New York Press - Mika at (le) poisson rouge

[robertina]

Posted By: Gerry Visco June 25th, 2009

 

I overslept yesterday morning and woke up to a throbbing headache. Stumbling over to the PC in a haze, I typed the following words into the Gmail chat box I had going with my editor: “I’m going to sue you!” But my nausea returned and I went back to bed to snooze another half hour. Let the editor stew about my threats. It was his fault, anyway.

 

Did I have the swine flu? What in the hell hath hell wrought?

 

The simple truth was I’d woken up with a Mika hangover. Mika is the award-winning British singer-songwriter pop star sensation wowing them all over in Europe where he’s been heralded as the new Freddie Mercury. Some say he has a five-octave vocal range, but Mika only admits to three-and-a-half.

 

My marching orders were, “Get thee down to Poisson Rouge!” So, as usual, running late, I jumped into a taxi and raced downtown. Descending the red staircase at (le) poisson rouge, I could hear the music already thumping from the basement. Yes, it was an “acoustic” show, but Mika had assembled a back-up assortment of string players seated on the stage. They looked like an army of Santa’s reindeer with aluminum foil-covered headgear with antlers. The backdrop of the stage was covered in some sort of tinsel.

 

Mika himself pounded the keyboards, during those rare moments when he wasn’t jumping up and down or wildly banging on a silver trashcan. Though he confessed in his British accent to be fighting off a cold, this dude has boundless energy.

The room was packed to the gills. The only way I could get near the front was flashing my big Nikon 300 and thanks to the poorly designed stage and the uncooperative security staff, I spent the whole time staring at the back of Mika’s curly head. Although I’m told Mika has a huge gay following, I didn’t see nary one member of the limp-wristed brigade. That’s unusual for a New York show. The audience was composed of wholesome Eurotrash types ranging in age from 18 to 58; all of them white well-scrubbed family members wearing summer pastels. Not only didn’t I see any queers, there were no tattoo or nose rings, or not even any black leather. Had I been magically transported back to the 1950s when you could have good clean fun on a summer night?

There WAS a ****load of smiling going on. “Excuse me!” I exclaimed rudely to one tall man blocking my way. Imagine how I felt when he grinned warmly, eyes twinkling and offered to take the photo for me. Ooops. It was the same with the audience and Mika. No matter what he did or said, the audience whooped in approval and warmth. When he leapt in the air, they did too. They sang along with their hero and they knew all the words. Mika’s their little boy, their overgrown teen, and they love him.

The funny thing is, Mika CAN sing and he works his butt off there on the stage with boundless enthusiasm. He sang a selection of his hits including “Grace Kelly," "Happy Ending" and "Love Today,” and a few new songs from his yet-to-be released album. “He’s not coming back,” one 60-something man uttered disappointedly after the last song and Mika left the stage. After all, the singer was sick. But no, this is an energizer bunny who never quits—he came back not once but twice to give us multi-song encores. Many of the songs are blessed with infectious melodies and are great sing-along material. Mika could make it big in the United States. And naturally, in terms of the song lyrics, his last album, Life in Cartoon Motion, is full of references to childhood and other sunny matters.

 

Like “Lollipops.” Which brings me to why I awoke with a Mika hangover.

 

This annoying, insipid tune with a chorus of children’s voices kept running through my head like it was a bad dream. “Sucking too hard on your lollipop, or love's gonna get you down, sucking too hard on your lollipop, or love's gonna get you down.” Over and over. Yes, I loved sucking on lollipops. All my friends will tell you, Gerry Visco loves to suck lollipops. And Mika’s looked especially inviting.

 

That was why my head was throbbing and I felt a bit sick and I was threatening my editor with a lawsuit. Momma told me what I should know: too much candy gonna ride your soul. I was just gonna have to lay off the Mika for a while. Bubblegum pop stars are addictive—beware!!!!

 

http://www.nypress.com/blog-4438-mika-at-(le)-poisson-rouge.html

 

interesting uh?

[lollipop_monkey]

I love that.

 

Always nice when someone outside the bubble gets a glimpse of life on the "inside"...and kind of likes it.

 

Thanks for sharing!

[Louiza]

t4p Robertina

[robertina]

good clean fun on a summer night

 

i love that

 

(not much the comments on wholesome Eurotrash types....how were all you dressed i wonder? )

 

and...again reference to the 50s? LOL

[Naectegale]

Posted By: Gerry Visco June 25th, 2009

 

I overslept yesterday morning and woke up to a throbbing headache. Stumbling over to the PC in a haze, I typed the following words into the Gmail chat box I had going with my editor: “I’m going to sue you!” But my nausea returned and I went back to bed to snooze another half hour. Let the editor stew about my threats. It was his fault, anyway.

 

Did I have the swine flu? What in the hell hath hell wrought?

 

The simple truth was I’d woken up with a Mika hangover. Mika is the award-winning British singer-songwriter pop star sensation wowing them all over in Europe where he’s been heralded as the new Freddie Mercury. Some say he has a five-octave vocal range, but Mika only admits to three-and-a-half.

 

My marching orders were, “Get thee down to Poisson Rouge!” So, as usual, running late, I jumped into a taxi and raced downtown. Descending the red staircase at (le) poisson rouge, I could hear the music already thumping from the basement. Yes, it was an “acoustic” show, but Mika had assembled a back-up assortment of string players seated on the stage. They looked like an army of Santa’s reindeer with aluminum foil-covered headgear with antlers. The backdrop of the stage was covered in some sort of tinsel.

 

Mika himself pounded the keyboards, during those rare moments when he wasn’t jumping up and down or wildly banging on a silver trashcan. Though he confessed in his British accent to be fighting off a cold, this dude has boundless energy.

The room was packed to the gills. The only way I could get near the front was flashing my big Nikon 300 and thanks to the poorly designed stage and the uncooperative security staff, I spent the whole time staring at the back of Mika’s curly head. Although I’m told Mika has a huge gay following, I didn’t see nary one member of the limp-wristed brigade. That’s unusual for a New York show. The audience was composed of wholesome Eurotrash types ranging in age from 18 to 58; all of them white well-scrubbed family members wearing summer pastels. Not only didn’t I see any queers, there were no tattoo or nose rings, or not even any black leather. Had I been magically transported back to the 1950s when you could have good clean fun on a summer night?

There WAS a ****load of smiling going on. “Excuse me!” I exclaimed rudely to one tall man blocking my way. Imagine how I felt when he grinned warmly, eyes twinkling and offered to take the photo for me. Ooops. It was the same with the audience and Mika. No matter what he did or said, the audience whooped in approval and warmth. When he leapt in the air, they did too. They sang along with their hero and they knew all the words. Mika’s their little boy, their overgrown teen, and they love him.

The funny thing is, Mika CAN sing and he works his butt off there on the stage with boundless enthusiasm. He sang a selection of his hits including “Grace Kelly," "Happy Ending" and "Love Today,” and a few new songs from his yet-to-be released album. “He’s not coming back,” one 60-something man uttered disappointedly after the last song and Mika left the stage. After all, the singer was sick. But no, this is an energizer bunny who never quits—he came back not once but twice to give us multi-song encores. Many of the songs are blessed with infectious melodies and are great sing-along material. Mika could make it big in the United States. And naturally, in terms of the song lyrics, his last album, Life in Cartoon Motion, is full of references to childhood and other sunny matters.

 

Like “Lollipops.” Which brings me to why I awoke with a Mika hangover.

 

This annoying, insipid tune with a chorus of children’s voices kept running through my head like it was a bad dream. “Sucking too hard on your lollipop, or love's gonna get you down, sucking too hard on your lollipop, or love's gonna get you down.” Over and over. Yes, I loved sucking on lollipops. All my friends will tell you, Gerry Visco loves to suck lollipops. And Mika’s looked especially inviting.

 

That was why my head was throbbing and I felt a bit sick and I was threatening my editor with a lawsuit. Momma told me what I should know: too much candy gonna ride your soul. I was just gonna have to lay off the Mika for a while. Bubblegum pop stars are addictive—beware!!!!

 

http://www.nypress.com/blog-4438-mika-at-(le)-poisson-rouge.html

 

interesting uh?

 

:floor:

 

Great review - thanks

[tiibet]

Thanks for posting, Robi That was really interesting. Well, he CAN sing and people definitely love him. No tattoos? He hasn't seen Mika fans properly. I'm sure there was a few

 

Thanks for sharing this!

[robertina]

Thanks for posting, Robi That was really interesting. Well, he CAN sing and people definitely love him. No tattoos? He hasn't seen Mika fans properly. I'm sure there was a few

 

Thanks for sharing this!

 

yes i know

 

and mana too...didn't you show your ankle?

[Louiza]

good clean fun on a summer night

 

i love that

 

(not much the comments on wholesome Eurotrash types....how were all you dressed i wonder? )

 

and...again reference to the 50s? LOL

 

loved good clean fun on a summer night too:biggrin2:

 

eurotrash isnt a succesful choice of word but since this is an article written in a fun way i wont complain

[Soaring Simpson]

Thanks for posting, Robi That was really interesting. Well, he CAN sing and people definitely love him. No tattoos? He hasn't seen Mika fans properly. I'm sure there was a few

 

Thanks for sharing this!

 

Do you think he'd approve of Mana's lollipop girl?

 

I thought he was a snearly little tosser actually- a lot of words, but very little review

[AnnaMariaPetra]

Haha, this review really makes me laugh!

It's good to read that the Mika-audience is a kind one!

 

(Isn't limped-wristed brigade insulting? Or is it mend to be funny?)

 

Sucking lollipop....and Mika's sure looks inviting?

 

It's good to read smt funny after hearing and reading about MJ's death!

[tiibet]

Do you think he'd approve of Mana's lollipop girl?

 

I thought he was a snearly little tosser actually- a lot of words, but very little review

 

I know, he meant tattoos with black leather... Maybe he was just surprised to see all fans. Very colorful

[Naectegale]

Do you think he'd approve of Mana's lollipop girl?

 

I thought he was a snearly little tosser actually- a lot of words, but very little review

 

I agree, actually - there is a fair amount of snearing -and grudging praise. Reminds me of the "held at gunpoint by Bonnie Langford" review.

 

But at least he did enjoy it

[robertina]

Do you think he'd approve of Mana's lollipop girl?

 

I thought he was a snearly little tosser actually- a lot of words, but very little review

 

no i don't think he would

 

not a review really, sort of catching-the-athmosphere thing

[lollipop_monkey]

yes i know

 

and mana too...didn't you show your ankle?

 

Given his impressions of the gig, I wonder what he would have thought.

[Soaring Simpson]

no i don't think he would

 

not a review really, sort of catching-the-athmosphere thing

 

More of a warning- don't get sucked into liking this guy, you'll regrt it in the morning, he's suitable only for straight white grannies, who are too witless to do anything but smile when shoved.

[robertina]

More of a warning- don't get sucked into liking this guy, you'll regrt it in the morning, he's suitable only for straight white grannies, who are too witless to do anything but smile when shoved.

 

partly true

[Soaring Simpson]

partly true

 

I'm shocked! Robi, how could you!

 

I think if the cool intellectual urban brigade looked a bit closer, they'd see plenty to admire in Mika- though admittedly that doesn't come accross at a gig

[Naectegale]

I'm shocked! Robi, how could you!

 

I think if the cool intellectual urban brigade looked a bit closer, they'd see plenty to admire in Mika- though admittedly that doesn't come accross at a gig

 

I suppose it comes from years of following Queen, but I just don't expect anything from reviews So I take even grudging praise as a bonus

 

Mika will survive all that the press can throw at him, because he connects with a much wider audience.

[Soaring Simpson]

I suppose it comes from years of following Queen, but I just don't expect anything from reviews So I take even grudging praise as a bonus

 

Mika will survive all that the press can throw at him, because he connects with a much wider audience.

 

Is this true in the states where he doesn't get airplay. The whole review read very oddly for an artist who is considered too weird for radio

 

I seem to remember spending my entire youth reading amaing Queen reviews and wishing they'd come to Cardiff (parents did NOT take kids to the next town, let alone the next country, to see gigs in those days)

[Naectegale]

Is this true in the states where he doesn't get airplay. The whole review read very oddly for an artist who is considered too weird for radio

 

I seem to remember spending my entire youth reading amaing Queen reviews and wishing they'd come to Cardiff (parents did NOT take kids to the next town, let alone the next country, to see gigs in those days)

 

I must have a selective memory then I only remeber bad ones - or perhaps they just weren't as glowingas I thought they should be

[Gatagordinha]

Straight white grannies????

 

 

 

OMG in about 20 years or so, I MIGHT BE ONE OF THOSE!!!

Then I can truly call myself a Mika fan.

 

 

Thanks for posting..the article has made me smile a lot for many different reasons .

[suzie]

 

http://www.nypress.com/blog-4438-mika-at-(le)-poisson-rouge.html

 

interesting uh?

 

Thank you, Robi

 

 

.... Things are going in the best direction for him - wonder what impact MJ's sudden passing will have on his media coverage now.... or on the album release...

[Gatagordinha]

Thank you, Robi

 

 

.... Things are going in the best direction for him - wonder what impact MJ's sudden passing will have on his media coverage now.... or on the album release...

 

Good point. I was thinking the same last night..but then felt kind of bad for thinking about Mika when Jackson has just died . But MJ's albums will undoubtedly sell like hot cakes again now and for a while at least, he is going to dominate record sales. Hmm.

[Gracekelly85]

Thanks for posting, Roby!

[sienna]

good clean fun on a summer night

 

i love that

 

(not much the comments on wholesome Eurotrash types....how were all you dressed i wonder? )

 

and...again reference to the 50s? LOL

 

Good question! Thanks for posting Robi!

 

Do you think he'd approve of Mana's lollipop girl?

 

I thought he was a snearly little tosser actually- a lot of words, but very little review

 

Yes a lot about himself, it is a he, isn't it? And very little about the show and the music, but at least is positive and funny!

 

More of a warning- don't get sucked into liking this guy, you'll regrt it in the morning, he's suitable only for straight white grannies, who are too witless to do anything but smile when shoved.