MIKA Tour Blog #1

Dave Whitmey Yamaha Blog 22/2/10

So…welcome to the mika tour 2010 reporting from Glasgow (Edinburgh's poorer cousin - only joking - but really it is). The five of us are sitting in the most basic of basic dressing rooms at the 02 (think millennium dome divided by a million then aged by 100 years).

Its 2 hours 'till showtime and there's no wireless internet so its back to the old school of trying to keep ourselves occupied without Facebook. Cherise (drummer) and Imma (BV's) spend this time desperately trying to look pretty with loads of make up and glitter. Jimmy (basist) likes to make little people out of fruit from the rider, and martin (guitars) and I talk in broad Scottish accents so that nobody understands us.

We've been on the road for 2 weeks now and its beginning to settle. All the gears running great (im running with a S90xs and a motif xs7) and we are managing to find 5 minutes in a day to have a life! We change the running order every day/changing arrangements to keep people guessing - it makes for a chaotic day but it keeps things interesting.

Got to be honest im exhausted… It's a show that's designed to evolve over a year of touring - the set can be configured so that its equally at home in an academy gig as it is in a 20,000 seater arena. Its going to take us round the world to places we would have dreamed of…and some that we wouldn't have…! Im very proud to say I open the show dressed as a schoolboy (shorts and all) and much to everyone's amusement Mika has me remain in that costume until the encore. Secretly I want to keep the costume after the tour’s over… It's a gig like no other.

I spent the last 10 years playing for pop/rnb artists with me trying to look cool without ever achieving it, and finally im on a gig where I can camp about and its acceptable. Im Road MD’ing the gig for a well known gentlemen called Mike Stevens (another Yammy Veteran - 'veteran'!! sorry mike!!) and so my life has become an endless routine of editing, stressing, lack-of-sleeping and I feel like im married to the hard disk recorder.

Better go - its warm up time - and not vocal warms ups - full flashdance style aerobic work out with mika. (designed to 'get us in the mood' by the choreographer - im getting too old for this…) Back off stage now…pretty good gig. I messed up a couple of times. The usual... Next stop Newcastle...!