I didn’t get to the concert too late to see the opening act because there was only GAGA.
Well, Lady Gaga and the thousands of people frothing at the mouth to see her.
Usually, when I am doing press, and I know I have a seated ticket, I try to get to the venue slightly after the doors open so that by the time I have my ticket in hand, I can quickly scurry through security and find my seat. Unfortunately for my well-oiled plan, I exited Lucien-L’Allier metro station not only to a slight drizzle but also to THOUSANDS of fans backed up in lines outside.
To my dismay, none of the doors were open, and you could feel the fans’ anxiety vibrating in the air. Luckily, Gaga slightly delayed the show to allow fans to trickle in. Not every artist is as aware of problems of this nature, so there is always the worry that you’ll miss part of the show you’ve been waiting years for.
Plus, with the majority of the tickets on Ticketmaster costing more than my monthly rent payment, fans seemed hellbent on getting their money’s worth. The demographics at this concert were mildly bizarre, but I feel like that has more to do with the price of the tickets than the fan base. I saw mainly millennial and older gay men alongside grey-haired straight-passing couples.
I was actually adopted into a gaggle of fans by a nice older Québécoise lady in the line after I taught her how the Ticketmaster app worked. When I left my apartment, I was unaware I would be stepping into a Hunger Games scenario where I was both thrown into the area and into the Capitol fashion scene simultaneously. Luckily, I was dressed in a monochrome black leather outfit and a shock of highlighter-coloured hair, so I was ready for both scenarios.
I’ve never been to a concert where people were begging for tickets so aggressively. Before I could even fight my way to the box office, several people had asked me if I had a spare ticket. Some even went so far as to pull wads of cash out to show that they could pay the eye-watering prices resellers were listing them for.
At that point, I didn’t have my ticket in hand yet, so I just told them I was equally shit out of luck. While I was waiting to sign in as press, there were multiple people inside of the box office lamenting loudly about not having tickets. When I told the ticket attendant that I was on the list, they descended like vultures, asking me if I had a +1 that they could have.
They were very unimpressed to hear that I was press and not a close personal friend of Lady Gaga herself, and even less impressed to hear that if I had been given a plus one, it would have gone to my girlfriend or one of my other friends. Luckily, I’m a far better journalist than I am a stand-up comic because if looks could kill, I’d be dead twice over.
I actually ended up zipping my paper ticket into the inside pocket of my leather jacket before doing up the outer zipper, which I’ve never felt the need to do before.
I knew Gaga was popular and that it was the opening night of The Mayhem Ball, but I was not ready for the sheer pandemonium. I even texted my editor, Steve, about the chaos getting in, and he shot back immediately with “surely you mean mayhem.” This A-list dad joke did get a quick snort from me before I resumed fighting for my life against every other gay person in Montreal.
Against all odds, my ass was sat in my seat before the listed start time of 8 pm, but based on setlist.fm and the fact that we were delayed getting inside the venue, I figured that it would be closer to 8:30. Fueled by pure adrenaline, I knew what I needed to do, but if you saw me doing my Duolingo and feverishly setting up my notes app, no you did not.
And I promise that I am also writing this concert review with a giant red feather quill and not my janky 10-year-old Dell laptop as Mother would have wanted.
The stage setup was fascinating. I was surprised to see that there wasn’t a general admission pit; it was all assigned seats on the floor. There was an exceedingly long catwalk ending in a U-shape that visuals were projected onto.
During Kill for Love, the visual was a human spine, but there were also written scripts, a chessboard, and stained glass. The architecture of the stage itself was awe-inspiring. The replica Baroque facade puts several Broadway shows to shame, both in terms of design and functionality.
The lower rooms in the turrets housed her supporting band, while the upper rooms were frequently filled with either her or members of her dance team. She also seamlessly blended the physical stage with the background screen, alternating between extended virtual turrets, smoke visuals beginning virtual and becoming physical, and pre-recorded clips being played during the intermission.
And there were many intermissions, after all, there were five acts and an encore. I tried to keep up with the number of costume changes, but I admittedly lost count after fifteen. Some costumes of note include her iconic wig collection, the armour paired with the giant cape train that exploded with rainbow light during Paparazzi, and the debut of her Québec flag sash during Judas.
I cannot stress enough that this wasn’t just a concert, this was a PRODUCTION. Before Perfect Celebrity, there was a video of her falling with sand through the top of the theatre, and there was a giant sand pit on stage.
I at first thought that there were prop heads placed around her, but I was delighted to discover that they were actually attached to dancers when they began thrashing and escaping the sand pit during Disease. I apologize in advance if the setlist is missing a song or incomplete, there were several moments throughout the show where I was so excited and wowed that the hair on the back of my neck stood up.
Lady Gaga is a force to be reckoned with. She has countless awards and nearly two decades of touring internationally under her belt. More than a triple threat, she was dancing, singing, and showing off her French skills all at the same time.
She is in a league of her own in terms of artistry and the spectacles she produces. Her singing capabilities in terms of range and control are both exemplary and extraordinary. I would go so far as to say that she’s one of the greatest voices of my generation.
I wasn’t the only member of the audience wowed either; I saw several other people in stunned delight, eyes wide and mouths open, instead of blindly dancing along. Often, I would look over and see the moment people went from stunned to elated to losing their minds.
She is so inspirational and popular to her fans that there were people at the flashing bracelet return bags fishing out the returned bracelets, stripping them of the branded ribbon, and tossing back the flashing plastic bits.
Watching the technical side of the show was almost as much fun as seeing Gaga herself perform. The dancers she’s hired for her team are some of the best I’ve ever seen, executing incredibly complex and difficult moves in complete synchronicity and with ease.
This production was both an athletic and artistic harmony that pushed what I thought was possible to its limits. I was delighted to see voguing and waacking included in the several forms of dance that her team was proficient in, after all, I was promised a Ball.
The prop masters and AV team moved nearly as seamlessly as the dancers as they weaved their own steps and nailed their timings down to the millisecond. I was fortunate to be thrown into the middle of the chaos and all it encompassed, so close to the stage that I could smell the pyro machines from my seat.
All in all, despite the chaos of getting into the venue and looking longingly at the merch stands as I assume a Victorian child looked into pie shop windows, I had a fabulous time. I have come such a long way from the kid secretly streaming Born This Way on an MP3 player, but that era of my life will always be looked on with kindness and gratitude.
The sheer spectacle of her performance made me realize why it was so expensive to get in the door. And the love, care, and queer excellence pumped into the show left me feeling seen and accepted in a way that I wasn’t fully prepared for, but I definitely appreciate. Lady Gaga is the kind of artist who, although you might not ever know what you’re in for, you have to take the plunge because she will wow you every time.
Setlist
Act I: Of Velvet And Vice
Bloody Mary
Abracadabra
Judas
Aura
Scheiße
Garden of Eden
Poker Face
Act II: And She Fell Into A Gothic Dream
Perfect Celebrity
Disease
Paparazzi
LoveGame
Alejandro
The Beast
Act III: The Beautiful Nightmare That Knows Her Name
Killah
Zombieboy
LoveDrug
Applause
Just Dance
Act IV: Every Chessboard Has Two Queens
Shadow of a Man
Kill for Love
Summerboy
Born This Way
Million Reasons
Shallow
Die With a Smile
The Edge of Glory
Vanish Into You
Finale: Eternal Aria of The Monster Heart
Bad Romance
Encore
How Bad Do U Want Me
Review – Ashtyn Turner
Photos: Nicko Guihal
