Lady Gaga Makes Monster Ball Personal
April 12, 2011
BankAtlantic Center, Sunrise, FL
Written by Kate Dingle
The Monster Ball – a place where little monsters go to be themselves and Lady Gaga locks the doors to keep the freaks out and her monsters safe inside.
You can say whatever you want about Lady Gaga. You can disagree with her music and her clothes and the way she conducts herself, but the one thing you cannot deny her is that she puts on one helluva show.
After taking a spill onstage in Houston Sunday night, Lady Gaga took over the BankAtlantic Center for her first of two nights in South Florida.
Well, take over is an understatement.
The second the house lights went down and photos of the Queen Monster were projected onto a larger-than-life screen, the sold-out crowd erupted into all-out hysteria. Several minutes after the music began and Gaga’s voice filled the arena, she finally materialized atop a huge metal staircase.
The nearly two-hour set was broken down into four acts which told the story about the journey to the Monster Ball.
Included in the four acts was a city and subway scene. The city scene had store fronts and a broken-down car (which revealed a keyboard under the hood for Gaga to pound during the intro to “Just Dance”). Neon signs littered the whole stage and the metal staircase had a railing made out of syringes. The subway scene included an almost true to scale subway car and platform.
Also included in the four acts were a flaming piano, trees bigger than the stage, a flaming angel statue, several see through costumes and an appearance by the fame monster itself (a huge worm like thing towering over the stage that looked like it was stolen from GWAR or the Beetlejuice set, take your pick). To try and put the entire spectacle into perspective, there were over a dozen semi-trucks parked around the venue. All of which carried a piece of the Monster Ball and sets she “built for her little monsters.”
As Lady Gaga led the little monsters through the journey, her message throughout was clear. Be yourself and don’t ever let anyone put you down.
Brightly shining through was Gaga’s love and appreciation for her fans. Whenever there was a lull in the music, she took that time to address everyone and make them feel at home. Saying, she “hoped that everyone would leave here tonight loving themselves a little more than when they walked in this evening”.
But one of the most poignant moments of the show was when Lady Gaga said that she’s “not ridiculous enough to not be human”. In that moment, the façade seemed to disappear and suddenly she was just like everyone else. That she feels the same things that every one of her little monsters feels. It seemed to be such a striking departure from the woman who was onstage just a moment before screaming for every soul to jump and “get those paws up”.
She also took a moment to address the issue of whether or not she lip syncs during her shows by saying, “I never have and never will f****** lip sync. You will never pay money to see me live or see me for free on TV lip syncing.”
Well, thanks for clearing that up because surely everyone in attendance was wondering.
Highlights from Lady Gaga’s set included: “Alejandro”, “Monster”, “Just Dance”, “You and I”, “Teeth”, “Bad Romance”, “Born This Way”, “Poker Face”, and “Love Game”.
Kicking off the Monster Ball were New York-based glam rockers, Semi Precious Weapons. There should have been no doubt after the quartet took the stage that they were the perfect opening act for Lady Gaga. After all, vocalist Justin Tranter came out wearing a pair of heels higher than most of the women in the audience were wearing, and he looked flat out hot in them as he bounced around the entirety of the stage.
There aren’t enough words to explain the spectacle that is a Lady Gaga show. She’s one of the biggest acts in music right now, and shows no signs of slowing down. Ever. And although many think she’s a freak and no good at what she does, she’s also a beacon of hope for a generation of young people who just want to fit in. The theme for the Monster Ball Tour is one of individuality and acceptance no matter what.
Towards the end of the show, she gave a message to the little monsters to give to the freaks and naysayers outside: “When they ask you how the Monster Ball was, you tell them we burned the f****** place to the ground!”
Photos By Christina Mendenhall
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