The Benefits of Going Alone…
Last night I went to the Mika concert at the Shepherd’s Bush Empire. I believe it was only his 4th gig and it was absolutely fantastic! He is such an energetic performer and really got the crowd going. Here are some (admittedly not very good) photos from the show.
 |  | Get Your Own! |
Originally I was meant to be going with Dade and Adam – I had organised it as a surprise for Dade’s birthday, but that was all before he moved to Spain! And he couldn’t be back this weekend. So faced with the dilemma that none of my friends were really keen to go (I know, it being a Monday night didn’t help) I could either sell all 3 tickets or sell 2 of them, and use the third to go to it alone. I did get a few odd comments from friends about going to a concert on my own – but hey since none of them would come with me, what was a girl to do?? And it seemed a shame to not go, since I had been really looking forward to it…
Besides I can honestly say the two concerts I have now been to on my own have been the best concert experiences I have had! (Pearl Jam 1997 Mt Smart Stadium and now Mika 2007 Shepherd’s Bush Empire).
The biggest advantage of going alone is that you actually met more people, since why not talk to strangers – it definitely seems the better option when faced with that or talking to yourself! In fact I think I met more people last night than I have in ages, well since Vaughan Town probably…
Strangers 1, 2 & 3 - I sold my two spare tickets to a lovely couple I found via Gumtree – arranged to meet them in a bar before the concert. Whilst I was waiting for them, sitting alone in the bar, three charming guys asked if they could join me – we ended up chatting for ages with them winding me up about the potential psychoses and appear defects of the two strangers I was waiting to meet! They insisted on waiting with me, just to make sure… (I think they were just curious!)…
Strangers 4 & 5 - They were much assured when Maria and Andy showed up – they were lovely, and I warmed too them immediately. We even all stayed and chatted for a bit longer since the bar and the company were definitely preferable to the queuing outside for the concert.
Strangers 6 & 7 - Inside The Empire, we met 2 girls who had seen Bryan Adams 48 times – 9 times already this year! Talk about die hard fans!
Strangers 8 & 9 - Just as the concert began we met Sheila and Jerry who I ended up bogeying with for the whole concert!
Stranger 10 - And lastly there was the friendly Portuguese guy who I met waiting for the bus home, who then spent my entire bus journey telling me why we’d visited the wrong part of Portugal (should have visited the north apparently!) and filling me in on the delicacies of Portuguese cuisine.
So total count of strangers befriended last night comes in at: 10!
(12 if you count the tall couple we were trying to get in front off the whole night! Though I am not quite sure if we can consider them ‘befriended’ as they weren’t that willing to let us in front of them!)
I must have been wearing my relaxed and friendly face last night!
(By the way for those of you worrying about my personal safety and sanity, don’t worry! Only one pint of beer was consumed last night, so all acquaintances made were done so in a completely coherent and sober state on my part!)
All in all it was a FANTASTIC EVENING! And I am so glad I went and didn’t just sell all three tickets! Dade and Adam you missed out on a fantastic gig!
I will finish this post with a few of Mika’s lyrics to ponder over…
“I tried to live alone But lonely is so lonely, alone So human as I am I had to give up my defenses so I smiled and tried to mean it To make myself let go…” – In Any Other World
“Relax, take it easy For there is nothing that we can do. It’s clear we don’t understand it, but the last thing on my mind Is to leave you. I believe that we’re in this together. Don’t scream – there are so many roads left. Relax, take it easy For there is nothing that we can do...” - Relax
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