Lady Gaga delivers spectacle, musicianship
Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta took to the stage at 9 p.m. Friday (Aug. 11) at T-Mobile Arena and, for the next two hours, the award-winning superstar singer known to fans as Lady Gaga delivered a performance that was mesmerizing, spectacular, personal, fast-paced and sold-out.
While Lady Gaga’s previous tours, not including the wonderful “Cheek to Cheek Tour” with the legendary Tony Bennett, focused on her propensity to be a provocateur with spectacle and shock value, the “Joanne World Tour” is broken into seven acts that showcase Lady Gaga’s sometimes-undervalued talents as a singer and musician.
Yes, the “Joanne World Tour” delivers the usual Lady Gaga spectacle: the sets (stages tilted, three bridges came down from the ceiling and connected her from one end of the arena to two round stages on the floor); costumes (red, sparkling, Western-themed); choreography; and lights and pyrotechnics.
But this tour really allows Lady Gaga’s vocal chops and musicianship to shine — at a guitar in a sparking, pink cowboy hat during “A-Yo” synthesizer for “Just Dance,” during which a wireless mic was awkwardly held for her while she played and sang. In other moments, she truly shined on the acoustic piano with “Edge of Glory” and “Million Reasons.”
Minus piano but also acoustic, “Angel Down” and “Joanne” were stunners. The “Joanne World Tour” is named after her second birth name, which also belonged to a beloved late aunt, who died shortly before Stefani was born. Lady Gaga’s first of many thanks to the arena audience Friday night was before her third song, the hit “Poker Face.”
Lady Gaga, whose big year has included performing during The Super Bowl halftime show and guest starring in episode 1 of the most-recent Season 9 of “RuPaul’s Drag Race” on VH1, celebrated her LGBTQ fans, quite possibly the majority Friday night at T-Mobile Arena, and reminded everyone to simply “love each other.”
Lady Gaga’s affinity with the LGBTQ quality has been career-long, genuine, steadfast and admirable. Her quote of the night talked about not ignoring “the hooker in my heart and the whore in my soul.”
Friday night’s set list, with a number of songs shortened:
Act I — “Diamond Heart,” “A-Yo,” “Poker Face” and “Perfect Illusion.”
Act II — “John Wayne,” “Scheibe” and “Alejandro.”
Act III — “Just Dance,” “LoveGame” and “Telephone.”
Act IV — “Applause,” “Come to Mama,” “The Edge of Glory” and “Born This Way.”
Act V — “Bloody Mary,” “Dancin’ in Circles” and “Paparazzi.”
Act VI — “Angel Down” and “Joanne.”
Act VII — “Bad Romance” and “The Cure.”
Encore: “Million Reasons.”
Fun fact: Friday night was a diva trifecta in Las Vegas with Lady Gaga at T-Mobile Arena, Cher at Park Theater at Monte Carlo and Britney Spears at Axis at Planet Hollywood. Lady Gaga’s “Joanne Tour” returns to T-Mobile Arena on Dec. 16.
Our thanks to Kevin Mazur of Getty Images for Live Nation for his photographs of Lady Gaga from a previous concert.
