The Dark Side of The Fame

During Lady GaGa's first tour around the world - 'The Fame Ball' - GaGa gave us a glimpse into the world of the glitz, the glitter, the glamour and the flashing lights. On her more recent tour 'The Monster Ball' (in which she showcases her newest work 'The Fame Monster') We see that all of these things come at a great cost.

The glitz can ensnare, the glitter can consume, the glamour can decay and the flashing lights may just take your life!

We sit there in the jam-packed ACC with our camera's out and our freshly bought CD's and tour t-shirts in hand, waiting with the hundreds and hundreds of people around us in anticipation. We're all waiting (rather impatiently) for the moment GaGa graces the stage! (Or 'Gay Gay' as the 'I <3 Lady Gay Gay' t-shirts proclaim)

After watching shrieky glam-rock group 'Semi-Precious Weapons' change in the middle of a song and enjoying Kid Cudi's creative electronic set design the moment finally comes...

A video flashes up on a large screen... We see green grid with a figure slowly appearing in the centre. This digital video introduction with images of a dark GaGa in strange positions starts the count down for when she appears. When we hit 0, there she appears behind the screen, as she kicks off the show with a song from her new release entitled 'Dance In The Dark'.

"She looks good but her boyfriend says shes a mess... now the girl is stressed.
Baby likes to dance in the dark, cause when he's looking she falls apart"

This piece has a very heavy, industrial sound with an 80's vibe. The theme of this powerful song is women's rights - it contains shout outs to influential females killed by 'The Fame' such as Judy Garland, Marilyn Monroe, Sylvia Plath and even Princess Diana.

This song launced right into 'Just Dance' and from there we moved into a flurry of costume changes. To keep us entertained when she isn't on stage we see strange but beautiful video and musical accompaniment. Her performances mixed with these videos piece together the story of a tragic sort of fame in a captivating multimedia collage.

The first major highlight of the show was when Lady GaGa came out in a strange feathered outfit and began singing another release off of her new album: 'Monster'. Her large flurry of black feathers was backed by striking images (of black trees, a red sky and smooth silky crow wings) making for an interesting and spooky performance.

"He's a wolf in disguise... but I can't stop staring in those evil eyes!"

My next highlight of the show was when the chanteuse delicately perched herself onto the piano stool, telling the story of how her father refused to get heart surgery. She thought she'd have to stop touring and making music all together... and so she wrote the song 'Speechless' as a means to convince him. This little piece of background information made the song so much more meaningful and emotional for everyone watching, particularly as her father was in the audience that day. Everyone in the ACC sung along to this ballad at her request, fearing she wouldn't be able to get through all the words without breaking into tears.

"Would you give it all up if I promise boy to you;
I'll never talk again. I'll never love again.
I'll never write a song, won't even sing along

No, I'll never love again."

After that tender moment however, she got everyone up dancing and singing again with GaGa classics like 'Love Game' and 'Fashion' in which she adorned a particularly magnificent egyptian/Cleopatra-esque outfit.

Although we had to leave a couple of songs early so as to catch the last train back to Whitby, this multimedia extravaganza was more than just a concert; it was an experience. She ended strong with songs Paparazzi and Bad Romance, using her now iconic oribital setpiece and leaving off on a strong note. This electro-pop-opera captivated everyone in the room, and was successful at selling out the entire ACC within the first day of sales. With new songs like 'Bad Romance' and others from 'The Fame Monster' working their way up the charts, GaGa has proven she is here to stay.

But still, her show cautions all her 'little monsters' that danger lurks behind every corner in Hollywood; in money, extravagence and self indulgence.

So don't fall victim to The Fame - it's a monster.