The View from Outside- Mika @ Terminal 5, New York City

February 4th, 2008 - by Linda

Location, NYC, Tours

I was excited about the Mika tour when I found out about it over a month ago. It was so far in advance that I figured I’d wait and get the tickets at the venue so as not to pay the ridiculous Ticketmaster fees. I stupidly thought Mika isn’t that popular yet, so it won’t sell out. I was obviously wrong and by the time I got to the box office, tickets were long gone.

I decided to try my luck at the venue. I’ve never gone to a concert without tickets, but I figured someone would have an extra that they’d be trying to get rid of.

I got there at about 6:45. Doors were set to open at 7. I could hear the screaming teenagers from down the block (I don’t really know why they were screaming). The crowd was very young, high school girls and a lot of small children, even families. Some fans came dressed up in crazy bright colored outfits, sparkly leggings, and headbands. Far too many of the girls were wearing tank tops and no jackets (it was at most 30 degrees outside).

I wasn’t really sure what to do at this point. I asked the security guards if they thought tickets would open up at the last minute and they sort of laughed at me. I asked a random people if they had extra tickets. A few other hopefuls were also looking for tickets and were just as clueless as I was. There were some scalpers but they were selling tickets for $80 which was over my limit since tickets cost $30. After maybe 45 minutes of no luck, I could no longer feel my toes and I realized that even if I got in, by that point, the venue would be almost full and I would not be able to see anything (I am very short). Plus, I’d already had enough of that crowd. I decided I’d probably have a better time listening to Life in Cartoon Motion on the subway ride home than being at the concert, surrounded by attention-seeking teenagers. I’m sure Mika will come back to New York and next time, I’ll just buy tickets from Ticketmaster. I did feel a little sadness as I walked away, especially as two girls who looked to be about 5 skipped past me singing, “We’re going to see Mika!”