Mika - he played us, that extraordinary and unique blend of mischievous child , elflike naivety and dangerously potent sexuality

This was a most peculiar night out.

 

 

In spite of a superb performance by Mika, a top international act, who has just completed a sellout world tour and has millions of album sales to his credit, and a worldwide audience of millions watching the concert on livetime,  the anticipated thousands just didn't show up for the biggest budget free concert on offer this year in the Region of Murcia.

 

 

 

 Last years MTV Murcia music night gig was held in Cartagena, on the coast of the Region, and attracted around 25,000 people with two headliner acts, Placebo and Amaral, one Spanish, one English language, one mainstream pop, one alternative pop rock, a programme which presented harsh contrasts in style, but still drew the crowds from across a broad spectrum of ages.

 

 

 

In anticipation of a similar turnout, Caravaca de la Cruz revised the original plan to hold this concert inside the Recinto ferial and put up the stage on the football  pitch instead, a much more sensible alternative which would allow for more people to see the performance, albeit with slightly gritty backsides.

 

 

But something just didn't gel, and the turnout was disappointingly low, certainly less than 10,000 of us filling the space inside the arena area, a sharp contrast to the estimates of 25-35,000 attendees.

 

 

So what happened and why didn't you come?

 

Was it the line-up?

When the line-up was originally announced some of the press queried the selection of Pignoise as support for Mika.

 

Mika is mainstream pop, appealing to all ages, so the headlining act would guarantee worldwide viewing for this concert which was being beamed livetime into millions of homes worldwide, promoting the Region of Murcia, whereas Pignoise are very much a young emerging  pop band, popular with young Madrileneans, but without a massive following, and no international presence.

 

 

A second headliner act was to follow, but about 10 days before the event the third act was confirmed as The Leadings, a good, solid young Murcian pop band with a growing following, but hardly a headliner name, together with another act who didn't even come up on google ( and after watching one track we could see why, )and a couple of DJ's.To be honest, it would have been better had it stopped after Mika. We left after one track of the band whose name shall not be mentioned, feeling it was almost an insult for them to be treading the same boards as Mika.

 

It was a very "young" selection of groups, which reflected in the spectators who turned up to watch, a considerably younger audience than last year, somehow the line-up just didn't catch the broader mainstream market of more affluent middle-aged couples which were drawn to the MTV event by Placebo and Amaral. Which is strange because Mika is irresistable to all ages.

 

 

And it mattered that the audience wasn't affluent middle aged couples, because instead of packing the venue and enjoying a party atmosphere, the youngsters stayed outside on the streets drinking from the bottles of alcohol they'd bought themselves, rather than paying 6 euros for a glass of beer, which was the price inside. Although we were allowed to bring water in this year, security stopped anyone from bringing any sort of alcoholic beverage into the concert area, so economic crisis and lower wages meant that the younger audience stayed outside and only a few came in until Mika was due on stage., the Leadings and Pignoise, chosen for them, weren't even of interest.

 

As the Leadings took to the stage there were probably only 2-3,000 there to watch them, which was tragic as they turned in a solid performance of good pop music, showing great promise for the future, although they would benefit greatly from removing the superglue which bound them to the mikes for their performance.

 

There was little improvement in the numbers for Pignoise, who again, were solid, albeit rather wooden, and although they turned out a capable performance of pop music, failed to whip us into anything approaching a frenzy of excitement..

 

 

 

Where were the people?

 

We asked attendees why more people hadn't come and they just shrugged their shoulders and said, "well it's summer, everybody in Murcia goes to the beach in the summer, " almost as though we were in some way grossly misinformed to have even asked the question , which has to beg a raising of eyebrows and a query as to why the inland City of Caravaca was selected for the venue if everybody in Murcia knows that everybody in Murcia goes to the beach in the summer.

 

 

 

Where were the ex-pats?

Mika is massively popular within English speaking audiences, but although a few ex-pats were visible, they were mainly those who actually live in the North of the Region.

 

The bulk of the ex-pat population in this region are concentrated in the south, with the majority along the shores of the Mar Menor.

 

We received a lot of emails from ex-pats the week before the concert asking for the schedule, but many lost interest when they heard Mika wasn't on stage until nearly midnight, as those driving from the coast would have a good hour - hour and a quarter drive to get home again.

 

The majority of ex-pats being retirees undoubtedly decided it was too far to drive and stayed on the coast, and we had several emails expressing disappointment at the location of the concert and the time of Mikas performance.

 

Caravaca de la Cruz hosted the concert as a celebration of its' Jubilee Year, the expectation being that the Murcians would make the drive out, but sadly they didn't, and some of the comments on the Spanish forums today expressed their own personal opinion that it wasn't promoted enough in the capital

 

And sadly is the right word to use, because Mika was absolutely astonishing and we'd have driven twice as far to see the performance which we enjoyed.

 

Fortunately the arena had filled up, and excitement mounted as extraordinary tree silhouettes made of fabric flowers and leaves draped across the corners of the stage and a few props lent an air of expectation, that maybe something was going to happen.

 

 

 

Down in the press pit we were all grumpy and disgruntled, confined to a narrow alley with the cameras whizzing up and down in front if us, cursing and swearing as we tripped over not only each other but a muddle of cables, technicians and security guards. Praying he wouldn't be in white when he came out as we knew the strong lights would play havoc with glare on those pictures, we waited. Two sets of immobile performers had rendered us all desperate to get a decent shot off, but confined to our little pit with the stage high above limiting the scope of the shots  and just three numbers to pull something off, we were tense, and hustled in as the lights dropped , barely had time to find our footing before Mika exploded onto the stage and to be in press pit alley became the greatest privilege imaginable.

 

 

He's a skinny little thing, but Mika filled that stage with his presence and personality, working it, leaping, dancing, posing and pirhouetting so much so that momentary panic set in about the shutter speed selected and we struggled to follow him around the stage.

 ( For the Mika fan club who have picked this up, skinny isn't meant to be derogatory- I just can't work out where he's stored all that energy, and I don't want to change it to say rangy, slim, angular, because somehow you can say the same thing about Mick Jagger and look how many people obsess about ripping his skinny little pants off!. )

 

This wasn't a concert, it was a spectacle and he played us, pulling off all the tricks of a master showman, singing with us, not to us, playing with us, that extraordinary and unique blend of mischievous child , elflike naivety and dangerously potent sexuality that only someone whose really got "it" can deliver with such devastating effect.

 

 

 

His energy is extraordinary, those great long legs striding around the stage like a big bouncy puppy, play with me , play with me, come on and dance with me, I'm fun, and I'm here to entertain you.... come on, let's party.

 

 

Vibrant colours, flowers, an overtly flirtatious routine which oozed suggestive innuendo, "are you warming up?" he purred to the audience in lilting Spanish, "  I  was told not to speak in Spanish, "he said, knowing full well that the phrase he'd used for warming up, meant getting hot as in getting hot and sexy, not feeling the benefit of a pair of woolen socks and a home knitted hat.

 

 

 

Naughty,  naughty, and he looked over the top of his flower decked piano, soft curls bouncing innocently as his fingers caressed the keys........ naughty me, saying such things........but there's a dare in those dark eyes, a glint of danger, of recklessness, of irreverence, daring us to deny that it sends a little thrill up our backs, or that we know what he means, and we know that we know that we like it.

 

 

This performance was a beautifully oiled machine, rehearsed to perfection, down to the last unrehearsed gesture, but immaculate in its impression of spontaneity and exuberant energy, a great showman who wanted our approval and worked his socks off to make sure he got it.

 

 

 

All day we've been humming . Big girls, you are beautiful..... and relax, take it easy........and smiling at the recollection of a night full of bouncing balloons, spinning white energy whirling around the stage and that distinctive vocal sound which couldn't be anybody other than Mika.

 

And smiling at each other for the pleasure of having been there, been part of it, and being lucky enough to be touched by a very special experience.

 

 

And asking ourselves,  why weren't you there?

We've posted the photos and a few more, together with the shots of some of the fans and The Leadings on our facebook page. Click facebook Simply Networking.

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