Buy the ticket, take the ride. ~Hunter S. Thompson
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| Designed by: |
| Ooo Laaa Laaa, Gaga at Xcel Energy Center |
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| Written by John Abbott | |||||
| Tuesday, 07 September 2010 03:27 | |||||
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I have to be honest. I have been looking forward to it all summer. Lady Gaga and The Monster tour delivered. I also have to confess, I never really expected it to live up to the hype. I figured with the length of anticipation buildup, it was bound to disappoint. Right? Well, sometimes I am happy to say I am wrong. The Lady Gaga show was nothing short of amazing. Years ago I saw Diana Ross play the former iteration of this same venue. It was done on a catwalk to a round stage of what was then the St. Paul Civic Center. To this day, that concert was memorable for its costume changes. They were often, like every three or four songs. Styles at that time were high elegance of the early 80s. And so it was interesting to see. That was the closest thing in terms of costume changes. Gaga was in and out of very complex stage ware about every three songs.  What I don't remember exactly, back at that Diana Ross concert, is what happened between songs. I don't remember what we did. I suppose the band played on or something. But I defiantly don't remember saying "Wow! That's pretty cool too" like I did at the Gaga concert. Because the costume and set change kicked the full multimedia experience of the Monster Tour into high gear. Projection screens, and what looked like worlds largest flattened disco ball hanging from the ceiling. More flashing lights than you could count, all pushing the image of Gaga.The between song "message" was sometimes a little long for me, but I am outside of her target audience. Its one of; we in this room, are the normal people. It's the people outside who are weirdos. I was born with an over abundance of that, so that could have just been me. I thought for the most part it was a good message. Very sterile of politics or world issues. Focusing on self, and positive self image. Good things for her primary customers.  The stage show was amazing. Easily the most complex stage setup I have ever seen. Never a Spinal Tap moment, the sets were very, very complex and on a huge scale. There were raising platforms, going maybe 50ft above stage level. There were drop downs, so people could sink into the stage. There was a huge circular projection screen, there was this huge circular lighted screen that would descend from the ceiling. It was all mind boggling.Also, gone are the days when I have to listen to some dipshit rockstar say "Are you haven' a good time, Detroit?" Gaga knew exactly where she was. She used it too. She brought up St. Paul and Minnesota often. Between most every song. Is that what they call connecting with the audience? Maybe it worked. I saw another thing, right up there on the list of coolest things I have ever seen at a concert. I don't know exactly how the logistics all worked but at one point Gaga called from a cellphone in her hand out to an audience member's cell phone. The whole thing was piped into the show sound system. It was tied into a Virgin Mobile, Youth Homeless charity grant. Gaga is matching dollar for dollar donations up to $25,000. The woman in the audience who answered the phone, was there with her mother and the two women were invited to watch the concert from backstage. Very cool gimmick, great cause. I caught the whole thing on video. It was very cool.  All of these paragraphs in, and I am just now getting to the music. Well, what I can I say. I guess Gaga is my guilty pop pleasure. The music is catchy. Lyrically the songs nothing special, but yet I like them. The imagery, and the carry through and just the whole marketing phenomena that is Gaga, is what I find most interesting. And, what has me drawn into the experience. You see, I missed it the last time it happened, with Madonna. I was in this huge classical music phase of my life. I was younger, even more opinionated, and above it all. But even then I was intrigued by the marketing. Back then, even a classical music snob could occasionally get sucked into MTV (because it was free with basic cable, *and* back then, it even had music on it)Sound wise, it was perfect where I was sitting, maybe it could have been a touch louder. I had these two screaming girls behind me. You know the ones, too young for me to be able to turn around and say, "cut that shit out." I am guessing I would have had to deal with the mother. Other than that one complaint, it was flawless. The Xcel is a great place to listen to music.  Musically, one thing I thought was really cool, Gaga has a cross-over rock song coming out on her new record. A really great blues rock number. I don't see her doing a Kid Rock thing and totally abandoning pop music or anything but I liked this one song quite a lot. She has a really good voice, and I felt like the range fit her voice very well. I look forward to that release quite a lot.I was a little worried about shooting full video clips of songs. Having a letter show up in my mailbox from the RIAA could spoil my whole day. The Wife would shut us down for sure. So I have attached a video compilation of some clips I took. Hopefully turning the video into a work of news/art reporting.
So two nights ago we were in the middle of this huge spectacular event, and tonight we are living the life of domestic tranquility. Canning peaches. Nine pints tonight, seventeen last night. Its just crazy how fast life's pendulum swings, and the fleeting moments of perfection when you are on each end of a swing. It was pretty cool being at this concert and seeing the enormous spectacle of it all. I walked out satisfied. I was happy I was there. Thanks Gaga.
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| Last Updated on Wednesday, 06 October 2010 21:39 |
