(In this rare leaked scene from Star Trek XII, Mika challenges Spock to a karaoke contest amongst the stars. Test audiences responded favorably. © 2009 Benjamin Luk.)
I doubt Mika's ever been sad a day in his life. Between that captivating grin and his increasingly flamboyant costume changes, it's nigh impossible to be even vaguely glum in his presence. The stage was decked out with hanging planets, fog machines sat waiting in the wings, and air blowers preloaded with confetti stood on the sidelines. When Mika made his grand appearance to tumultuous fanfare, it was in full astronaut regalia as he bounced and hovered in slow motion, as though weightless on the moon. Even though we knew we were in for a show at this point, the next hour-and-a-half was still a mad spectacle.
The band started to play. Mika had hovered offstage momentarily and the band members looked like Carnivàle, covered in neon face paint that glowed in the black lights and wearing stylish suits and dresses with mismatched patterns. There was a brief hiccup in the opening of their set as "Relax, Take It Easy" began; Mika was nowhere to be seen even as the notes of the first verse were playing. The band was confused but played on, and soon enough, Mika ran back onstage to deliver the chorus with explosive energy. That astronaut costume must've been difficult to get off, probably exacerbated by the fact he seemed to be wearing a cast on his right leg. As the show progressed, I couldn't help thinking Mika was anchored by that cast and maybe we'd all been cheated of a full-energy show by an ill-timed leg injury. But more about that later.
The band started to play. Mika had hovered offstage momentarily and the band members looked like Carnivàle, covered in neon face paint that glowed in the black lights and wearing stylish suits and dresses with mismatched patterns. There was a brief hiccup in the opening of their set as "Relax, Take It Easy" began; Mika was nowhere to be seen even as the notes of the first verse were playing. The band was confused but played on, and soon enough, Mika ran back onstage to deliver the chorus with explosive energy. That astronaut costume must've been difficult to get off, probably exacerbated by the fact he seemed to be wearing a cast on his right leg. As the show progressed, I couldn't help thinking Mika was anchored by that cast and maybe we'd all been cheated of a full-energy show by an ill-timed leg injury. But more about that later.
The theatrics of the show were a scream. "Big Girl (You Are Beautiful)" was accompanied by large, loud and proud backup dancers at the rear of the stage; "Blue Eyes" had two giant cardboard eyes waving back and forth to the beat of the song; and for reasons I'll never understand, at one point in the show, Mika walked offstage playing with a teapot marionette and was replaced temporarily by a giant walking teapot holding a Mika marionette! I wish I could explain that in a way that doesn't sound so much like a bad acid trip, but maybe it's something you just need to see to understand.
Between songs, Mika flirts with the Vancouver crowd, remarking on "how fragrant the air is" and how the wireless transmitter in his pocket keeps him from sitting down "like Bette Midler or something". He also thanks us for being such a great audience to end their North American tour with. (I'm sure he says something like that in every city, but we accept the compliment graciously anyway.) All in all, it was a wonderful performance, two encores and all; and yet, I felt as though something was missing. Maybe Mika wasn't quite channeling Freddie the same way with that cast on, or maybe it was the way his amazing backup singer seemed to upstage him at times with sheer energy alone, but there was a certain je ne sais quoi that just wasn't there. Oddly, in spite of a grand finale involving balloons and confetti raining from the ceiling, I was expecting more. But perhaps it's a testament to Mika's excellent work as a recording artist that my expectations were so unreasonably high.
Between songs, Mika flirts with the Vancouver crowd, remarking on "how fragrant the air is" and how the wireless transmitter in his pocket keeps him from sitting down "like Bette Midler or something". He also thanks us for being such a great audience to end their North American tour with. (I'm sure he says something like that in every city, but we accept the compliment graciously anyway.) All in all, it was a wonderful performance, two encores and all; and yet, I felt as though something was missing. Maybe Mika wasn't quite channeling Freddie the same way with that cast on, or maybe it was the way his amazing backup singer seemed to upstage him at times with sheer energy alone, but there was a certain je ne sais quoi that just wasn't there. Oddly, in spite of a grand finale involving balloons and confetti raining from the ceiling, I was expecting more. But perhaps it's a testament to Mika's excellent work as a recording artist that my expectations were so unreasonably high.
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Mika played The Commodore Ballroom in Vancouver, BC on October 27th, 2009. Special thanks to Timbre Productions.
2 comments:
Thanks for the review and the photos. I especially love the Star Trek captions on the first pic. LOL!
Photographers were extremely badly behaved at Mika's LA show, to the point of blocking the audience by standing on stepladders and leaving their bags on stage, causing Mika to trip. Kudos to you for capturing excellent shots without getting in everyone's way.
Mika's delayed reappearance at the beginning of Relax was intentional and not a hiccup. Before he injured his foot he would only wear boxers underneath the spacesuit so he required extra time to put his pants on. It was timed for him to come out fully clothed at the start of the first chorus.
It's unfortunate you felt something was missing from the show because I thought he gave it 110% and the fact that he was wearing a foot brace made it all the more remarkable in my opinion!
I'm glad I wasn't the only one that thought that Mika was Freddie Mercury reincarnated....fabulously.
~Meg
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