Life In Concert Motion: Mika at the Electric Factory January 31 2008

I saw Mika in Montreal last year at the very small Club Soda, he rocked then and was even better in Philadelphia. He has added new elements to the show, gigantic puppets, blow up character dolls from his cartoon album artwork and big girls that come out dancing. I'm surprised he was able to do all this at Phillly's Electric Factory. It's not much bigger then the Club Soda. He just played the Bell Center in Montreal, I would have loved to have seen that show which has a full proper stage.

Mika went on at 9:35. His voice was bang on and he didn't stop through a set of 14 songs. His energy is electric. His show is a must see. I just watched his DVD "Live In Carton Motion" and it just doesn't capture the excitement and energy of being there live. This was his first ever USA concert and he mentions how he and his band were a bit nervous. Mika tells the story of how a big record exec said that his song "Billy Brown" would never get released in the US. The song tells the tale about a friend who was married and then falls in love with another man. He's told the story in Toronto and other cities but you could tell by his tone that it meant so much more telling it to the American crowd.

You wouldn't know that he's never had a hit in the US from the girls with Mika t-shirts waiting in line to everybody singing the words to all his songs. With the exception of the Canadian bonus track "Erase" he did the entire album, and premiered two new songs "Holly Johnny", and "How Much Do You Love Me?" A big fan of Annie Lennox and Eurythmics, he covered "Missionary Man", I don't think most of the audience knew the song. Funny before the show started "Sweet Dream (Are Made Of This)" was playing and everybody sang along, he also sings the song on his DVD.

The highlights: the crowd went wild for "Big Girls (You Are Beautiful)" the gorgeous ballad "Happy Ending" and "Love Today" is always spectacular in Concert. The ending was a kaleidoscope of colour and fun. Mika and his band come out in full animal outfits and perform a skit (I can't describe it you have to see it too funny). Then they blast into the song "Lollipop" with tons of streamers, balloons, and balls of all colors floating in the air filling up the venue. At 11:00 is was all over.

Setlist...I tried my best but the order might not be exact.

"Relax, Take It Easy"
"Big Girls (You Are Beautiful)"
"My Interpretation"
"Billy Brown"
"Any Other World"
"Stuck In The Middle"
"Holy Johnny"
"Ring Ring"
"Missionay Man"
"Happy Ending"
"How Much Do You Love Me?"
"Love Today"
"Grace Kelly"
"Lollipop"