Published: Sunday, February 20, 2011, 12:28 AM ��� Updated: Sunday, February 20, 2011, 2:10 AM
Prone on the stage of a sold-out Boardwalk Hall on Saturday night, fake blood smeared all over her chest, Lady Gaga compared herself to Tinkerbell.
She meant that, like Tinkerbell, she would die if she wasn't shown enough love and appreciation. The pop star invited showgoers to scream their heads off to keep her alive. Atlantic City complied.
Like much of what Lady Gaga does, the Tinkerbell bit was played for laughs, even though the star's fans -- her "little monsters" -- probably suspect that she's serious. A tremendously charismatic performer and an excellent singer, too, Gaga has never shed her burning desire to please the crowd. The Monster Ball tour has now been running for more than a year (the two-hour Atlantic City show was the kickoff of what must be the final leg), and Gaga seems reluctant to let it go. The pop star often compared to Madonna, but that's never sat right with me. Madonna never seemed to care if you were her fan or not; as long as you bought her record, she was happy. She was pop royalty and you weren't, and if you didn't like what she was doing, well, she had the sales numbers on her side. Lady Gaga, who admits that she was bullied in school and, consequently, had low self-esteem, claims a dependent connection to her listeners. "I never used to be brave," she told the crowd. "You made me brave."
She has sold millions of records, and is arguably the biggest musical star on the planet, but she still behaves like a woman with something to prove. She's aware of her critics -- and of critics of contemporary pop in general -- and it often feels like she's addressing them directly. "Just in case you've ever wondered if I lip-synch my shows," she said, mid-song, "I don't, and I never have." She then ripped off a series of vocal runs that would have put the issue to rest for any doubters. But doubters, if there were any, could not have been watching the concert too closely. Gaga embodied every song she sang, including the ones with silly lyrics. Especially the ones with silly lyrics. She performs her self-affirmation anthems with the near-messianic urgency of a general addressing her troops before a battle.
Funny, then, that so much about the Monster Ball is deliberately goofy. The dancing, staging, lights, and set design are spectacular; they're also often yoked to set pieces laden with Broadway schtick. On "Paparazzi," Lady Gaga battles a giant puppet sea creature; on "Teeth" and "Alejandro," her expressive dancers are asked to make like beasts from a horror movie. Then there's all the fake blood, and the outrageous costumes, and the constant pleas for audience members to put up their paws. Because they're beasts, too, and Gaga is Mother Monster. Which means... well, I'm not really sure I want to think too hard about what that means.
So what's new on this latest leg of Monster Ball? For starters, "Born This Way," the lead single from her upcoming album of the same name, is now part of the encore. The song is already a colossal hit, but it's also one of the least interesting tracks in the star's catalog. Much more successful was another new number: "You and I," performed on a burning piano by Lady Gaga. Its mid-'80s Elton John arrangement is further evidence that "Born This Way" (the album, not the single) tugs the singer away from her initial electropop sound.
Those who haven't seen the Monster Ball yet are probably wondering about the clothes Lady Gaga wore. Did she emerge from an egg? Was there any meat on her head? No and no, but she did peer from the windows of a mock subway train with white tape crisscrosses over her nipples. Later, she'd stalk the runway in a steel brassiere shooting out electric sparks. For "The Fame," she wore what only could be described as a red drape, which spilled out over the steps of an onstage staircase decorated with upside-down syringes. Did all of this distract from the music? Well, yes, it did, a little. But Lady Gaga has become so closely identified with wild fashion choices that it would read as a betrayal if she ever showed up onstage in a t-shirt and jeans. (Now, there would be some genuine provocation.)
media news media entertainment cinemas entertainment tonight entertainment weekly
No comments:
Post a Comment