Review: Mika's theatrical pop
Beirut-born Michael Penniman - Mika to you - might not seem the dream of teen lasses and sorority girls. He's high-pitched, slight-of-build, and makes exuberant music that's an au courant, hit-making encapsulation of all things Glam Rock and fussily British (Sparks, Elton).
/arc-anglerfish-arc2-prod-pmn.s3.amazonaws.com/public/XNXFRR3D7RFTPEOYA427SXBMXE.jpg)
Beirut-born Michael Penniman - Mika to you - might not seem the dream of teen lasses and sorority girls. He's high-pitched, slight-of-build, and makes exuberant music that's an au courant, hit-making encapsulation of all things Glam Rock and fussily British (Sparks, Elton).
Yet, there he was - all snug-fitting tux and tight curls - thrilling an all-ages crowd of gals and the boys who love them during a sold-out show at Union Transfer Monday in what was billed as an "intimate evening with . . . "
What that meant was that his usually crowded stage and busy arrangements were stripped down to just Mika trilling theatrically and hammering piano, with instrumentalist/vocalists along for the bumpy ride.
Bare without bombast, his best-known tracks - "Grace Kelly," "Toy Boy," "Blue Eyes" - came out fast, furious, and histrionic from the start, with his falsetto twittering across these most melodious songs.
Oddly, after a while, this stripped-down sound - still rich with saxophones, synths, and thumping tom-toms, to say nothing of the tinkling piano - brought out a monotony in Mika's tunes and a tedious anthemic quality in his lyrics. Though an easy crowd pleaser, "Big Girl ("You Are Beautiful)" came across like a second-rate version of Queen's 1978 hit "Fat Bottomed Girls," with Mika sounding more cutesy than cutting.
What saved the show from being a speeded-up version of "Music Box Dancer" - surely a '70s reference Mika would love - were songs from 2012's The Origin of Love.
In their recorded versions, these cuts were too busy in their attempt to match a blend of house-hop with Mika's complex, wordy pop. Torn apart and made simpler, The Origin of Love's "Emily" became a cunning family drama, with Mika showing off his handsome low register.
Same went for the slower ballad "Stardust," the tap-dancing "Underwater" (with shoes and a suitcase as the song's rhythmic base), and his new album's delicate title tune. It was nice to hear Mika take a breath, then take several lower ones, rather than always breaking glass.