Mika, Kyle & Trillian's wedding celebration, and many Philly trips
So the last few weeks have been pretty fun, and have also involved more-than-usual frequency of trips to Philadelphia. (Coincidence?) I'm not planning on going to Philadelphia this weekend, but as it will be Halloween, I have hopes it will still be pretty spectacular.
The last thing of note that happened since I updated is that I went to see Mika. That was in most respects a lucky, lucky night. I decided to only see him in Philly because I didn't want to pay the New York prices and forgot to watch out for the presale, so I would only have been 12th row or so. However, when the day of the concert came about, I ended up choosing extra sleepover getting to the venue early, and then procrastinated some more, and ended up only showing up about half an hour before doors. I took my place in the back of the line, but went to say hi to the people I knew at the front, who'd been lining up since morning:
As I was talking with them, it turned out that one of them was actually invited to be part of the show for the night, and she offered me her spot in line.
So despite arriving just before doors, I ended up in the very front. Score! I made sure when we filed in that everyone who had been there since morning was in front of me, but I still got 2nd row, which was much better than anything I could hope for better.
And then the show itself was amazing. The other reason I chose Philly over New York is that I feel Mika always puts on incredible shows here, and this time I had several New Yorkers who'd just seen him a night ago to concur. He's never distracted in Philly, and he always has this wonderful energy. This time he also looked like he was having a great amount of fun being up there, which is one of my most important factors in how much I enjoy a show. And the songs were terrific live. His first album I loved on CD, but I wasn't sure about the second one--I liked it a fair bit, but I didn't love it. Live though? Totally different story. All the songs were catchy as hell, engaging and compulsively danceable. I spent the entire show grinning and jumping, even in heels. The only downside is that now I will have to spend a lot more money on seeing Mika on future tours.
The tour itself was also fun. I'm a bit worried that in 5 years Mika may turn into Madonna, but this was a good mix of fun stage play and basic performance. All the costumes on this tour were black and white, and there was a lot of blacklight used (and a lot of glow-in-the-dark makeup), and the overall set had a space theme. After an intro with the band watching a 60s era broadcast about a rocket launch in a retro living room set, Mika came on stage in a space costume, among hundreds of balloons strung up and painted in fluorescent pain to look like planets. He ditched the spacesuit immediately, but the planets remained on stage, and were used to very aesthetically pleasing effect.
By followthesound.
And by afogarty62.
After the show, I stayed behind the venue with the others for a while, waiting for Mika to come out, but he was taking his sweet time, and there was an intimidatingly huge crowd there. I also had plans to meet up with portableteejay and some others at a bar, and as it grew chillier, going to bar looked more and more appealing. I had told myself earlier in the night that I wouldn't wait more than half an hour for Mika and I already waited longer than that, so I decided to bail. Considering I usually get disappointed with my experience when I do see him, it wasn't a big loss. (Also, Teejay called me and was whiny about how all his friends were leaving. :-p) I asked hailed Mika's manager as he was walking outside and asked him to pass the card I brought on to Mika and left.
By the time I got to the bar, sure enough pretty much everyone had gone, so that was disappointing. I had wanted to see some of the people who'd left. Instead, Teej and I chatted and his bartender friend very nicely supplied me with free shots up until I got sleepy, and we had to head back.
Then the next weekend, it was kylecassidy's and trillian_stars's wedding party, and it sounded so fun that on a whim I decided to come, even though I'd only met Kyle once before and Trillian not at all. (But all the more reason to come down and do so!)
Kyle and Trillian encouraged people to arrive in ball gowns, and how often do you have parties where there are ball gowns involved? I did not wear a ball gown, however, but the black gothy ensemble of the last post.
When I arrived at the venue, a songstress named Nicki Jaine was performing a beautiful cabaret number.
And there were indeed many people in fancy dress.
Kyle, to my surprise, remembered me and knew who I was, and even Trillian seemed to, which totally ruined the story I was telling everyone about how I was crashing their party. ;-)
Trillian was dressed gorgeously as always, and looked like a princess from a storybook. Kyle wore ruffled cuffs. :-P
I will now share a lot more photos of them with you.
The party wound down around 8-9 pm, and at that point I left and went over to Teejay's again, to watch Dollhouse. Because he is convenient!
Have to say, Kyle and Trillian have wonderful friends. Even though I did not know anyone, it was easy to mingle and everyone I spoke to was interesting and engaging, and it is rather sad I am not likely to run into some of these lovely people again.
I might, however, run into Trillian again quite soon, as I left my sketchbook at the party, and will have to return to pick it up--and plan on making that return coincide with taking in a performance of her play.
The last thing of note that happened since I updated is that I went to see Mika. That was in most respects a lucky, lucky night. I decided to only see him in Philly because I didn't want to pay the New York prices and forgot to watch out for the presale, so I would only have been 12th row or so. However, when the day of the concert came about, I ended up choosing extra sleepover getting to the venue early, and then procrastinated some more, and ended up only showing up about half an hour before doors. I took my place in the back of the line, but went to say hi to the people I knew at the front, who'd been lining up since morning:
As I was talking with them, it turned out that one of them was actually invited to be part of the show for the night, and she offered me her spot in line.
So despite arriving just before doors, I ended up in the very front. Score! I made sure when we filed in that everyone who had been there since morning was in front of me, but I still got 2nd row, which was much better than anything I could hope for better.
And then the show itself was amazing. The other reason I chose Philly over New York is that I feel Mika always puts on incredible shows here, and this time I had several New Yorkers who'd just seen him a night ago to concur. He's never distracted in Philly, and he always has this wonderful energy. This time he also looked like he was having a great amount of fun being up there, which is one of my most important factors in how much I enjoy a show. And the songs were terrific live. His first album I loved on CD, but I wasn't sure about the second one--I liked it a fair bit, but I didn't love it. Live though? Totally different story. All the songs were catchy as hell, engaging and compulsively danceable. I spent the entire show grinning and jumping, even in heels. The only downside is that now I will have to spend a lot more money on seeing Mika on future tours.
The tour itself was also fun. I'm a bit worried that in 5 years Mika may turn into Madonna, but this was a good mix of fun stage play and basic performance. All the costumes on this tour were black and white, and there was a lot of blacklight used (and a lot of glow-in-the-dark makeup), and the overall set had a space theme. After an intro with the band watching a 60s era broadcast about a rocket launch in a retro living room set, Mika came on stage in a space costume, among hundreds of balloons strung up and painted in fluorescent pain to look like planets. He ditched the spacesuit immediately, but the planets remained on stage, and were used to very aesthetically pleasing effect.
By followthesound.
And by afogarty62.
After the show, I stayed behind the venue with the others for a while, waiting for Mika to come out, but he was taking his sweet time, and there was an intimidatingly huge crowd there. I also had plans to meet up with portableteejay and some others at a bar, and as it grew chillier, going to bar looked more and more appealing. I had told myself earlier in the night that I wouldn't wait more than half an hour for Mika and I already waited longer than that, so I decided to bail. Considering I usually get disappointed with my experience when I do see him, it wasn't a big loss. (Also, Teejay called me and was whiny about how all his friends were leaving. :-p) I asked hailed Mika's manager as he was walking outside and asked him to pass the card I brought on to Mika and left.
By the time I got to the bar, sure enough pretty much everyone had gone, so that was disappointing. I had wanted to see some of the people who'd left. Instead, Teej and I chatted and his bartender friend very nicely supplied me with free shots up until I got sleepy, and we had to head back.
Then the next weekend, it was kylecassidy's and trillian_stars's wedding party, and it sounded so fun that on a whim I decided to come, even though I'd only met Kyle once before and Trillian not at all. (But all the more reason to come down and do so!)
Kyle and Trillian encouraged people to arrive in ball gowns, and how often do you have parties where there are ball gowns involved? I did not wear a ball gown, however, but the black gothy ensemble of the last post.
When I arrived at the venue, a songstress named Nicki Jaine was performing a beautiful cabaret number.
And there were indeed many people in fancy dress.
Kyle, to my surprise, remembered me and knew who I was, and even Trillian seemed to, which totally ruined the story I was telling everyone about how I was crashing their party. ;-)
Trillian was dressed gorgeously as always, and looked like a princess from a storybook. Kyle wore ruffled cuffs. :-P
I will now share a lot more photos of them with you.
The party wound down around 8-9 pm, and at that point I left and went over to Teejay's again, to watch Dollhouse. Because he is convenient!
Have to say, Kyle and Trillian have wonderful friends. Even though I did not know anyone, it was easy to mingle and everyone I spoke to was interesting and engaging, and it is rather sad I am not likely to run into some of these lovely people again.
I might, however, run into Trillian again quite soon, as I left my sketchbook at the party, and will have to return to pick it up--and plan on making that return coincide with taking in a performance of her play.