Review | The Mayhem Ball with Lady Gaga

When I was in school, my mom didn’t let me have Internet access, so the main way I would find new music was through my local library. I would check out as many CDs as I was able to with my card, then go home and burn them onto my desktop computer.

One of the CDs that genuinely blew my mind was the album Born This Way by Lady Gaga. It still remains my most nostalgic pick of hers, and got me emotionally invested. I remember watching the “Yoü And I” music video and thinking she was the coolest, most confident person on the planet. I loved how she dressed in drag and played the piano like it was a necessary limb she needed to dance with.

As I was driving to Gaga’s show in Los Angeles (the second round of concerts for The Mayhem Ball tour after last year because demand was so high), I played my favorite song of hers, also off the record, “The Edge of Glory.” And even though I knew there was little to no chance it was a big or recent enough song to be played, it got me in that same mindset I had when I was staring at her CD cover art as a kid.

Gaga is an American singer, songwriter, and actress, known for her impact on music, movies, fashion, queer identity, and more. She’s one of the most influential figures in pop music, whose huge hits include “Just Dance,” “Poker Face,” “Born This Way,” and “Shallow,” sung in her leading role in A Star Is Born. She notably just won a Grammy award for her album Mayhem for Best Pop Vocal Album.

At the start of the Mayhem Ball show, celebrating her aforementioned record, Gaga emerged from the back curtain on top of a gigantic, two-story high red dress, looking like a groom on top of a wedding cake. She started singing “Bloody Mary,” and after the first few lines, her dress opened up to reveal a dozen dancers locked behind the metal bars of her skirt. Gaga then broke into recent hit “Abracadabra,” then “Judas,” finally reaching the ground for “Aura.”

Then, Gaga changed outfits for “Scheiße,” donning a sparkly black dress. The entire time, she danced with precision and energy, with minimal breaks. The stage turned green for “Garden of Eden,” where she played guitar. She then sang her smash hit “Poker Face,” with the stage lighting up into a chessboard. Gaga and the other dancers all turned into chess pieces, and it was a clever and creative way to remix a song the audience was so familiar with.

Highlights of the show included “Paparazzi” and “Disease.” The former had Gaga using crutches as she belted the song with powerful, elongated vocal lines, then, during the peak of the song, opening up a train as long as the catwalk with rainbow lights illuminating her body. The latter showed Gaga laying down with several skeletons (a few of which shook out of the ground as backup dancers) as she danced amongst them in a sandbox of dirt.

During this portion and a couple others, she cheekily said “I need to fix my hair” after a particularly intense dance routine, and the audience would giggle as one of her crew came to fix her up. She’d sweetly say “Thank you” then lock back in.

Another human moment amongst a sea of otherworldly performances happened towards the end of the show, when Gaga sat at a piano at the end of the catwalk to perform a few acoustic songs. She looked out into the audience, started crying, and said “You have given me the most beautiful dream for the last twenty years. Thank you … I hope, I wonder … do you think we can do this for another twenty years?”

Gaga at times was so impressive during the show, it almost seemed necessary to show her human side. That perfect balance is what sets her apart, and is why she has had a fruitful, lasting twenty years and can reasonably ask for another twenty.

To top off what was already a mind-blowing night, she, to my surprise, ended up playing “The Edge of Glory.” Sitting at the piano, alone on stage, from the very first word, I was immediately transported back to my bedroom, in front of my computer, looking at an artist that had the courage to sing about things I was afraid to express myself. She sang it perfectly.

Gaga often speaks about how she was bullied as a kid in school, and how because of that, she performs for misfits who have felt the same doubts she has about herself. And as one of those misfits, I feel so fortunate to have been able to be at her show and feel that gift.