With a captivating colourful piano and bright pink suit, Mika refused to stand still for a single second of his set.
From the moment Mika came on stage, the entire crowd was like putty in his hands. He has a stage presence that is so commanding for all ages it makes you forget where you are and how long you’ve been standing, just waiting for him and his spectacular show.
Without even an introduction he went straight into ‘Lollipop’, and like an infection through the crowd the energy immediately rose - in unison we all sang along with him like it was the air needed to survive. To then finish the song we screamed “Thank fuck we’re back now,” which is something nearly all the music industry can agree with!
He then did something no artist has done before in the historic venue, and actually climbed into the crowd to dance and sing ‘Big Girl (You Are Beautiful)’. The sea of adoring fans were jumping up and down with him in complete unison - only just showing off how in control Mika was of his admirers.
Photos by Zach Seoudy.
With a diverse range of ages in the onlookers, he played songs catering to all and left no one out, with undoubtedly one of the best crowds seen in this venue. In true Mika fashion, he also took an audience request of ‘Billy Brown’, which was especially fitting due to the previous day’s Pride parade in London.
To follow the spectacular request we had a live debut of his at the time unreleased track ‘Who’s Gonna Love Me Now’, in which his outfit was a vest with red heart, and he also donned a pride flag to wrap around his waist. It was very moving, especially for this song as it does feel like a homage to the gay community and what most people have been through during their lives.
Towards the end we had a very emotional story from the talented singer about losing his late mother and the feelings he had to deal with, how he coped with everything during the pandemic in particular, and about the “little pink door” that meant so much to him. He chose to dedicate ‘Grace Kelly’ to her which, despite being an upbeat song, still brought a few tears to some eyes.
In a show which no one wanted to end, he sang ‘Love Today’ to round off his triumphant return to the UK and vowed, like lots of other talented singers, that he wouldn’t stay away for as long next time. After a show like this I sincerely hope that’s true!
With additional credit to Zach Seoudy.
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