I so wanted to see him last November but due to some unforeseen events, I had to miss that show. Fortunately for me, due to HK's strong demand for that show, he scheduled a return this year, and the response was just as strong - it was a full house tonight at the HKCEC!!
What really caught my attention was the audience mix. There were many kids in the audience and many young people!! I guess Mika's playful music really spoke to them and the cartoonish images he projects in his videos appeals to the relatively young demographic that came tonight and enjoyed his music.
Mika is not popular in the Philippines as I think 'Grace Kelly' did not even make a dent in the local consciousness, but since I follow the UK music charts closely, I was lucky to encounter his music. His second album was even stronger musically in my opinion, although not as successful maybe than the first, but it has so many songs that I like that when I learned he was coming over here, I just had to see him!
Not only is Mika a proficient live performer, he is a very visual performer as well! The stage had two huge trees with crosses, on the left and the right. As the concert went on, a huge doll balloon came out, and another huge male doll came out towards the end. In the encore, a parade of people dressed playfully came out to dance to "We Are Golden"
I was surprised that his last encore song was "Any Other World", my most favorite song of his, as he sang it with full violin accompaniment. Really gave me goosebumps! Of course he sang his hits, "Grace Kelly", everybody was jumoing along with him in "Love Today" and "Good Gone Girl", "Kick Ass" and "Rain".
After the show, there was a group of young people who didn't immediately leave. It was fun to stay behind since Mika made a quick peek at us, much to our delight - the shrieks and warm public reception, was, I'm sure, not lost on him!
Well, we'll be awaiting what his third album would sound like. But tonight, his show celebrated the fun and the quirkiness that permeated his first two ouvres!!
