Lady Gaga 

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• Lady Gaga

  If Lady Gaga and her fans were a couple, they would be that couple: that loved-up pair of paramours in your life always making uncomfortable public displays of affection and loudly declaring their love – and, on occasion, screaming out from the upper reaches of an arena that "oh my God, I love your bum!". That couple who dress the same – sometimes in meat, mostly in sequins – and can't tear their googly eyes off each other, and who you just want to tell to "get a room!" When they do just that, as they did in Allphones Arena this Saturday night for the Sydney leg of Gaga's ArtRave tour, it's a big messy mutual lovefest. Gaga (Stefani Germanotta) doesn't just dedicate a song to her 'little monsters', or tell them they are "one of the most authentic fanbases of the new millennium", she pauses mid-song during Dope – "I need you more than dope" ­– to repeat lines that underline just how important they are to their queen. She schools them in her love. The ArtRave set was suitably elaborate. And the costumes were as fabulous as you would hope for: Gaga changed on stage at one point into a multi-coloured fluoro Harajuku number; sang Paparazzi (gorgeously) as she was strangled by what appeared to be the spawn of a Dalmatian and a giant squid; and opened the night in a golden leotard with a blue orb protruding from her chest and golden wings spreading out from her back. The tiny woman inside the outfits was a revelation: that huge voice soaring above the mess of noise in big numbers like Bad Romance and Alejandro. She was especially strong when settled at her white piano – on Dope, tears dropped from her face as she gave her arena full of fans pretty much everything, and a pared-back Born This Way gave the song the heft that its pro-LGBTQI message deserves. Were moments like Do What U Want, when Gaga sat like a queen and the bum-complimenter behind us screamed out "You are such a b---h!" and we knew it was the nicest thing you could say at such a moment. And then there was the moment of the night, when Gaga sorted through the toys and tat thrown at her feet and plucked out a letter. It was from a kid that she had encouraged to come out of the closet, despite his concern about how his parents might react. "Through your music you've helped and set free many people," he wrote, now happily out, embraced by his parents, and thankful for Gaga's help. The arena cameras honed in on him, and so did Gaga, telling her people to make sure he was backstage later. Then she firmly repeated the order – make sure he's there. Great bum, great heart, very good show.

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  by dimitris-gatsios

• You're not supposed to do this kind of show at Wrigley Field. Gaga did. Moving platforms, hydralic staging, dancers, fire throwers, explosives. Gagag delivered a set that began at 8:30pm until just before the alloted 11pm must-end, and filled it to the brim. Lady Gaga held court over an audience that might not have gone to Wrigley before. We've been there for Tom Petty, the Dead, Elton John, Billy Joel, Paul MacCartney, James Taylor and Jackson Browne; Gaga just became THE biggest deal there.

  Gaga is iconic...and lets you damn well know it. She donned a Cubs jersey, acknowledge her role as the firsr female act to headline Wrigley and with a slew of costume changes, blew the joint apart. Rarely does any act own the whole audience; she has that live "IT" power; all the hits, some of "Joanne" and enough banter and personalizing of every number to make it worthy of recording like the Grateful Dead: it's honed to that stage, that show, that moment. It's the living difference between recorded and live art.

  Some costuming got twisted up and she kept singing, dancers unfeeling her, and when her contact mike was clearly dead, she kept playing her guitar intro as a dancer moved in with a mike without missing a beat: THAT, kids, is the sign of a pro. Stellar. Superb. A little schmaltzy with some very theatrical presentation, but if schmaltz is this good, love it to death. WE don't have a Judy Garland anymore; we don't have a young Streisand who could deliver the sounds, range and furious precision of a Gaga; just GO.

  Opening act of her DJ was one hour of loud, often too-profane "meh." One person near us said, "there's othing more boring than watching a DJ." True, dat.

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  by mark-f-braun

• This is the second time I have been to see Lady Gaga she is such an inspirational Artist, I went to see her perform live in Birmingham at the NIA this year,(2014) Not only is her performance top quality but her showmanship is for me the best in the business. Lady Gaga put in a lot of effort into every aspect of her live performances, she designed the set and stage layout to maximise the ordinance participation. It was a even balance of her vast catalogue of work from Just dance right through to Artpop. The minute the curtain fell I felt a tingling sensation down my spine, This was something I had been looking forward to for some time for buying the ticket on line to the show its self. You maybe sitting there woundeering why I called her an inspirational artist? This is for two reasons the first is the artist bit Lady Gaga describes her self as an artist the inspirational bit is the fact that she has not only produced one of the most inspiring songs of all time Born this way but on the night of the show a young fan threw a note on stage, now Gaga could have simply given that note to someone and read it after the show, but she didn't, after reading part of the note to her self she realised how important she had been to helping the fan get through a difficult time for them and so not only did she read the note out loud but had the fan come on stage to help her sing one of her songs, yes, you guessed it Born this way and if one person can change, inspire and improve the life of others through her music then that someone is lady Gaga and that is why I get such a thrill seeing her live.

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  by jameshodgkinson

• It isn’t a lie when someone walks over to you and tells you that Gaga is amazing live, honestly it was such a good show! She provided us little monsters with a mix of older hits from previous albums (The Fame, The Fame Monster, Born This Way & Artpop) such as Applause, Alejandro, Bloody Mary (that was a real crowd pleaser!) and of course you can’t forget about Just Dance, Paparazzi, Poker Face and Bad Romance!

  As well as having a great variety on her setlist, she also ensured that the choreography was level with the setlist, giving us the most energetic and fun dance routines in which made us all want to dance too! P.S. her dance crew are just so talented, let’s just appreciate that for a few minutes!

  And to round this review up, her stage layout was made with little monsters in mind, Gaga made sure that she could get around the whole arena to be near all her fans, which shows just how loving she is towards us! (If you don’t know what the stage layout is like, here’s a short description:

  “The full layout consisted of a very dynamic and kinetic main stage, three flying bridge platforms which double as projection displays, two satellite stages and an LED integrated b-stage.” - TAIT (the builders of the stage/s)

  Although we expect big from Gaga, I don’t think anyone expected this BIG! She really blew us away, and all the time and effort that has gone into this your has truely been worth it, with the majority of her concerts selling out! (Cannot give specifics as her Tour has not finished yet).

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  by alisha-fairbairn

• I attended Lady Gaga's concert in Birmingham on the 15th of October, I was a holder of a VIP Artpop Zone meet and greet ticket. The experience during the concert was amazing, she sang in front of us most of the time, unfortunately backstage I was expecting a little bit more, yes she was with us more than an hour talking, but we were a large group of 20 people and there were 2 particular people at ours who acted as if no one else had paid for it. They should have just gone around the room and asked everyone individually for a question. On several times I tried to draw the conversation back to our side of the room, as they seemed to have created the whole meet centred around a particular area. Gaga is too polite, but I could tell she wanted someone else to speak because she kept looking at other people and saying 'has anyone else got any questions?. All in all, my experience was great but I was expecting more backstage, I had a VERY RUSHED picture taken and then BYE. Perhaps is not Gaga's fault but it is annoying that her team had rushed things. I love this woman with every fiber of my being, and I paid four months' rent for this. I have mixed feelings. Not having a minute to talk to Gaga in private for the amount of money we paid put me a little down as well. When the photo was sent to my e-mail I felt a little bit better though. I did it because it was my dream to meet her, but I've learned my lesson and will not spend the amount of money I did again. It's is for sure one of the my best experiences ever!

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  by maria-paula-reyes-ga

• I had one of the most amazing experiences going to a Lady Gaga show a while back. It was a bit like going to a Broadway show, a Circus, a dance club and a crazy Rave! The combination of all of these different occasions was something I had never felt at a concert before. Seeing 'Mother Monster' live was more of an experience than just a musical concert.

  I believe the Little Monsters (that's what she calls her fans) are such a unique crowd, with people from all walks of life, all ages, and all lifestyles. It was a people-watching extravaganza!! And then the show itself, my goodness, so many things happening, so many stage props, so many dancers, and oh how amazing the dancing was. Mesmerizing and picturesque. And then on top of all that throw in the insane costumes and the stage props, along with a light show that complimented every aspect. Truly a piece of art in a way. As I say, it just seems so much more than just a concert experience, it feels like a combination of so many things.

  The only time I have felt close to this, was way back at a Madonna concert when she was really in her prime and she was putting on performances of this level. It felt so good to see a performer attempting to entertain again, and entertain in a fantastic way. People may say what they want about Lady Gaga, and she does a lot of things to attract those thoughts, but putting all that aside, she is one hell of a performer and a show that I will gladly attend over and over!

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  By Anonymous

• I am speechless. As a die hard Gaga fan, I was completely excited for the concert- especially when I was queing. I qued for around 10 hours and it was honestly worth it. The music was expectedly all live- Gaga performed a lot of ARTPOP songs such as Venus,Swine, and Mary Jane Holland as well as her well known hits. Her vocals were flawless- she even expressed her love by adding a Whitney Houston "I will always love you" ending to one of her songs. That alone was amazing. The show itself was insane- there was constant confetti and strobe lights pulsating the arena; let us not forget the amazing dancers fleeting the stage too. Gaga also took moments between songs to preach about equality, her feelings and general speeches of empowerment. A noticable element of the show was when she picked up and read a young boy's letter of his struggled- she then got him and his boyfriend on stage to dedicate born this way to them. They sat either side of her on the piano, it was heartwarming. Personally, I think if people ignorant to Gaga's importance and talent were to attend artRAVE they woulf instantly be turned- it was that great. It was unforgettable and probably will never be topped.

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  by candice-booth

• Well, to start, unless you just want to visit and hang out with other fans, I suggest you don't arrive early. You probably won't even make it through the line by 7:30 at the scheduled start time of show. But don't worry, the show won't start until 9:15pm (an hour and 45 minutes late) and there is no opening act. If you read the latest reports, this is what Gaga has been doing at her shows (it's all planned). Just when we were getting fed up waiting, Lady Gaga hit the stage. Her concert was amazing. It was colorful and exciting with the use of many high tech effects. The women has got talent! She brings with her a dozen energetic backup dancers. Her voice, her voice ......unbelievable! If you happen to have to have a seat rather far from the stage, no worry. She makes every seat in the house a good one as she drops small bridges from pods high in near the ceiling and connects the stage to designated raised circles on the floor all the way back to a smaller stage at the opposite end of the venue. She and her dancers move about with each song and manage to personally engage each fan in their seats with an up close entertainment opportunity. Worth the wait!

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  by AEWHITSCOTT

• Awesome show from start to finish. We saw her Enigma show in Las Vegas. Great set design and graphics. She performed her ass off as well as her backups. The Park Theater had great seat layout and perfect sound. My ears were not ringing afterwards.

  A little more then midway in show Lady Gaga slows it down a bit to do “Million Reasons” and opened up a letter thrown on stage to read. It was from a younger woman from Chile who has been a strong fan from the start and feels her life saved by listening to and admiring Lady Gaga. She worked extra for over a year to afford getting to Vegas to see her and waited to get in front row.

  She was invited on stage to sit with Lady Gaga while performing the song and was told she’d be reimbursed for her costs getting there. Totally awesome and tested up many in the crowd. Lady Gaga also tested up crowd again at the end and about how much she survives off her fans and the love all around and then sang her newer song “Shallow”.

  If you can go, I highly recommend!!

  She stated her residency is extended to 2 years so far!

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  by Songray

• from the time the huge clock started the 10 min countdown that would end with the playing of 'diamond heart' through to the 'million reasons' finale which saw Lady Gaga disappear into the floor leaving only her hat on the piano seat well over 2 hrs later the crowd was in in an uproar .

  I've witnessed literally hundreds of artists overthe years and this show is inside my top 10 all time .

  The vocals , the stage(s) the light show everything was top notch .

  She started strong with diamond heart, A-yo and poker face which really got the crowd up on their feet waving their hands in the air and the most touching moment would have to be when she explained exactly who joanne was and their unique connection and then she finished by whipping the crowd into a frenzy with bad romance, the cure and million reasons .

  I had made a10 hr drive to see her only to find out the show was cancelled earlier this yr, I decided to make the trrip again for the re-scheduled show and I'm so glad I did !

  If Lady Gaga is playing anywhere near you , get tix !! You will not be disappointed !

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  by todd-power