Music

Mika in Manchester

In a week of rampant rain, evacuation-inducing floods and having to surrender to central heating in June, Mika and his shiny, happy, technicolour show is like the summer we're still waiting for.

Vodafone clearly knew the sunshine-luring power of the shamelessly poppy star going ahead with an intimate open air gig in Manchester's Great Northern Square, this week, of all weeks, was a bold leap of faith. And as Mika bounces onto the stage in tight royal blue trousers, to the strains of Dolly Parton's '9-5', miraculously, the grotty weather takes a turn for the better. This somehow sums up what's to come.

Mika's exuberance has rubbed off on his fans - around 700 of whom are gathered here tonight, on very excitable and colourful form. As always with Mika gigs, fancy seems to be the order of the evening. As such, we're in the company of two barefoot dancing squaws, a large gorilla, some pink-hatted cowgirls and a guy apparently dressed as a fluorescent Bez - as well as many other feathered, furry, flamboyant and fancily dressed fans, all dancing like they're at the best house party of their lives.

After a fantastic opener - 'Relax, Take it Easy' - during which you keep expecting Jimmy Somerville to burst onto stage and join in the falsetto action, the crowd goes crazy for 'Big Girl', featuring a couple of exuberantly curved and sexily corsetted burlesque glamourpusses who prance around the stage shaking some hot-panted ass. "Hey girls" sings Mika. "You are beau-di-fool!' we sing back enthusiastically. Even though the 23-year-old Lebanese/American classically trained singer didn't go to stage school (it was The Royal College of Music) there's something of the stage school kid about Mika - like the way he's so at home amid this all-singing, all-dancing, dayglo production; the way he beams as he sings; his good manners.

Mika exclusive footage

Check out exclusive video from Mika's Vodafone TBA gig in Manchester's Great Northern Square.

View Mika footage

Mika works well on stage not only because he knows how to play a crowd so well - the between-songs banter is warm and engaging ("For once I'm not the most overdressed person here!" he says, nicking an inflatable palm tree from a guy dressed as Scooby Doo.), but also because his songs are transformed by brilliant live-show tweakings (Elton-esque sit-downs at the keyboard, plush brass interludes, a drum solo performed, 'Stomp'-style, on a big dustbin) and an incredibly rich, warm sound quality. He is also surrounded by a slick, glamorous band: a gorgeous, glittery girl drummer whose skillful beats frequently creep to centre stage, and a pink shirted, bleach blonde bassist and a rhythm guitarist, who change their instruments almost every song.

So much gets packed into this compact one-hour show that it's hard to summarise. Highlights include: 'Love Today' ('Grace Kelly' may have spent five weeks at number one, but this subsequent hit which features the 'bin drum' and a battle with an inflatable palm tree, tops it live); the sheer colour of it all (remember Aqua?); the bits where cock-rock meets Elaine Paige and Barbara Dickinson before crashing into Bee Gees territory; the covers (who'd have thought the Eurythmics' 'Sweet Dreams' could be pogo-ed to? - and isn't it wrong that a 6ft-plus guy in his 20s should be able to top a pre-pubescent Jacko's high notes in 'I Want You Back'?). Wrong, probably. But brilliant? Oh yes.

"What a performer...stunning. My favourite song was Grace Kelly because I have it as a single, but the whole thing was just great."
Katie, Salford

"Fantastic. One of the most unique voices I've ever heard and to hear it live was amazing. Standout track was the cover of the Jackson 5. Only he could carry that off."
Phil, Manchester

"Absolutely brilliant. A live show to remember and the fancy dress was well funny - a bit like being in a carnival. Everyone in the crowd got along so well."
Alex, Cardiff

The grand finale, however, goes even further. Just when you think you couldn't feel any bouncier or more euphoric, we are treated to Mika's early Bananarama-ish 'Lollipop'. But this is Mika, and so we don't just get any old rendition of it. It's like the fantasy finale of the end-of-term show at that mythical stage school - bubbles stream forth; there are streamers; smoke machines go crazy; multicoloured ticker tape and confetti rain down on us. Meanwhile, five people dressed in animal costumes - an elephant, a lion, a parrot, an overgrown chick and a bunny rabbit - carry huge polystyrene letters through the crowd, spelling out the word LOVE. How appropriate, because that's just what everyone here is feeling for Mika right now.