[Review] Lady Gaga @ Radio City Music Hall 1/23/2010

I finally get why everyone and their grandmother is obsessed with Lady Gaga. It’s not just the polished pop songs and the over the top stage performance. Attending ‘The Monster Ball’ is akin to going to a family reunion…. the most whacked out but glamourous family reunion of your lifetime.

About 15 minutes before Lady Gaga took the stage, she tweeted ,”warming up for the show. i can hear u screaming from my dressing room. sluttly little monsters.” As one may guess, it only got crazier from there. Her audience was incredibly diverse, ranging from 10 year old girls in sparkly tube tops with their mothers to feather, rhinestone, leather and lace-covered hipster gays. The second she took the stage she had us all in the palm of her hand, opening with “Dance In The Dark” and directing us to dance and sing with our fellow monsters who had all amassed last night at Radio City Music Hall for The Monster Ball.

Her performance was unlike anything I have ever experienced, with at least 8 complete costume changes (not counting dropping a layer of feather shoulder pads, etc.) and striking visuals that intrigued, confused and excited me. She was very engaging with her fans the entire way through, recounting stories, sharing encouraging words and reinforcing the sense of community that is found at The Monster Ball. In the middle of her set while she was at the piano she called a fan in the audience and notified them that they would be having a drink with her after the show. She also touched on being charitable to others, discussing how she will match money donated to aid the homeless (up to $25,000) in the LGBT community and her “GAGA FOR HAITI” day (which is today 1/24) - where all the money she earns in a single day (merch, today’s ticket sales at Radio City Music Hall, etc.) will all be donated towards the relief efforts in Haiti.

There were parts of the set where I found myself a little annoyed with her polling the audience about how hot she was and the like, but overall I walked away feeling like I had joined a warm and inviting family of misfits, brought together under one roof under the belief that they could be anything they want if they just worked hard enough at it. IfLady Gaga is even 50% sincere about how much she says she loves her fans, her fans are better off than many rock bands I’ve ever seen who are either too arrogant or shy to admit it.

I walked into Radio City Music Hall as a casual listener and came out a “little monster”.

I also cannot get “Bad Romance” out of my head for the life of me now. Help me?

Setlist:
- “Dance In The Dark”
- “Just Dance”
- “Love Game” (which included a medley into her Chew Fu Ghettohouse Remix)
- “Alejandro”
- “Monster”
- “Teeth”
- “Speechless” [piano]
- “Pokerface” [piano]
- “The Fame”
- “Money Honey”
- “Beautiful, Dirty, Rich”
- “Boys Boys Boys”
- “Pokerface”
- “Paparazzi”
- “Eh, Eh (Nothing Else I Can Say)”
- “Bad Romance”