Lady Gaga had the most elaborate, intricate, detailed, and extraordinary set I have ever seen at a musical production in the Singapore Indoor Stadium. With the venue typically not being very accommodating, the tour's promoter "Live Nation" had clearly invested a ridiculous amount of money into transporting her set. The stage was a gothic style magical stage, that was incredibly versatile and diverse. It moved constantly and felt more like an extravagant broadway production, than it did a concert stage. With turrets and balconies standing with prestige in the air, Gaga looked like some sort of princess from a make believe world spinning around inside of her very own "Born This Way" fairytale. I was stunned at the sheer size of the beautiful monstrosity. Just when you thought you'd seen Gaga appear out of every turret and side door- she would even emerge from under the floor or somewhere else completely unexpected.
Setlist
I was generally extremely pleased with the set that Gaga performed. Although seemingly some songs were clumped together just to be over and done with ("Just Dance" "Love Game" "Bad Romance") she performed a fair balance of fan favorites and more unknown tracks off of her latest studio album "Born This Way" to adequately please her Little Monsters, while promoting her record simultaneously. The encore was fantastic, "Edge Of Glory" and "Marry The Night" were high energy songs that really worked the audience into a frenzy. My personal favorite had to be "Hair" where Gaga spoke of feeling like an outsider, and being bullied as a child which was something I identified with wholeheartedly. Gaga is a great testimony of persevering through times of hardship, as she reflects the great successes that can come of one's hard work and determination.
Merchandise
The merchandise up for grabs was really great. I was expecting it to be overpriced, as all concert merchandise is and my expectations where not only met but exceeded! A simple t-shirt varying in designs cost $50, and sweaters cost $80. There was an amazing faux leather "Born This Way" jacket on sale for a whopping $130. There were various other things for sale like lunchbox's and jewelry. I spent $155 (I know, my wallet is sobbing) on a t-shirt, sweater, and necklace! The quality of the sweater is amazing, and it's super soft and comfortable on the inside.
Fashion
Although no fashion expert like my close friend Veena, I was impressed and consistently surprised with the outfits of the notoriously wacky Lady Gaga throughout the night. Her first costume was reminiscent of a cockroach, with a metal shackle covering her entire face for the first two songs. She then changed into a latex condom inspired outfit for "Born This Way" and "Black Jesus." The next two numbers "Bloody Mary" and "Bad Romance" had similar white dresses varying in lengths, with a beekeepers helmet and goat mask respectively for each song. I was pleased to see the latex dress, as it was used in many performances of "Born This Way" and I think it merges with the song really well. I had a distaste for the goat costume in "Bad Romance" because it hid her face yet again, but this time during what is possibly her most giant hit. Other costumes Gaga had donned throughout the night were leather skin tight leotards complete with fishnet stockings and a thong! The infamous "Meat Dress" made an appearance (although thankfully made out of plastic this time) during "Americano" and "Poker Face." Her finale outfit for "Edge Of Glory" was a stunning two piece gold ensemble that would catch the light and blind audience members every so often.
It has to be side, all gimmicks aside- Lady Gaga is a true artist. She's completely original and has as much musical talent in her toenails as fellow pop stars Kesha and Katy Perry have in their entire bodies. I was absolutely stunned by her stamina throughout the night. Not only did she slickly execute her innovative choreography, she managed to belt out high notes and sing up and down octaves while doing so. I was particularly impressed with "Edge Of Glory" as her true musicality was displayed throughout the 5 minute encore. She began with a beautiful piano ballad version of the song, using crescendos to convey an incredible sense of emotion while playing beautifully at the same time. After a verse and a chorus, Gaga went into the more up-tempo version of the song where she sang about being unafraid of death. Towards the end of the song where the vocals became particularly difficult, one of her dancers came on stage and did a gorgeous contemporary dance duet while Gaga sang like a bird despite being twirled around. Not to mention she played the piano twice during the show, and also the electric guitar during "Electric Chapel."
To conclude I really feel like Gaga gave everything she had into her performance on "The Born This Way Ball" and she connected with a crowd in a way no other artist can. Her true musicality sparkled through her occasionally tiring facade of wacky stage antics, and she successfully blew away 11,000 people three nights in a row. It was also really incredible to see the contrast between her very first show in Singapore where she had three dancers, two screens and a 4 piece band.
Highlights:
-Energetic performances of her most popular hit songs
-Ever changing fashion ensembles
-Amazing vocal skills
-Tightly executed choreography
-Dazzling stage/set up
-Incredible connection with the crowd
-General musicality (i.e. instrument playing etc)
Lowlights:
-A few too many unknown "Born This Way" tracks
-Stage banter got slightly ridiculous at times (Screaming "I AM NOT AN ALIEN")
-Ticket prices were ludicrous
-Queueing system was horrendously organized
Thanks to Monalisa for letting me use her photos from the concert!
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