BaroqueW

Arrival

Getting to Berns is not made easy, even with the information available on the ticket selling website. Added to that, both monsieur BaroqueW and I have obviously been in Sweden for too long as we immediately joined the first queue we saw in the area of the building the concert was supposed to be in (aka the line for buying tickets, not the line for getting into the concert.) If it hadn’t been for the tickets selling out, we would have had a very embarrassing moment at the end of the line.

The “arena” itself is actually a restaurant with an entertainment scene. It’s not exactly designed to be a concert hall. It does look elegant, with its chandeliers and golden walls, but it feels unnatural. It also didn’t lend itself to allowing performers to be visible to their audience, since they were barely three feet higher in the air than we were… so seeing them with anyone even slightly taller than you in front of you was impossible. Some fluke of Murphy’s Law guarantees that the tallest people managed to stand all the way in front, while the shortest people were left far to the rear. I could actually look behind me and see the gradual shrinkage of the populace compared to the increasing height of the people blocking my view. The tallest person in the entire audience was, of course, directly in front of the stage.

The people at the concert were a very eclectic blend of older and younger crowds, fitting into different clothing cliques, although I’d say the majority of them were female and under 25… which was a blessing since it’s much nicer to be crushed by screaming happy girls than say, for instance, Hell’s Angels.

On to the actual performances!

First we had the very good, but deafening performance by Mr. Hudson and the Library. It was a very good and invigorating jazz-like performance to which the crowd responded well. No booing or hissing and saying “we want Mika”. They even tried to speak a bit of Swedish and sucked up to the audience. The main vocalist’s style was very reminiscent of Sting, but it was his backup singer who was actually the better singer although probably not as good at the eye-catching stage performance/act. It was odd to have a band that focused so heavily on the bass guitar sound which reduced eardrum functionality by the time Mika, with his higher register and has a higher pitched melody started. Aside from that inconsistency, it was very entertaining and well played.

After a short wait, while people pressed in closer… and closer… and closer… Mika finally arrived on stage. His body movements and style vaguely reminded me of a young Freddie Mercury or maybe David Bowie, because it was somehow very feminine. His voice was fantastic, and his sense of fun added an extra element to the concert. He obviously loved performing and it showed with every gesture. Mika managed to stir us all up- encouraging us to clap our hands, wave our arms, and sing along with him. He even specifically turned to the wings in the balconies where people were less engaged, and have them join with us “mosh-pitters”. The crowd sometimes moved like one organism, in fact it was hard to NOT move when people on every side of you are pressed against you and jumping in the air full of energy and enthusiasm. It fills you up and invigorates you.

His band was great, although largely ignored by the audience other than the time Mika took to introduce them.

Of course, annoying people who try to cheat their way to the front try to spoil the mood. Specifically one incredibly bad liar who tried to pretend her “friend” had asthma, so she needed to cut in front of me (where there wasn’t even a cm of space between me and any person around me). Why exactly would someone with an asthma problem want to press further into the center of the crowd rather than out to the edges? Not to mention she eventually left in a huff when I refused to move… completely and totally alone, no friend in tow. Maybe it would have worked if she hadn’t tried to use it on someone who actually HAS asthma. :Þ

But you can’t take the good without the bad to help you appreciate it.

Mika’s return after the “end” of the concert was disguised by wearing fuzzy animal costumes while goofing around on the stage to the music box tune “Teddy Bear’s Picnic”. Then they ripped off their “heads”, the drums kicked in, balloons and fluttering silver bits of paper dropped down on us while we used up the rest of our energy trying to bounce the balls during the last song. Mmmm glittering silver paper stuck to sweaty skin.

On a sader note, some poor soul lost their usb-mp3 player, which I tried to return to them, but I didn’t see anyone looking for it. In the end I gave it to a security guard, which apparently makes me a horribly naive person. But duly noted for the future: all lost items should be given to BaroqueW :Þ

It was extremely satisfactory and I can’t think of anyone I would have rather been there with!

You can visit Mika’s official homepage to listen to samples of the music, in case you have no idea who he is.

Mika on Technorati