Live Review: Lady Gaga at Staples Center

When Lady Gaga breathes, it’s an event. That’s not just hyperbole. The pop art star’s gasps, coming fast and frequent as she stopped to pose during her Staples Center concert Wednesday, played an important role in her performance.

The sound of Gaga’s exertion kept things real, on a gut level, despite the many fantastical outfits, elaborate sets and dreamlike films featured in this arena-sized reworking of her Monster Ball show. It reminded the audience that this self-created freak deity is also a woman working hard, testing the limits of her 24-year-old body.  Panting, sweating, even sometimes breaking into a little sob, Gaga continually shattered the fancy frames she puts around her music, stepping through the fantasy to force an encounter with the “very naked girl with a foul mouth” who still lives, she insists, within those intricate costumes.

Since the Monster Ball last came to Los Angeles last December in its Nokia Theatre-sized version, Gaga and her collaborators have grown the sets and expanded the show’s arc. The arena setup allowed the star and her dancers to writhe and shimmy on a ramp in the midst of the crowd, providing up-close views of  her Barbie Fairytopia-on-acid outfit, her sequined biker chick unitard, and her patent leather espionage ensemble, to name a few. As she moved through her many hits -- "Poker Face," "Bad Romance," "Just Dance" and "Alejandro" among them -- the main stage housed props like a steaming yellow taxi and a mini-subway train, as well as Gaga’s lascivious dancers and her cartoonishly hard rocking band.

When it was first mounted in theaters, the Monster Ball was an impressionistic journey into Gaga’s fluorescent subconscious, with a strong moral: Embrace individuality and practice compassion to gain happiness. Standing up for the community of “freaks” -- club kids, drag queens, metalheads, free thinkers in general -- with whom she identifies, Gaga presented herself as the glorious spawn of the cultural underground’s long, daring history, crediting her fans (her “Little Monsters”) for building the bohemias that nurtured her.

The revamped show has a firmer storyline, not unlike the one employed by Rihanna this same summer. The Bajan singer’s show invoked dreams; Gaga’s is more like a fairy tale. Over two hours, she and her dancers journeyed through a neon-lit New York alleyway, onto a subway train, through a spooky forest and into a kind of church, where Gaga sacrificed herself in baptismal fake blood while decrying religious bigotry.  Finally, she faced a toothy giant octopus -- the “Fame Monster” of her second album’s title -- and emerged triumphantly as Cinderella of her own grand fete.

Some elements remained from the older staging of the Monster Ball, notably the films that took over when Gaga disappeared to change her costumes. She’s switched out her costumes, of course -- to not do so would be to fail her fans, who crave her sartorial genius nearly as much as they love her gift for pop hooks. On one level, Gaga is a drag performer, with one silver boot in a half-hidden world of gay and lesbian gender-benders and the others in the more mainstream realms of glam rock and fashion diva-tude. Her explicit identification with the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender community is a step into the light that shows how things have changed in the course of Gaga's lifetime; what Madonna said less directly in her videos and songs, her inheritor now can scream.

The Staples Center Monster Ball made clear how much that scream belongs to classic rock, and how in future projects she may begin to redefine that genre. There’s a bit of Courtney Love in Gaga’s rougher rock voice, and singing her power ballads “Speechless” and “You and I” -- in a sequence at a flaming piano that was a high point of the performance -- she occasionally  recalled Steven Tyler of Aerosmith. Gaga writes excellent danceable pop hits, but when her material takes on a rock edge, it seems to open her up. Her piano may spew flames, but that effect isn’t necessary when she’s simply pouring out her heart on one of her more direct power ballads.

Now that she has achieved her goal of staging a visually unforgettable spectacle, it might be wise of Gaga to focus on that less posed, though still flamboyant, aspect of her talent. The problems with the Monster Ball remain ones that afflict giant pop productions: The pacing suffered greatly from too many breaks for costume changes, and too often, the prerecorded music such productions nearly always require during dance-heavy sequences took over and Gaga’s vocals were either obscured or seemingly absent. A talented vocalist, Gaga needs to figure out how to manage to really deliver in concert. If her new material allows, she might become more of a traditional rock-style performer -- and rewrite rock’s rules while she’s at it. We’ll see when she returns to Staples Center in March of 2011.

For this summer, though, the Monster Ball, which will also fill Staples tonight, stands as enough of an achievement. Turning the phrase, “You look fabulous!” into a rallying cry, Gaga spun a wild web around her basic message of love and tolerance, but the essence was surprisingly simple. “I don’t want you to leave loving me more,” she said. “I want you to leave loving yourself more.” In other words, Little Monsters, just breathe.

-- Ann Powers

RELATED:

- Frank talk with Lady Gaga

Photo credit: Carolyn Cole / Los Angeles Times / 2009

Comments

[John]

Lady Gaga will "redefine" classic rock, and "rewrite rock's rules?" Her outfits are wild and her music is safe-- like a brand new knife with a sharp handle and a dull blade. Breathing new life into rock music will require a lethally sharp cutting edge, and unfortunately, Stefani Germanotta's most dangerous weapons are in her sewing basket.

[Axn]

Thank you for such a thoughtful review. This was my first time attending a stadium concert since 1992 and I feel that you captured the spirit of the event very nicely. We were very impressed by the diverse audience in terms of age range, cultural backgrounds, and sexual orientation. Lady Gaga's explicit "preaching" of acceptance and compassion seem to make her successful both artistically and financially.

[Andrew]

I disagree, John - one of the things that makes her a cutting-edge artist today is her music is anything but "safe" - both in terms of the lyrical content and music, but also in visual presentation. What other top-40 singers smear blood all over their faces while singing about the dark side of fame? And when she performed both of her piano-based songs, the latter of which (You & I) reminded me of Elton John, Aerosmith & Carole King, it's clear she is no one-dimensional waif singer. She has the songwriting talent to match her performance art ambitions, and that is a dangerous combination - not "safe" in any way.

[Sam]

Nice of her to make money in Arizona at her concert then trash talk the state. Take the money and run.

[Ovid]

Lady Gaga's explicit "preaching" of acceptance and compassion seem to make her successful both artistically and financially.

Posted by: Axn | August 12, 2010 at 10:25 AM -->

yes, you spelled it right. in this day and age, being a 'liberal' with a 'good cause' of helping the downtrodden helps the fame-monster grow bigger.

while we ADMIRE Lady Gaga for her acceptance beliefs, there are many many people who have beliefs for acceptance of the downtrodden (ie. Madonna and near 90% of Hollywood).

is this what is takes to be famous now: relatively pretty, relatively talented and having a big big good cause and shocking them silly.

what about plain good old ORIGINALITY: When Madonna came out, there was NO ONE like her in history. today , we have clones and fusions. everyone is waiting for godot...

[Seven Burke]

Interesting review, although any true lil' monster would know that the giant monster Gaga confronts on stage is not a giant octopus but rather a giant anglerfish, the object of many a bad dream lil' gaga had as a girl.

[Sean]

I like her but kind of sick of the fact that after 1.5 albums she's become the "annointed one". Make no mistake Poker Face, Bad Romance, Just Dance and Telephone were catchy singles but The Fame was just a mediocre pop dance album when listening to as a complilation and I worry all the hype will make her run out of steam. Madonna (as she grew as an artist) made deeper, lyrically meaningful songs. I think GaGa has convinced everyone that her music is art when to me it's still standard dance pop. She better step up her game before she ever deserves to be mentioned in the same sentence as Her Madgesty.

[Buny]

After the 8/11 show in LA I turned to my friend and said "how do you tell someone about this event?" Everything was so beyond my expectations. Her live voice enriched all the music with a mystical backdrop. I'd go tonight again if I could get a ticket.

[sigh]

For someone who has gone on tour with iconic performers like Tori Amos, I'm really, really surprised that you, too, have drunk the Gaga kool aid. Rewrite rock's rules? Seriously? Her music is generic. Catchy, but generic. Her image is the only thing that is interesting about her, and frankly, that's wearing thin already.

That, and another issue that bugs me - her image comes straight from the Club Kids in NYC. It is not unique in any way. I suppose I have to give her credit in this respect - her "genius" lies in the fact that she has made everyone believe that the generic, derivative club music she's selling is high art. You bought what she was selling. Disappointing.

[Steven]

This has been the best concert I have ever attended!! I have seen many big artists such as Madonna, Britney Spears, The Black Eyed Peas, The Dave Matthews Band, Kiss, Boys to Men, The Pussycat Dolls, Cobra Starship, 3OH!3, Rihanna, and more... But Lady Gaga has topped all other concerts I've been to. She san live, danced, played piano, talked to her fans, and addressed fans in the audience directly, no artist I've seen has done all those. The last time I was at the Staples Center was April 2009 to watch Britney. Britney didn't sing live, talked only twice, and hardly acknowledged the thousands of screaming fans. Gaga is a true artist. Her vocals were amazing! Artist on a piano can't hold on to my attention for a minute, Gaga kept it for a little over ten while she sang "Speechless" and "You and I". She cried while she explained her journey to the top... That woman is nothing but real. And she is all talent! I wanted to watch her the following day again, but was tols the show was sold out. =(

[Mur]

Ann, calm down - this is getting embarrassing.
You sound like a 13 year-old girl at this point.

[burningtree]

Excellent review: one of the best I have read. World, welcome to the Age of Gagaism.

[Lady Gaga]

I never thought I could have the opportunity to see Gaga in concert since her concerts sell out quick. Thanks Ticketsinventory.com for offering me discounted Lady Gaga Tickets . I loved all her songs and what she wore. I loved 'Poker Face,' because we had to just start dancing to it, even though we were sitting so high up. Believe me, there is nothing like Lady Gaga show.

[Lady Gaga]

I never thought I could have the opportunity to see Gaga in concert since her concerts sell out quick. Thanks Ticketsinventory.com for offering me discounted Lady Gaga Tickets . I loved all her songs and what she wore. I loved 'Poker Face,' because we had to just start dancing to it, even though we were sitting so high up. Believe me, there is nothing like Lady Gaga show.