I sort of didn’t want to write up Lady Gaga’s Monster Ball tour for the simple reason that everything there is to be said about her has already been said. Beyond that, it’s the third time I’ve seen her and the second time I saw this same tour and, y’know…it didn’t really hold up.
Gaga is, unsurprisingly, a hell of a performer, and she does put on a great show. Two solid hours of music, crazy dancing, and crazier costumes, there’s plenty of eye candy, and the sheer stamina required to go all out for as long as she does is in itself fairly dazzling. But here are two things that bother me:
1-There are only so many times you can be told that the freaks shall inherit the earth before you really start to look around at the 14K other people around you who have spent time putting together outfits that are direct replicas of the star’s and start thinking…we all know there’s a dearth of real individuality in the crowd here, right? She’s a massive popular success coasting on the notion that she’s a serious outsider, and eventually (concert number 3 in my case) it begins to feel really hollow.
2-The more seriously she starts to take herself, the thinner Gaga’s act seems to get. Remember when all she cared about was dancing? I love that she’s supportive of inclusion and makes efforts to be politically engaged, but this sort of open yearning to become a mother figure to her fans and lead them to an age free of prejudice is at best naïve, but perhaps a touch delusional.
Okay, there’s a #3: for all the bells and whistles, she’s actually at her best when she plops down at a piano and bangs the crap out of it. Gaga is, to me, very Elton John: lots of flash AND lots of talent. And both are at their best when they just let the music be the star of the show. I’ll always love a rubber nun costume or a giant pair of rhinestoned pink sunglasses. Seriously. But sometimes an act can get so loud that it drowns out actual talent.
Yes, I still had fun. But this time through, Mother Monster left me a little cold.
I've never seen her in concert or live on television, but it's interesting to get your perspective on her performance. When I think of Lady Gaga, to be honest, all I can see is how out there she is and not her talent as a musician. I see a chick walking around with a meat dress or riding around in an egg.
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