One of the best parts about being friends with other music fan/writer-types is the constant back-and-forth debate about the merits of the stuff we listen to and support. With that spirit in mind, No Dessert For You proudly launched “Two-Faced: Both Sides of the Same Goddamn Story,” our new column where I’ll take on one of my equally-opinionated colleagues in a point-counterpoint discussion of a show or album that we feel, uh, differently about.

First up on the block is Mika, the European dance-pop sensation who’s not exactly busking for change in the States, either. My friend and fellow scribe Ali Trachta accompanied me to the Metro to check out the show this week, and was kind (and brave) enough to engage in a friendly exchange about the experience….muahahaha!

Dear Lizz:

All Hail the New “Queen!” As you know, it’s not uncommon that young music stars are packaged and sold by their labels as a crowd-pleasing product when their first record comes out. But at Monday night’s show at the Metro, Mika seemed so comfortable in his own Elton John-meets-Abba-meets-The Darkness-meets- Freddie Mercury skin that it was obvious he was doing exactly what he was born to do. I was one lucky girl to be able to see his weird and wild show for myself.

Mika’s music is like a parade. It’s march-y, dance-y, poppy and silly, and as his falsetto voice rocks out overtop the apparent circus it seems to ask, “How dare you be in a bad mood today?” His show was the perfect match. The crowd (ok, me included) ate it up as Mika hip-shaked and high-kicked his way through the happy tunes and that were a perfect fits for his outstanding range - dark rocker to downright castrated. My jaw dropped when two extra curvy girls dressed in acrobat outfits came out to shake it during, “Big Girl (You Are Beautiful),” but the whole thing was such a spectacle I couldn’t help but jiggle the junk in my own trunk. The finale really was grand – Mika and his band dressed up as farm animals, flailing jubilantly through “Lollipop” while massive balloons and silver confetti rained from the sky. This show was enough fun to keep a spring in my step the whole summer through.

-Ali

Dear Ali:

It’s hard to refute the joy in your assessment of Mika’s show! That’s pretty cool to see, I must say. To be the voice of dissent, though, Mika missed the mark for me at the Metro. Don’t get me wrong, I love to shake it as much as the next wallflower-turned-jaded-critic, but there was no breathing room in Mika’s theatrics to really let his music speak for itself. I think he writes some great pop tunes and has that rare control over his falsetto that’s awesomely impressive, but he’s young and he’s hiding behind the stage antics. The “big girls,” confetti, beach balls, and barnyard creature costumes each would have been cute on its own, but en masse it all detracted from the real centerpiece of any live concert – the music. That said, I can appreciate Mika’s gumption and desire to provide his paying customers with a unique experience, but for me it just highlighted a lack of confidence in his songs.

-Lizz

Dearest Lizz,

Ok ok, so he’s a little gimmicky. Between the Beautiful Big Girls and the Lollipop Ladies…I wouldn’t have been surprised if he had a Billy Brown character acting out his bi-curious fantasies among the silver confetti. But what’s wrong with a little visual stimulation to help the listener get the picture of what his music is about? I’m not sure Mika’s at the stage in his career that his music has much of a real message. It’s all about goofing around. It’s about bringing back that childlike thrill we all used to get when we went to Chuck-e-Cheese. I think his show, with all its pomp and circumstance, was an attempt to bring that to life. True, he is young and might very well grow out of the hoopla, but I’m willing to let his youth be a good excuse for me to get a kick out of life-size puppets again.

Yours,
Ali

Ali –

You’re right, I can’t compete with the puppets. I shall shove a purple chenille sock in it and enjoy the flamboyant parade!

-Lizz

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