Unleash the Monster Within (Lady Gaga Review)

Ana Pineda

Lady Gaga is undoubtedly the hottest Pop star of our generation. With her avant garde look and mysterious personality, Lady Gaga is one of a kind, much like Madonna was for the 80’s generation. Gaga defies conformity, and like a true pop goddess, she strives to be different and embraces originality. Along with her style, her music is infectious and her beats are sick. Her concerts are the hottest ticket in town, with people paying up to 600 hundred dollars for the nosebleed sections. Being a LA native, I tried to score tickets for her Nokia show in Hollywood with no success. Finally, I got smart and looked for out of town tickets and found two for her San Diego Monster Ball show at the Sports Arena. On December 19^th, I packed my bags and to San Diego I went with my cousin to unleash the monster within.

After a three hour car ride filled with a Gaga montage worthy of the diva herself, we arrived at the Sports Arena to see other “monsters” ready for the concert. The word “monster” comes from her extended album “The Fame Monster” and also from the dance moves showcased in the video Bad Romance. Lady Gaga also refers to her fans as “little monsters.” At the arena, Gaga fans ranged from all shapes and sizes. It is important to note that Lady Gaga is huge supporter of the LGBT community, as seen through her charitable donations through Regeneration, a program sponsored by Virgin Mobile which helps the LGBT community. During the show, Gaga mentioned that she would match the amount raised at this concert for the program, so she encouraged people to donate to the cause. The concert was very LGBT friendly and it was great to see all of the people come together because of Gaga. Men in high stilettos and fishnet stockings to women dressed in lingerie stood outside the arena waiting to go inside. There were little boys dressed as girls, and little girls dressed like boys. Men and women alike wore wigs that bore the signature blonde look of Gaga. Some women even wore the bubble costume that Gaga wore on the Rolling Stones cover. It was like IV Halloween on crack. It was great.

As part of her tour, hip-hop artists Jason DeRulo and Kid Cudi were scheduled to perform as the opening acts. For this concert, Kid Cudi did not perform, and there were no reasons given as to why he did not sing (A little too hung over perhaps). However, Jason DeRulo put on a good show and entertained the crowd with his hit single Watcha Say, a song which showcases Imogen Heap’s Hide and Seek. Although DeRulo did his part, everyone there was anxious for Lady Gaga and unfortunately used his set time to get their booze and food. Things rolled smoothly and at 8:45pm, Lady Gaga hit the stage and opened with Dance in the Dark. She followed with the popular Just Dance, off her debut album “The Fame.” When she performed Just Dance, she was inside of a cube that suspended into the crowd. As always, Lady Gaga has bright and fun costumes, which in this case was sparkly gold. One funny moment that came early on in the concert was that she said, “Are you ready San Jose?” Naturally, that was wrong. However, she caught herself and personally apologized for the mistake. I appreciated the honesty, but since I’m from LA, it was funnier than bothersome.

Lady Gaga performed for over two hours. It was the best two hours I’ve spent in my life. She is truly an artist. All of her sets and costumes were beautiful. It was like going to a ball. Everything was huge and elaborate. While performing, Lady Gaga spoke to her fans and talked about her experiences with fame. “I remember being here one year earlier and I was opening for New Kids on the Block and Natasha Beddingfield,” Gaga said. “As you can see, I have worked very fucking hard.” Because of her set and costume changes, there were pauses in the concert, which was annoying for some people, but I thought it was great. The reason why it was not bothersome was because of her stage performance. It was like watching a movie come to life. Her sets made a difference, and I used the pauses to catch my breath. My cousin and I did not sit down for the entire time. She returned and performed LoveGame, Alejandro, Monster, and So Happy I Could Die. In Alejandro, she came out with a tight white one piece dress while her male dancers wore white pants and were topless (Score!). Lady Gaga continued her interactions with her fans by talking about big arena shows. “You know why I love to play big arenas, because my fans are sexy people.” Touché Gaga. Touché!

What I love most about Gaga is that she really is a great performer and vocalist. She showcased her vocal pipes by singing Pokerface and Speechless A Capella via piano. I was expecting for her to light the piano on fire like her VMA performance, but no luck. However, she did not disappoint, and her lovely voice carried throughout the walls of the arena. One story that she told that was pretty funny was about her experience in Boston. Gaga starts off by saying, “I was driving in my limo and we reach a stop light. I turn to the right and I see a man blasting my music in his car and dancing. I tried to get his attention, but he was so into my music that it was impossible. At the same time, there was another car behind him and we locked eyes. He looks at me at does this. (She makes a monster pose). He wanted to be a little monster too! I guess when I look at my fans, that is our symbol.”

Gaga continued her set changes and sang Beautiful, Dirty Rich, The Fame, Eh Eh (Nothing Else I Can Say), Paparazzi, and finished with Bad Romance. The best part of the concert was when Gaga addressed her fans in terms of being different. “I know my fans are different, and we may not be what people want us to be. I am glad that you find a home in my shows and a place where you belong. Being different is always more fun and unique. I love you for being different just like me!” From looking around in my section of the arena, I saw her message. Being straight, I was surrounded by people who were lesbian or gay. But in this arena, nobody cared about the orientation or the skin color. Everyone was there to dance and sing with Gaga. She united all of us who were from different backgrounds, and that was the beauty of being a “little monster.”

It was 11pm when the show was over. As we walked to the parking lot, we saw all the little monsters come and go, still singing Bad Romance. When I got into my car, I headed towards the 5 North and went back to LA with my cousin, loudly singing “Rawrawahhhhhh Romaromaroman Gaga ooolalla watch out that romance!” Take care little monsters!