contact with fans at the gigs than he used to, with a lot more people, and he tried to get to the farthest point of the venue during Big Girl ... but to me that felt more like "how much can I do?" than really trying to connect with the people at the back. Tho I wasn't at the back, so it might have felt different for those who were - and maybe that's what he meant by getting closer to his fans - giving people in the very back the chance to see him up close for 5 seconds.

 

Anyway, despite all this, of course I had a lot of fun at his gigs, as always. And I don't think I need to emphasize how amazing his rainbow piano, his wings and the apocalypso sign were. Still, the gig in Dublin was my fave of this tour. Despite the purely English setlist, despite the beautiful props missing - or maybe because of that, as it just felt less perfectionated and less planned in every detail, as the other gigs. 

 

I'd be interested to hear from others who were at the gigs how they experienced these things... I already talked with some other fans about Mika looking annoyed at times, and I wasn't the only one who had noticed this - but things like the gigs not feeling too short or the feeling of them being more planned and less spontaneous, I'd love to hear how others experienced this.

 

I'd have more to write, but I need to sleep now, so maybe another time.  

[ClownInACollar]

Considering this is the first time I've ever been able to go to multiple shows of a tour, and as a realtively new Mikafan, I don't have anything to compare it to in the same way as many of you.

 

I really wasn't sure what to expect going into this, the concept of this Apocalypse Calypso and how it would look or sound. I dont think I could have come close to imagining what it ended it being at all. From the image of the face as the first thing you see on the curtain, the birdcage and wings, Club Apocalypso, and all the various shapes and colours of the costumes and outfits. One of my favourite parts, regardless of seeing it multiple times over was the opening with Bougez. The giant cage, the wings, the lights, the overall presentation was absolutely striking and breathtaking every single time I saw it. The physical size of the props and setpieces was very impactful. Though there's probably a lot of symbolism and imagery that is going over my head, but overall the elements, though unexpected, went really well together. It was a visually beautiful and colourful spectacle.

 

The setlists felt complete, and I didn't feel as if the show was lacking in songs at any point, even without the French songs for England. That being said, I am really glad I went to both a set of shows in France as well as a couple of the England ones. I greatly appreciated being able to hear the new French songs being played, and when thinking about it, some should have remained on the setlists regardless.

 

In regards to what Karin said about how everything is rehearsed very meticulously, I agree. I can very much understand from a performer's perspective of wanting to have the security of routine and plans in place, and have the show go smoothly. Though the favourite and most memorable from an audience perspective will usually be the parts where the artists gets seemingly more unhinged, or something unexpected happens and how the artists react and deal with it. I personally found that there was mostly a good balance with these elements. I went to each show and felt an almost comforting sense of familiarity of the structure of the show, and yet there are still enough distinct moments I can recall from each one that makes it stand out in my mind.

 

In terms of audience connection, I get the sense he's very receptive to the energy of the audience, and for sure gives a lot of himself in each and every performance. There's a noticeable sincerity in all of it, which to me is a sense of connection you don't always get with performers, certainly not to the extent I have so far experienced with Mika. I tend to really enjoy the parts where he talks between the songs, and tells a story about or just leading up to the next song, even if I hear the same thing over again a few times. Unfortunately for me I don't understand French, so I couldn't really get any of that from the shows in France. So I was very dependent on just the simpler prompts to jump or dance or wave my arms around, without the added depth of context of the songs. So I got to enjoy more of that for the English shows and even got quite emotional for some parts.

 

Overall I have had a really amazing time with this tour.  And thanks to all of you who I got to meet and get to know better, I have greatly appreciated it as I was travelling by myself, it was very nice to have familiar faces around and to get to talk to people and have company before and after the shows. The experience was made so much better with you all <3

[mellody]

On 4/22/2024 at 2:47 PM, ClownInACollar said:

In regards to what Karin said about how everything is rehearsed very meticulously, I agree. I can very much understand from a performer's perspective of wanting to have the security of routine and plans in place, and have the show go smoothly.

 

I realized one more detail abot this today. The impression I got from parts of the show was a bit like at the ESC, where every word was rehearsed to the last detail and in addition read from a teleprompter. For the ESC I totally get that, and in fact I don't think Mika rehearsed every word he said at the concerts (and he definitely didn't have a teleprompter)... but at times it came across in a similar way, and sorry, at a concert I don't want to see this level of perfection, because (at least for me) it takes away so much of the emotions and of the connection. It's like you're trying to create the connection and the emotions not through the people (including yourself), their energy, and the emotions that music itself creates, but by "content" presented in a specific way. That works for TV shows because those are not about the interaction with the audience - and well, Mika did interact at the concerts, and of course also at past concerts he had certain elements that were well rehearsed and that he repeated again and again... so I'm not sure why the feeling this time was different, why his shows, although fantastic, didn't TOUCH me as they used to - or well, they did, at times, but those were rare moments, mostly created by the music itself and probably it was the moments when Mika lost himself in the music instead of thinking of his performance. I don't want to see him dance like Michael Hutchence, I want to see him dance like Mika.

 

Maybe by doing so much TV the last few years, this "TV Mika" has become so much part of his personality that this is him right now, also at his gigs, and I just have to get used to it. But while I understand why he does TV and I enjoy watching some of it as well, I never was a huge fan of "TV Mika". Already when he did Casa Mika, and that was a really fantastic show and a great opportunity for him to have his own TV Show, amazing concept and stories too... but even back then I didn't like this way of acting on rehearsed scripts. I want pure and unfiltered emotions. Which you only really get at concerts, because even on an album you have the production of the music that puts the original emotions through a filter. (btw that's why I'd love an acoustic album, haha!) And I suppose I had expected this especially from this tour, because of the concept of the "apocalyptic ball" and the question he asks in his tour program "what would you do if the world ended?" - that this would mean not caring about perfection or it "going smoothly", but be more like "wrap your arms around everybody, if we're all gonna die let's party". There were a few gigs on the 2nd part of the Revelation Tour where he actually went to hug some fans (of those he knew) while walking through the audience. Not me, sadly, but this was such a surprising and beautiful gesture. And just one example of how he is capable of creating the intimacy of a small gig also in big venues, making an arena feel like a tiny club, where you feel connected to him and to everyone else in the venue as if you were all friends... and you're not jealous at all but simply very happy for the people he hugs, and it makes you feel so much love.

 

Haha well but I guess I'm mixing things, maybe that latter thing is just me and my own way of seeing and experiencing things, which might be different now from what it was 4 years ago. Anyway, long story short, I want emotions at a gig, and not a perfect TV show.

 

Thank you for sharing your experience, it's especially interesting to hear the point of view of someone who doesn't have this comparison to previous tours. That helps me to see where my discontentment is rather based on too many expectations than on actual facts.

[ClownInACollar]

15 hours ago, mellody said:

It's like you're trying to create the connection and the emotions not through the people (including yourself), their energy, and the emotions that music itself creates, but by "content" presented in a specific way.

You're right, a lot of the speeches in between the songs did come across as quite scripted and filtered. Which can work very well and won't be noticable for someone that maybe only goes to see one concert of the whole tour, which is often the majority of the audience. But by going to more shows it does end up feeling a little like multiple takes of a TV performance, like you say. So I also think it would be better if he could separate himself and his performance more between a studio to a stage, to maybe utilise the presence of a crowd in different ways to create an even more special show, like it sounds like he's been able to do more of in the past. It seems like some very amazing and intimate crowd experiences from the previous tours, and it's a shame this one hasn't quite evoked the same emotions for you.

 

He seems to very much be playing around with the formats of his shows from one tour to the next, so I expect whatever the next big tour concepts are, they will be very different again from this one. I'm not planning on going to any of the festivals so far this year, but I will be keeping an eye out, I'm curious what those shows will look like in comparison to this tour.

 

(Also now that you mention it I 100% agree that we should have had Last Party at some point, absolute missed opportunity on his part)

[carafon]

On 4/22/2024 at 12:10 AM, mellody said:

The amount of times I've seen him pull an angry face if something went wrong or unplanned or his band members or crew didn't immediately understand what he wanted from them was noticeably higher on this tour than ever before. I remember one time - not sure at which of the gigs it was - thinking "what is that, he has this huge smile towards the audience but when he turns to his band he looks like he wants to fire them all right now?!" -

 

If he wants to fire Massimo , I'm in 

 

[mellody]

1 hour ago, carafon said:

If he wants to fire Massimo , I'm in 

 

 

Why? Do you think he's responsible for the too loud sound? I didn't notice it at the festivals last summer and Massimo was there too. I think it's the speakers right in front of the stage, those were new for this tour (and too loud and taking up too much space). I suppose at the festivals it'll be ok, the festivals have their own sound system.

[carafon]

1 hour ago, mellody said:

 

Why? Do you think he's responsible for the too loud sound? I didn't notice it at the festivals last summer and Massimo was there too. I think it's the speakers right in front of the stage, those were new for this tour (and too loud and taking up too much space). I suppose at the festivals it'll be ok, the festivals have their own sound system.

I hope so ......

Btw I wasn't in Bourges but it would be interresting to know if the sound was better

[krysady]

29 minutes ago, carafon said:

Btw I wasn't in Bourges but it would be interresting to know if the sound was better

I can only tell that the sound in Dublin was perfect, at least from the circle zone  

[holdingyourdrink]

On 4/22/2024 at 2:47 PM, ClownInACollar said:

One of my favourite parts, regardless of seeing it multiple times over was the opening with Bougez.

 

YES!! Just a 1000 times yes!! It pulls you RIGHT in, both the French and English versions equally!!

 

On 4/22/2024 at 2:47 PM, ClownInACollar said:

That being said, I am really glad I went to both a set of shows in France as well as a couple of the England ones. I greatly appreciated being able to hear the new French songs being played, and when thinking about it, some should have remained on the setlists regardless.

 

It remains a shame he didn't include more of the French songs in the setlist outside of France, so I am also very thankful that I went to shows in both francophone as non-francophone countries, meaning I had the entire bandwidth of songs to enjoy during the tour.

I believe it was a clear choice to make this tour a nostalgic one in the non-francophone countries, as he hasn't been there in quite a while. It may serve as a really good warm-up for whatever he has planned in the future for the next album and I think in hindsight that is a smart move. 

But of course I agree, he could've EASILY done more French songs of the new album. 

 

On 4/22/2024 at 2:47 PM, ClownInACollar said:

In regards to what Karin said about how everything is rehearsed very meticulously, I agree. I can very much understand from a performer's perspective of wanting to have the security of routine and plans in place, and have the show go smoothly.

 

From the performer's side of things, this is very true. I used to be a competitive dancer and I trained to know my routine with my eyes closed, to be able to give it 300%....and when there is any deviation due to unexpected things (even good things, like my favourite song would come on!), I would be still able to react without losing the performance.

I very much respect when I recognize this with other performers, because it shows not only pure professionalism, but is a reflection of the amount of effort and respect a performer has for its work and its audience.

That begin said, this was the first real tour I have attended... so I have no way of comparing it to other tours Mika has previously done.

 

On 4/22/2024 at 2:47 PM, ClownInACollar said:

In terms of audience connection, I get the sense he's very receptive to the energy of the audience, and for sure gives a lot of himself in each and every performance. There's a noticeable sincerity in all of it, which to me is a sense of connection you don't always get with performers

 

Thinking about what was said in this thread, I actually think what the audience understands what connection is and what Mika understands what connection is, may be two different things. When looking back at the tour and looking at the second half of the tour, the part where he gets very emotional and is holding back tears... He is laying it all bare. To be able to dare to show your vulnerability to your audience, THAT is connection.

 

On 4/22/2024 at 2:47 PM, ClownInACollar said:

I tend to really enjoy the parts where he talks between the songs, and tells a story about or just leading up to the next song

 

Honestly his storytimes are the best!!

[giraffeandy]

On 4/23/2024 at 10:38 PM, mellody said:

Thank you for sharing your experience, it's especially interesting to hear the point of view of someone who doesn't have this comparison to previous tours. That helps me to see where my discontentment is rather based on too many expectations than on actual facts.

 

I have to say that I do share some of your a little bit mixed feelings but to be fair, I've only seen the gig in Berlin during this tour and I didn't feel quite well (long story short – I ate something bad right before the gig) so it could be that my experience was negatively influenced by this (I'm actually quite sure of it because if you aren't physically well, it's always harder to fully enjoy yourself).

 

I was thinking that maybe the one thing I was missing a bit during this tour was the "catwalk stage". I've seen the big show during the Revelation Tour and also last year at the festival in Madrid there was this kind of stage and I think it suits Mika very well and creates a bigger connection with the audience because there isn't a linear border between the stage and the artist so the show is less "frontal"... Idk if it makes any sense but I enjoy it more when he is running towards the audience and interacting with the crowd from the catwalk, I feel like he is somehow closer to me and the show is more dynamic. And more fans can get to the first row. 

 

I've also already commented on the setlist in another thread, I wasn't that happy with the song choices outside of France, especially with the lack of new songs and the abundance of LICM songs. Even during the festivals last year, the setlist felt better to me imho.

 

Now it looks like I have only negative things to say but that isn't true.  I felt that for this tour Mika had even more costumes and outfits than ever. Also the wings and the cage, that was something new and original. The piano with the rainbow actually reminded me of the piano with the heart during Revelation Tour. Unfortunately, he couldn't use all the props in Berlin because of the size of the venue so I've only seen a small part of it (for example, the curtain, the big sign and the car was missing). I hope there will be the recording from Paris so I can enjoy the full show with all the props and French songs. Tbh, I don't think this is my favourite tour so far, but as I said before, it's hard to judge based on the gig in Berlin as it was missing a lot of songs and props from the French gigs.

[mellody]

22 hours ago, krysady said:

I can only tell that the sound in Dublin was perfect, at least from the circle zone  

 

Yup, the speakers in front of the stage weren't there.  btw they also weren't in London and I didn't notice any sound problems there. Only at some (but not all) of the arena gigs with those speakers, the sound was definitely too loud. The worst was in Luxemburg - which btw had been my fave re. the sound quality on the 2010 tour (I don't remember how it was in 2020, but this year's tour was definitely the first time I found the sound too loud at Mika's gigs) So maybe it's those speakers, or maybe @carafon is right and Massimo has problems with getting the sound at arenas right.

 

4 hours ago, holdingyourdrink said:

From the performer's side of things, this is very true. I used to be a competitive dancer and I trained to know my routine with my eyes closed, to be able to give it 300%....and when there is any deviation due to unexpected things (even good things, like my favourite song would come on!), I would be still able to react without losing the performance.

I very much respect when I recognize this with other performers, because it shows not only pure professionalism, but is a reflection of the amount of effort and respect a performer has for its work and its audience.

That begin said, this was the first real tour I have attended... so I have no way of comparing it to other tours Mika has previously done.

 

One thing I noticed when thinking about this again was that my other favourite performer besides Mika surely had every tiny detail of his show planned, and I didn't mind at all. I'm talking about Michael Jackson, whom I was lucky enough to see live 3 times in the 90s. It can't get any more professional than that. There are surely different ways of performing, and different types of artists - and while I admire MJ's work, I could never be a fan of such a superstar who kind of stands above everything that is human (that's how it was with the superstars of the 80s and 90s). It's just a very different thing, absolute perfection, at least in public. Luckily Mika isn't that way, but has stayed human.

 

And what you say about connection, idk, maybe Mika's definition of it has changed over the last few years. This "communion of spirit" as he used to call it, and that I described in my other post - the vulnerability absolutely is part of that. But as Mika said in Manchester, he hasn't been feeling that emotional for a very long time, and it seems to me this was the only moment on the tour where he could really let go and just feel. (And sadly I wasn't at this gig.) Anyway, the result of it was that his voice cracked, so maybe it's just that he still can't allow himself to feel too much and needs this "professional distance" to protect himself so he is even able to perform. (I'm amazed at the things that come to my mind in such discussions while I'm writing, because now I feel like "  of course, that completely makes sense, why didn't I think of it before?!") ... and well, now that I think of it, that makes me very sad for him (and, selfishly, also for us, because it takes away much of the special magic from his shows), but it's very understandable.  I hope it'll get easier for him over time and he'll be able again to lose himself on stage, like he used to... this was the first actual tour without his Mum, so that must have been especially hard for him.

 

1 hour ago, giraffeandy said:

was thinking that maybe the one thing I was missing a bit during this tour was the "catwalk stage". I've seen the big show during the Revelation Tour and also last year at the festival in Madrid there was this kind of stage and I think it suits Mika very well and creates a bigger connection with the audience because there isn't a linear border between the stage and the artist so the show is less "frontal"... Idk if it makes any sense but I enjoy it more when he is running towards the audience and interacting with the crowd from the catwalk, I feel like he is somehow closer to me and the show is more dynamic. And more fans can get to the first row. 

 

Agree, I thought the same.

[carafon]

1 hour ago, mellody said:

 

Yup, the speakers in front of the stage weren't there.  btw they also weren't in London and I didn't notice any sound problems there. Only at some (but not all) of the arena gigs with those speakers, the sound was definitely too loud. The worst was in Luxemburg - which btw had been my fave re. the sound quality on the 2010 tour (I don't remember how it was in 2020, but this year's tour was definitely the first time I found the sound too loud at Mika's gigs) So maybe it's those speakers, or maybe @carafon is right and Massimo has problems with getting the sound at arenas right.

 

Mika pointed Massimo in Brussells that's why I was joking about that 

But maybe it's a combination of both .

The sound in Tours was not good at all despite the fact that it was a small venue ( I don't know if the new speakers were there )  , and in Lille it was awfull .

The bass and drums were way too loud compared to the clavier and guitar and most of all , Mika's voice was hiden by the music.

The sound was ok in Luxembourg in 2020 .

Btw ,  it was ok everywhere before this year 

Edited Friday at 08:12 PM by carafon

[holdingyourdrink]

36 minutes ago, carafon said:

Mika pointed Massimo in Brussells that's why I was joking about that 

But maybe it's a combination of both .

The sound in Tours was not good at all despite the fact that it was a small venue ( I don't know if the new speakers were there )  , and in Lille it was awfull .

The bass and drums were way too loud compared to the clavier and guitar and most of all , Mika's voice was hiden by the music.

The sound was ok in Luxembourg in 2020 .

Btw ,  it was ok everywhere before this year 

I do have to agree, the sound was way too loud… I think I wrote it already in the Brussels reports thread: at the beginning of the gig there were apparently many in the front who said they couldn’t hear Mika, so that’s why he gestured to Massimo to fix it. Since I had already experienced in Strasbourg (front) and Amsterdam (seated) that it was too loud, I had my concert earplugs (reduce by 20-25 dB) in for following gigs, including Brussels. With earplugs I could hear him before he told Massimo to fix it, which means everyone who wasn’t wearing earplugs were exposed to way too many dBs, causing an acoustic reflex (read here to learn what that is). 
 

My brother had his smartwatch actually tell him that the sound exceeded 95 dB a few times. Which is not unusual at concerts, but knowing I didn’t need to rely on my earplugs in the previous years, tells me maybe it was a bit more this tour. 

[carafon]

10 hours ago, holdingyourdrink said:

I do have to agree, the sound was way too loud… I think I wrote it already in the Brussels reports thread: at the beginning of the gig there were apparently many in the front who said they couldn’t hear Mika, so that’s why he gestured to Massimo to fix it. Since I had already experienced in Strasbourg (front) and Amsterdam (seated) that it was too loud, I had my concert earplugs (reduce by 20-25 dB) in for following gigs, including Brussels. With earplugs I could hear him before he told Massimo to fix it, which means everyone who wasn’t wearing earplugs were exposed to way too many dBs, causing an acoustic reflex (read here to learn what that is). 
 

My brother had his smartwatch actually tell him that the sound exceeded 95 dB a few times. Which is not unusual at concerts, but knowing I didn’t need to rely on my earplugs in the previous years, tells me maybe it was a bit more this tour. 

I tried earplugs for some songs in Lille but I didn't ear Mika anymore .

In Brussels I was in the stands and it was ok . It was ok in Nancy and even Luxembourg where I was first row but at the very end of the line ( arrived at 7.45 pm so it was still a reasonable spot  ) ,  probably because I was behind the speakers then

Btw , maybe Mika was aware that many people weren't satisfied by the sound. Could be the reason why he was more upset than usual by unexpected problems . Like he already has a big one and didn't need some minor ones in addition

Edited Saturday at 07:12 AM by carafon

[holdingyourdrink]

2 hours ago, carafon said:

I tried earplugs for some songs in Lille but I didn't ear Mika anymore .

There actually are earplugs that are specially designed for concerts, meaning you can still hear the music very well. They are not cheap (15-30 euros for one set, but you can use them 100+ times). I’ve used them both in the front and the stands and I could still hear both the music and Mika, just without the feeling that my ears are bleeding 

[carafon]

1 hour ago, holdingyourdrink said:

There actually are earplugs that are specially designed for concerts, meaning you can still hear the music very well. They are not cheap (15-30 euros for one set, but you can use them 100+ times). I’ve used them both in the front and the stands and I could still hear both the music and Mika, just without the feeling that my ears are bleeding 

I've got those