i want your ugly, i want your disease...
Jun. 29th, 2010 02:34 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
rockinhamburger...
How do I begin to describe Lady Gaga's Monster Ball, which I had the fortune of experiencing last night? No doubt this recap will be chock-full of cliches and hyberole, so let's get this thing rolling.
Well, first of all, my outfit was amazing. Hey, allow me to be vain, all right? That's a huge part of the spirit of Gaga. Being vain is not bad. Be proud of who you are. And you know what? I looked good. There's a pic of me in my outfit at the end of this recap. I went to this thrift shop and found the accessories to go with the simple black dress I wore. The outfit only cost me a happy 40$, which is not bad at all! And I looked fab!
My friends and I arrived at the venue at 7:15, and the show was set to begin at 8. We were allowed entrance just as the sky was darkening and the wind picking up and the rain drizzling, and thankfully managed to avoid getting our awesome outfits waterlogged. Serendipity.
When we got inside, the local radio station wanted to photograph us in our Gaga-inspired outfits. The photographer was funny and cheerful, and once we were done we stopped by the merch table and I picked up a Gaga tote bag that says I'M A FREE BITCH on it. (YAY!!)
Then we took our seats. The openers were a band called Semi-Precious Weapons. I'd heard their name before, and I did finally remember to look them up a few hours before I left for the show and liked what I heard, and they were really good! I'd definitely buy their album. They only played three or four songs (for which, despite their awesomeness, I was grateful; I was pretty impatient for Gaga), and then the lead singer of Semi-Precious Weapons (utterly gorgeous - look him up!) hyped us up by screaming, "When I say LADY you say GAGA! LADY --"
And us 18,000 fans would scream back "GAGA!!!"
And then. Then it started.
I can't give you a blow-by-blow description of the night, and I'll tell you why. Think of the best sex you've ever had. If you haven't had sex, imagine your greatest fantasy (maybe one you come back to often). I'm sure if I asked you, the day after, to relay in exact detail how it went down you'd have difficulty finding the words.
Because last night Lady Gaga made love to her little monsters of Montreal. Gaga made love to me. And in the days following a phenomenal sexual experience, I gotta bask, I gotta rest, I gotta think.
Having said that, I'll talk about the show a bit. She began with Dance in the Dark from behind an enormous screen. We, her little monsters, screaming and on our feet, could only see her in silhouette form, striking a different post and holding it for some time before striking a new one.
She created this suspense in me right away; she didn't let me see her immediately. It was maddening, and completely genius. When she did finally reveal herself, she was atop a staircase built into these props that were backdrop structures with neon signs all over them. They said sexy ugly, liquor, implants, sedation, dentistry, and, interestingly, BBQ. Gaga was in all her wonderful glory.
You see, Gaga was on her way to the Monster ball with three of her friends when their car broke down. (The car, btw, was this awesome green colour and spray-painted, and the hood of the car opened to reveal a keyboard, which Gaga played for us.) Her three friends were worried; one of them said, in dismay, "We'll never make it to the Monster Ball!"
And Gaga, her first spoken words, said, "Yes, we will." And then she launched into Just Dance, Beautiful Dirty Rich, and The Fame. Next came Vanity, which is a less-known song of hers, and then Gaga and her friends decided to take the subway to the Monster Ball.
They wound up lost, in a STRANGE PLACE. The stage was set up with a catwalk, and she walked down it to stand at the end, and we - her excited, happy, loving monsters - screamed for her at the top of our lungs. She stood there, basking in our energy. Honestly, it was a wonderful sight to witness. I can only imagine how fucking amazing it would be to have 18,000 fans screaming for YOU. It must be beyond description.
One of her three friends asked Gaga to explain what the Monster Ball was "really, really about."
Simply, Gaga replied, "The Monster Ball will set you free." She told us she'd created the Monster Ball so that we could all be free to be who and what we are without fear of judgment or harm, and that she had created the Monster Ball so that we, her little monsters, would have a place to go, to belong.
And we were taken on a ride through a few of the songs on her second album, Telephone, Teeth, and Monster.
During costume changes, these mega screens would come down, and we would watch these video pieces that were gritty and in-your-face, sort of confusing but intriguing and powerful. (For example, there was this one video image of Gaga biting into a bloody piece of meat, replayed several times and spliced with other stark images. Unsettling.)
So many things happened, but they kind of run together in my mind. She sat down at the piano and played Brown Eyes for us, and then some little monsters in the pit asked her to play You and I, the song she played at Elton John's party last week. It was AMAZING, one of my favourite moments of the night. It was like she touched my fucking soul. Most people were sitting for these parts, but during the bridge of You and I, Gaga brought me to my feet. I was just so moved. She was so fucking on. Then she played Speechless, and how wonderful, to hear a stadium full of little monsters singing every word along with her. She also talked to all of us a little, about having long nails and playing the piano with them, and she was utterly charming and sweet.
Honestly, the whole night was incredible. I wish I could give you amazing detail of what happened, but the show was two fucking hours, so amazingly long and wonderful, and I'm still thinking about parts of it. I couldn't even put all of it into words.
I will say that she closed the show with Bad Romance, and the fucking stadium went ballistic. We fucking lost it! It was truly the perfect end to a perfect night.
Here's the thing: I knew Gaga would be amazing, I knew she would surpass my expectations, but she ate my fucking heart out. She understands me completely. It only makes sense that she'd be able to give me one of the best nights of my life, if not the best.
She set me free.
If you ever have a chance to see Gaga live, DO IT. Do not hesitate. She is worth any amount of money you have to cough up (trust me, please trust me); everything about last night was spectacular, out of body, touch the soul awesome. And I want all of you, little monsters or not, to experience something of this magnitude one day.
Gaga's been life-changing for me. I know that probably sounds like a lot for one person to achieve, but Gaga has accomplished what she set out to do. She set me free from my insecurities and fears about who I really am, and she showed me that those insecurities and fears are a beautiful, beautiful part of me. She showed me that I am a beautiful bitch, and that I shouldn't be ashamed of any part of me. And I won't be ashamed from here on out.
How do I begin to describe Lady Gaga's Monster Ball, which I had the fortune of experiencing last night? No doubt this recap will be chock-full of cliches and hyberole, so let's get this thing rolling.
Well, first of all, my outfit was amazing. Hey, allow me to be vain, all right? That's a huge part of the spirit of Gaga. Being vain is not bad. Be proud of who you are. And you know what? I looked good. There's a pic of me in my outfit at the end of this recap. I went to this thrift shop and found the accessories to go with the simple black dress I wore. The outfit only cost me a happy 40$, which is not bad at all! And I looked fab!
My friends and I arrived at the venue at 7:15, and the show was set to begin at 8. We were allowed entrance just as the sky was darkening and the wind picking up and the rain drizzling, and thankfully managed to avoid getting our awesome outfits waterlogged. Serendipity.
When we got inside, the local radio station wanted to photograph us in our Gaga-inspired outfits. The photographer was funny and cheerful, and once we were done we stopped by the merch table and I picked up a Gaga tote bag that says I'M A FREE BITCH on it. (YAY!!)
Then we took our seats. The openers were a band called Semi-Precious Weapons. I'd heard their name before, and I did finally remember to look them up a few hours before I left for the show and liked what I heard, and they were really good! I'd definitely buy their album. They only played three or four songs (for which, despite their awesomeness, I was grateful; I was pretty impatient for Gaga), and then the lead singer of Semi-Precious Weapons (utterly gorgeous - look him up!) hyped us up by screaming, "When I say LADY you say GAGA! LADY --"
And us 18,000 fans would scream back "GAGA!!!"
And then. Then it started.
I can't give you a blow-by-blow description of the night, and I'll tell you why. Think of the best sex you've ever had. If you haven't had sex, imagine your greatest fantasy (maybe one you come back to often). I'm sure if I asked you, the day after, to relay in exact detail how it went down you'd have difficulty finding the words.
Because last night Lady Gaga made love to her little monsters of Montreal. Gaga made love to me. And in the days following a phenomenal sexual experience, I gotta bask, I gotta rest, I gotta think.
Having said that, I'll talk about the show a bit. She began with Dance in the Dark from behind an enormous screen. We, her little monsters, screaming and on our feet, could only see her in silhouette form, striking a different post and holding it for some time before striking a new one.
She created this suspense in me right away; she didn't let me see her immediately. It was maddening, and completely genius. When she did finally reveal herself, she was atop a staircase built into these props that were backdrop structures with neon signs all over them. They said sexy ugly, liquor, implants, sedation, dentistry, and, interestingly, BBQ. Gaga was in all her wonderful glory.
You see, Gaga was on her way to the Monster ball with three of her friends when their car broke down. (The car, btw, was this awesome green colour and spray-painted, and the hood of the car opened to reveal a keyboard, which Gaga played for us.) Her three friends were worried; one of them said, in dismay, "We'll never make it to the Monster Ball!"
And Gaga, her first spoken words, said, "Yes, we will." And then she launched into Just Dance, Beautiful Dirty Rich, and The Fame. Next came Vanity, which is a less-known song of hers, and then Gaga and her friends decided to take the subway to the Monster Ball.
They wound up lost, in a STRANGE PLACE. The stage was set up with a catwalk, and she walked down it to stand at the end, and we - her excited, happy, loving monsters - screamed for her at the top of our lungs. She stood there, basking in our energy. Honestly, it was a wonderful sight to witness. I can only imagine how fucking amazing it would be to have 18,000 fans screaming for YOU. It must be beyond description.
One of her three friends asked Gaga to explain what the Monster Ball was "really, really about."
Simply, Gaga replied, "The Monster Ball will set you free." She told us she'd created the Monster Ball so that we could all be free to be who and what we are without fear of judgment or harm, and that she had created the Monster Ball so that we, her little monsters, would have a place to go, to belong.
And we were taken on a ride through a few of the songs on her second album, Telephone, Teeth, and Monster.
During costume changes, these mega screens would come down, and we would watch these video pieces that were gritty and in-your-face, sort of confusing but intriguing and powerful. (For example, there was this one video image of Gaga biting into a bloody piece of meat, replayed several times and spliced with other stark images. Unsettling.)
So many things happened, but they kind of run together in my mind. She sat down at the piano and played Brown Eyes for us, and then some little monsters in the pit asked her to play You and I, the song she played at Elton John's party last week. It was AMAZING, one of my favourite moments of the night. It was like she touched my fucking soul. Most people were sitting for these parts, but during the bridge of You and I, Gaga brought me to my feet. I was just so moved. She was so fucking on. Then she played Speechless, and how wonderful, to hear a stadium full of little monsters singing every word along with her. She also talked to all of us a little, about having long nails and playing the piano with them, and she was utterly charming and sweet.
Honestly, the whole night was incredible. I wish I could give you amazing detail of what happened, but the show was two fucking hours, so amazingly long and wonderful, and I'm still thinking about parts of it. I couldn't even put all of it into words.
I will say that she closed the show with Bad Romance, and the fucking stadium went ballistic. We fucking lost it! It was truly the perfect end to a perfect night.
Here's the thing: I knew Gaga would be amazing, I knew she would surpass my expectations, but she ate my fucking heart out. She understands me completely. It only makes sense that she'd be able to give me one of the best nights of my life, if not the best.
She set me free.
If you ever have a chance to see Gaga live, DO IT. Do not hesitate. She is worth any amount of money you have to cough up (trust me, please trust me); everything about last night was spectacular, out of body, touch the soul awesome. And I want all of you, little monsters or not, to experience something of this magnitude one day.
Gaga's been life-changing for me. I know that probably sounds like a lot for one person to achieve, but Gaga has accomplished what she set out to do. She set me free from my insecurities and fears about who I really am, and she showed me that those insecurities and fears are a beautiful, beautiful part of me. She showed me that I am a beautiful bitch, and that I shouldn't be ashamed of any part of me. And I won't be ashamed from here on out.
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no subject
Date: 2010-06-29 06:44 pm (UTC)OMG OMG OMG.
Wow, this sounds so amazing. I cannot wait to see her here in denmark, I am so excited! I have no idea what I'm going to wear. (I've gained weight and crap, and I don't have anything fancy)but I don't care, it will be great. What a great recap this was<3 So beautiful to. I love Gaga so much.<3
no subject
Date: 2010-06-29 07:52 pm (UTC)Semi Precious Weapons are fucking RIGHTEOUS. Their album came out today and I'm broke otherwise I'd buy it. They were her friends from Brooklyn, she actually opened for them once and it set her on the path to being super mega famous like she is today, and I love that she's returning the favor and doing the same for them that they did for her, that's awesome. And Justin Tranter, the main singer is just this hot, cocky asshole so full of swagger and confidence it's just - oooh. I love him. I love that he never wears pants and always wears heels and that he doesn't give a shit what anyone says, love love love. You should check them out on YouTube - Magnetic Baby is this awesome, awesome song that I'm sure they played, and then there's their kind of signature song called Semi Precious Weapons that has this line in it that goes, "I can't pay my rent but I'm fucking gorgeous," which kind of defines everything that they're about, this really gritty, no holds barred rock band. Justin called it a "filthy party band," which is awesome.
And Gagaaaaaa, omgggggg, I love that it's this whole narrative, that's so fucking awesome. I've seen pictures of the Monster Ball but I never really knew what it was like, really. And VANITY, I love that song sfm. And I love that she opened with Dance in the Dark, that song is so underrated, and it really encapsulates everything that the Monster Ball is about.
That clip of Gaga tearing at a piece of meat is something she talks about in her Rolling Stone interview - it's a bovine heart. Literally. I can't remember who she said she was working with, a director who was helping her design the show, and she said it was like, a therapuetic thing for her. You should look up the interview and read it, it was awesome. She ended it by saying, "use the stuff that'll make me a legend. I wanna be a legend. Is that wrong?" EPIC.
I love that You and I video so so much - she fucking slams her heels on the piano like it's nothing! And stands on the bench and just rocks out, how awesome is that? My first thought, ow, second, wow, flexible, seriously. And she is always, always charming and like, otherworldly, almost when she talks. Watching her speak/do interviews is so captivating, it's like she came from a whole other time.
This is like the biggest tl;dr comment in history, but I just know exactly how you feel about her and I'm so glad you got to experience the Monster Ball, because that's so amazing. I try to explain this to people and they don't understand how it works, because they haven't been captured by it yet, but it really is about embracing yourself and allowing your insecurities and fears to run wild and being okay with them. There's a quote she has from somewhere, I can't remember, where she was talking about the Monster Ball and she said something like, "come in, we'll lock the fucking doors and the freaks will be on the outside." And that's just it! Like she makes it okay to be freaky or weird and not normal or odd or out there, she makes that the normal, so it's like when you step into Gaga land, the normal people are what's freaky. It's so freeing and wonderful and awesome. Like a safe space to be as crazy as you want, because whatever you do, it can't be as crazy or out there as what's happening on stage - but since everything is deliberate and for a purpose, to create this art that she's doing, it's not crazy for crazy's sake. It's so much more.
I'm gonna quit rambling now, but omg omg so so glad you had this experience, I'm so happy for youuuuu. :DDDDDD
FUCK YOU, LJ, AND YOUR COMMENT RESTRICTIONS!
Date: 2010-06-29 11:50 pm (UTC)Thank you! The gloves were an awesome 4$ find, and I was quite happy with them! You can't see my badass shoes in the picture, but they were these fucking bright red stiletto pumps that matched the red clutch perfectly (shoes: 10$, clutch: 5$). I loved my outfit so much, and I'm glad I did because it allowed for me to feel gorgeous and therefore enjoy the night even more.
Semi Precious Weapons, omg. Okay, so I looked them up on YouTube the day of the show, and I watched the video for Semi Precious Weapons, and within ten seconds of watching, I was like, "Yup. In love." Justin is just so FUCKING amazing. And then he was just as amazing last night, so I'm definitely a fan already. I know about the new album, actually, because Justin shouted at us, "Our album is out TODAY. You lucky bitches get to be the first to buy it, and if you buy it we will be standing at *such and such*, and we will be signing and taking photos until they kick us out." But since I am also mega broke, I did not buy the album. But now that I know about them and am enjoying them, life is good. AND YES, that quote - "I can't pay my rent but I'm fucking gorgeous." - I HEAR THAT. He totally screamed that during the set and we went fucking wild. They were also selling a t-shirt with that on it, and I really wanted to buy it. (But, broke.)
The narrative was such a cool aspect of the show, seriously. I didn't mention this in the orignial recap, but I'll tell you because I know you'll fucking love this. For Paparazzi there was this giant, fucking creepy angler fish on stage behind Gaga, with moving tentacles and everything. And she sang her heart out, the angler fish glowing angry, and honest to Gaga, my heart was POUNDING. Like, she actually made me fucking ANXIOUS. What I got from the performance was that the angler fish represents fear and perhaps ferociousness and possibly the unknown. At the end of the song, one of the angler fish's tentacles began violating her where she lay on the floor of the stage. And this is kind of an aside, but the performance absolutely confronted my personal fear and anxiety in general, and my fear, in particular, of rape, a fear that is gripping and terrifying, and a reality many women face. It's always been a terribly present fear in my mind, and I know that may not have been Gaga's express intention, but it confronted these fears and soothed them, in a way. It just worked on so many levels for me, and I JUST FUCKING LOVE GAGA!
(...)
I have a lot to say, jeez!
Date: 2010-06-29 11:51 pm (UTC)Dance in the Dark is absolutely amazing, yes; I'm glad she opened with it too. I honestly tear-up on a regular basis at the gorgeous lyrics You will never fall apart/Diana, you're still in our hearts/Never let you fall apart/Together we'll dance in the dark. My heart aches with love whenever I hear that. It's just so POWERFUL. And her performing it live? MY GOD!!!!!!!!
My favourite thing about You and I in the video is when she collapses back, post-orgasmic, on to the piano bench - like she's just made love to the piano, which essentially she has. She did that, too, after Speechless last night. :D
I need to read that Rolling Stone interview, yeah. I've been so frantic about Gaga the last few days that I completely forgot I needed to buy that. I'm hoping it'll still be on magazine racks later this week. I haven't had any luck finding it online, either, which sucks. GAGA INTERVIEWWWWW!
Like she makes it okay to be freaky or weird and not normal or odd or out there, she makes that the normal, so it's like when you step into Gaga land, the normal people are what's freaky. It's so freeing and wonderful and awesome. Like a safe space to be as crazy as you want, because whatever you do, it can't be as crazy or out there as what's happening on stage - but since everything is deliberate and for a purpose, to create this art that she's doing, it's not crazy for crazy's sake. It's so much more.
THIS. Exactly THIS!
I'm glad YOU understand all this. I'm at a place of peace noW when it comes to those who are unenlightened about Gaga (so diplomatic, lol), and even when it comes to Gaga haters. I just realized that I know how amazing she is, and she makes my soul happy. The end. Everyone else is just missing out, and one day they'll come out of the cave and see the light, or realize their mistake in dissing her or hating her. Because she WILL be a legend; she already is one, and it's a wonderful indicator of what's still to come. Can't wait!
I'm happy with your long comment! We are clearly made to be friends; let's embrace our tl;dr comments, because we clearly DO read them! :D
no subject
Date: 2010-06-29 09:48 pm (UTC)Though I did experience the beauty that is Glamnation twice in June, so I can't complain too much. ;))
no subject
Date: 2010-07-02 11:08 pm (UTC)http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OK_rdP5PBGQ