The Mika Show
Monday, February 04, 2008 at 08:35amJanet, Lisa, Bluebunny and I all went to see Mika at Terminal 5 in Hell’s Kitchen this weekend. BTW, I really liked Terminal 5. Great venue. We also brought Lisa’s 17-year-old niece, and she didn’t seem too put out at having to spend the evening with four old ladies. Anyway, you guys. The show? Was awesome. Just so much fun. The crowd was incredibly diverse; people of all kinds. We saw parents with their kids, cute gay boys holding hands, teenage sluts, hippies…Janet even spotted a gigantic bald man in the audience, passionately singing along to “Big Girl, You Are Beautiful.” Too funny.
We arrived at the show around 8:00pm or so and found ourselves a spot on the upper level, which gave a bird’s eye view of the stage. Our view was blocked at some points by other people or equipment, but I didn’t care.
Mika looked really cute, dressed in all white with impossibly long legs and moppy hair and an adorable grin. There were flowers everywhere and his band seemed fun as well. Here he is right about to play drums during an extended break in “Love Today:”
He finished up the show with “Grace Kelly,” and then took the obligatory break before the encore. Which is when things got interesting…A big screen came down onstage, some crazy circus music started to play, and a bizarre shadow performance went on behind the screen. Giant rabbits, bears, chickens…I didn’t catch all of it. Each animal took its place behind the drums, guitar, etc., until only one was left - the bear - and the screen flew up, the bear pulled off its head and there was Mika. They kicked into “Lollipop,” the crowd went wild and the entire stage turned into a cartoon.
There were pink Lollipop girls, Big Girls in burlesque outfits, giant balloons started bouncing around…everyone was dancing, and then these huge confetti cannons went off. The crowd went wild. This is what it looked like:
At the end of the song, Mika pulled a bunch of fans onstage and the show ended with more confetti and streamers. It was truly fun and even the most cynical music person couldn’t help smiling. Seriously. I wish I had video, but I found this clip from his DVD and it’s pretty much exactly what we got to experience:
Anyway, SO MUCH FUN. If you get a chance, go see him. Here are his tour dates:
Tue, 02/05/08 House of Blues Chicago, IL (Betty Rocker!!!)
Wed, 02/06/08 First Avenue Minneapolis, MN
Mon, 02/11/08 The Wiltern Los Angeles, CA
Tue, 02/12/08 The Warfield San Francisco, CA
Thu, 02/14/08 Showbox SoDo Seattle, WA
Michael on Monday, February 04, 2008 at 9:59 am
Just KILL ME NOW. I can’t believe I missed that show.
I think you summed it up best in my favorite line from your email: Mika is love, dude.
Michael on Monday, February 04, 2008 at 2:07 pm
So what’s the neighborhood like around Terminal 5? It seems like everything I’ve been reading lately is Hell’s Kitchen this or that (including that it’s the new gayborhood).
freakgirl on Monday, February 04, 2008 at 2:47 pm
I don’t know where all the cool Hell’s Kitchen locations are, but it was pretty non-crowded down in that area.
oolookitty on Wednesday, February 06, 2008 at 2:31 pm
Oh, my God, I want to go see him at the Wiltern. I wish I weren’t on strike and had some extra money that I didn’t have to spend on, like, my cat’s urinary tract infection medication.
Oh, well, your post let me experience it vicariously. FUN!
Scott on Wednesday, February 06, 2008 at 3:53 pm
Nice review. I was there too on the ground floor. Definitely nothing to hate in this concert excepting, perhaps, the throng of 14-year-old girls who couldn’t keep from pushing me aside to take another arms-length picture of themselves.
Did you get any more pictures? My crappy camera takes grainy, blurry ones only. :-( http://flickr.com/photos/tooho.....853865775/
freakgirl on Wednesday, February 06, 2008 at 4:14 pm
I couldn’t get any great shots b/c of where we were standing - the view wasn’t great. Your pictures are fun, though! I loved when Mika hugged the giant skeleton puppet.