Ticket Stub Tuesday…Round Thirty-Four:
If my love for @LadyGaga was ever in question, after seeing her Monster Ball at Madison Square Garden last night, I can confidently say that I absolutely love that crazy bitch.
I had bought four tickets in October with the intention of giving a pair to my brother, @AleksandrJohn, for his Christmas gift. He gave his extra ticket to @Pasty and I brought @TGH3RD, obviously. The four of us were so excited for the concert to begin with, but when we heard that the show we were going to was set to be recorded for an HBO special, our excitement became out of control.
We drove into the city and found a clutch spot in the West Village by this restaurant called Café Español. @TGH3RD’s family has been going there for years, and we thought that it would be a fun place to have dinner before the show. If you’re ever in the area of Carmine Street, I highly suggest stopping in for a bite to eat. They make a mean paella and a killer Sangria. (You know how much I love Sangria…)
Nice and buzzed, full from our dinner, we ventured out into the bitter cold and jumped on the 1 train uptown to the Garden. When we arrived, we were surprised that there weren’t more people dressed up. There were some but nothing too crazy. Just a few girls mummified in caution tape and a couple of queens in pleather.
Speaking of queens in pleather, the Scissor Sisters opened the show. To be honest, I’ve never actually sat down to listen to one of their albums, although many of my friends from college used to. They have a very unique sound, which happened to work nicely with the story that the Monster Ball tells.
The setlist left no surprises, and included material from both The Fame and The Fame Monster as well as the upcoming and highly anticipated Born This Way:
- “Dance in the Dark”
- “Glitter and Grease”
- “Just Dance”
- Beautiful, Dirty, Rich”
- “The Fame”
- “LoveGame”
- “Boys, Boys, Boys”
- “Money Honey”
- “Telephone”
- “Speechless”
- “You and I”
- “So Happy I Could Die”
- “Monster”
- “Teeth”
- “Alejandro”
- “Poker Face”
- “Paparazzi”
ENCORE
- “Bad Romance”
- “Born This Way” (a capella)
- “Born This Way”
During “Speechless” and “You and I,” girl broke it DOWN. She has an absolutely amazing voice, and anyone who dares to argue otherwise should see her live. She is the real deal (and made sure to tell us that she never lip syncs). Playing in her home town, she got sentimental at times. Speaking of her flaming piano, which the FDNY could not accommodate last evening, quickly turned into a conversation about September 11th.
Although rumors were swirling around on Twitter that Beyoncé would be making a cameo for the HBO special and perform alongside GaGa during “Telephone,” she regrettably did not. Although, she apparently attended last night’s show along with the likes of Sir Paul McCartney, Sir Elton John, Billie Joe Armstrong, Madonna and Michelle Pfeiffer.
The crux of the story comes towards the end of the show when GaGa finally arrives at the Monster Ball only to come face to face with the Fame Monster as she performs “Paparazzi.” She encourages her little monsters to take pictures of the monster to ensure it’s demise.
For the encore, she performed her monster hit, “Bad Romance,” which, thanks to @Pasty, you can watch a clip here. She told the audience to stick around after the song for a special surprise. Once finished, she headed off stage for yet another costume change and returned donning her outfit from her Grammy performance. Alongside her backup singers, she performed an a capella version of “Born This Way,” before going into the full version of the song.
Say what you want about Lady GaGa, but she is one of the best performers that I have ever seen. She has a phenomenal voice and can certainly work a crowd. Throughout the show, she preached affirmations to the audience; a message of peace, love and understanding.
Late last night, after the show was over, GaGa tweeted the following: “Just pulled out of MSG, tears streaming down my face. Turned radio on + Born This Way was roaring. Believe, + catch your subway to destiny.” I am so happy for her that her dreams have come true. She is spreading faith with each performance.
Subway kid rejoice in truth.
[[Lady GaGa killin’ it during “So Happy I Could Die.” Photo:@Pasty]]
