Lady GaGa: The Monster Ball Roundup

In our age of miracle grow X Factor popstars, a new act launching a mammoth world tour just 18 months after their debut may not seem so shocking.  After all, having been preened and moulded from south London nobody into world class megastar, ushered through album launches and Oprah appearances, it seems only natural that you could apply the same manufactured and hyped formula to a world tour.

So what makes Lady GaGa’s first arena tour special in our schizophrenic pop culture world?  Because special it is.

GaGa kicked off her second world tour, just a few months after climaxing the last one with a whizz round the European festival circuit.  The Fame Ball lasted 6 months, encompassing Europe, America and Asia with a staggering 68 performances.  It was GaGa playing up to her New York art scene schtick; theatres and clubs, homemade props and background videos that appeared to be thrown together with her distinct DIY ethic.

Beginning in March and ending in September, during the course of the tour GaGa evolved from “that girl who sings ‘Just Dance’” into a bona-fide pop performer to rival the greats.  The show evolved too – beginning as a testament to what you can do with £50 and a bit of glitter, by the end of the 6 month onslaught GaGa had picked up a live band and a bunch of pyrotechnics.

In spite of her obvious ambitions, by September GaGa was looking decidedly worn.  About half the size of the Stefani Germanotta who appeared on So You Think You Can Dance in hand-stitched shoulder-pads, and with bags under her eyes big enough to accomodate her ever expanding wardrobe, it was apparent that being at the cutting edge of pop was an exhausting task.  So a break seemed inevitable.  It was suprising, then, that putting her feet up and having a cup-of-tea whilst polishing her slew of awards and accolades seemed to be the last thing on GaGa’s mind.

GaGa is a natural fit for an arena tour.  In spite of her crazy art student musings, she trades in massive spectacle – from exploding tits to fog machines.  While Britney has been trotting round the world miming to her latest CD as her dancers and the rejects from Cirque du Soleil attempt to fill the cavernous stage, evidently GaGa has been dreaming up ways of using this bigger canvas to her advantage.  So with a swift rerelease of the album to include 8 new tracks, The Fame Ball has been reimagined as The Monster Ball and is going back on the road.

The show kicked off last night in Montreal, but it has already seen it’s fair share of controversy.  Announced as a joint tour with hip hop king Kanyé West, after his shocking display of douchebaggery at September’s Video Music Awards, Kanyé was whisked promptly off to rehab and off the bill, leaving GaGa to do it alone.  Not that I’m complaining, that’s more GaGa for my money.  Behind the scenes GaGa’s creative team, the camply named Haus Of GaGa began working out how you build a stage that packs a fair amount of punch for a crowd at times 10 times larger than those GaGa was performing to just months ago.  And to prove that GaGa had not strayed too far from her routes, she invited her fans (her ‘little monsters‘) to construct their own background videos, the best of which GaGa would use as part of her travelling spectacle.

Madonna took a break from her record breaking Sticky and Sweet Tour to accompany daughter Lola to GaGa’s The Fame Ball.  Madonna had only praise for GaGa, her thrift store chic and her work ethic.  Infact, Madonna even claimed that GaGa reminded her of herself – what greater praise could one expect from the Queen of Pop?  I wonder if, sat amongst the hordes of screaming gays, the drag queens dolled up in their platinum wigs and jewel encrusted sunglasses, Madonna’s mind was cast back to April 10th, 1985, when she embarked on her own debut tour, The Virgin Tour.  By that time Madonna already had two successful albums under her belt and a legion of fans who dressed like her, talked like her and knew all the words to “Dress You Up”.  I bet the fact that GaGa has achieved a similar level of success in half the time is eye-opening for our Madge.

And so, with The Monster Ball it appears as if GaGa is hurtling further into Madonna’s world.  Can she maintain this momentum?  Can she throw together a circus to rival Britney’s in such a short amount of time?  It’ll be interesting to see.  Either way, this is one of the ‘must see’ tours of our lifetime.  It’s the live development of a future icon, I have no doubt about that.  Unlike the X Factor spectacles and the cynical money-making shows of the 00’s, this is not merely an attempt to dress up a singer to sell more tickets.  This is an all-out creative attack on pop.   And when the GaGa train rolls into London, I’ll be there at the barrier, Poker Facing like my life depends on it.  I suggest, if you care about pop, that you are too.

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