I knew Mika's music since Grace Kelly became big (circa 2009, if I remember correctly), but I didn't think much of it.
Then I saw him live by accident: went to Lisbon in 2017 to see Bruce Springsteen. Springsteen was headlining the Saturday of Rock in Rio Festival, with Queen & Adam Lambert headlining the Sunday, so might as well. Mika was opening for Queen. It was a performance that came out of nowhere and hit me over the head. In the course of those two hours I became enthralled with the man: silly popsy music for sure, but with a lot more substance than it first appeared, delivered with great energy, knowing exactly how to get the crowd going and throwing a few solid surprises, like the two fado players he met the night before and to whom he offered the stage for a song. Completely unfazed by the 70k-strong crowd, completely unfazed by the legends who were to follow. And the crowd ate off his palm. By comparison, Queen was a rather pale gig and put me off a band I otherwise adore (of course, it would be an entirely different story should Freddie still be alive).
So then I started following him and I don't exactly remember why I didn't go to his 2019 gig in Shepherd's Bush - probably a gig or other of my own - but I know now that I should have. I didn't know what to expect in 2017 - I was expecting Queen. This time around, excited as I was about the gig, I went in with high expectations. I have changed substantially since 2017, Mika might've changed, and besides, the magic and the bane of performing arts is that you cannot tell whether a performance is good or bad until it actually happens.
As it turns out, all of it was overthinking. The man is a great performer and oh boy, did he deliver! I say great, though what I'm thinking is 'one of the greatest'. Strong words, I know, and I know I'm still on a high from the concert, but on the bus home I was thinking of al the remarkable performances I've seen in my life - and I'm lucky enough to have seen a few - and the man is up there. Paul McCartney... of course, it's blasphemy to compare anyone to Paul McCartney and I'm not saying he's as good as Paul McCartney, because how can anyone be? Bob Dylan, same thing. As huge a genius as Dylan is, his performances strike you as weird. As an audience member, you struggle to keep up with what's happening. Rammstein? Take the SFX away and they're just a bunch of weird German dudes singing some slow metal.
No no, this Mika performance tonight was the best live act I've seen since... well, since Mika in 2017, really.
Roundhouse is a great venue, and this no doubt contributed to the experience. The crowd, with a very heavy LGBT presence, was a very mild, very friendly one and, unusual for England, very animated and engaged: everyone was participating from the off, people knew the songs, fans in the know had their choreographies prepared and some have waited a full 24 hours just to be the first in.
And Mika did everything right, though to say it was a performance 'by the book' undervalues it, because no book can teach how to create that little bit of magic, the moments that make a good performance into a great one.
With a minimal set and a relatively standard light rig, but with a lot of attention to detail, this concert has been everything it was expected to be and more. A Londoner for most of his life, Mika managed to connect with the audience at a level inaccessible for those who've never lived in London, and it was, I suppose, a sort of a homecoming, with an international star coming to sing in a venue that is by and large dedicated to emerging artists.
The good songs, the energy, the perfect delivery, well-thought-through choreography and immaculate costumes, all of it are elements for a great gig. But the most important is, Mika is genuine. It makes a performance failsafe, when the artist opens up fully to his audience, holds nothing back and leaves his soul as bare as vulnerable as it can ever be. Frightful, I'm sure, especially when you share a very personal story of being stranded away from your sick mom to a few thousand strangers, but what a show of strength! And how much bigger is the reward, for artist and audience alike!
I've said this to many people, people who know me and know that Mika is maybe not necessarily my kind of music: do not discount the guy, do not take him lightly, go and see him live if you ever get the chance. You're missing out otherwise.
Those Mika hardcore fans, the ones who bring their paper hearts with them, the ones who queue up 24 hours before and the ones who deliver flowers to his dressing rooms, they're not deluded. They're on to something. They know something you don't know. Because you've never seen Mika live. Go and correct that mistake!
