Nobody does theatre like Gaga. Performing the first of two sold out nights at Manchester’s Co-op live, the singer treated fans to a SHOW from start to finish. It was Gaga’s first outing in Manchester in 11 years for the 39-year-old megastar… and boy was it worth the wait. Opening with Bloody Mary and Abracadabra, the tone was set for the night, one of gothic glam and full drama. There were costumes aplenty throughout, from corpse brides to skeletons to plague doctors. There were dancers, there was vogueing, there were pyrotechnics, there was a skull the size of a one bedroom flat in London. There was even a boat. The whole thing was incredibly carefully curated chaos – and I loved every single second.
Gaga threw everything at us in the name of entertainment – and entertain us she did. When it comes to the art of performance, nobody does it better. There was plenty of new material in there, this being the Mayhem Ball, named so after her latest album, with Disease, Perfect Celebrity and Vanish Into You and more. But there was more than enough oldies to give fans what they wanted – the hits.
They came, one by one, veritable wrecking balls of pop: Poker Face, My only complaint of the night was that she only sang half of Just Dance. But with a 32 song strong setlist, there had to be some casualties. Edge of Glory was another. With a fanbase (her ‘Little Monsters’) heavily rooted in the LGBTQ+ community, Gaga dedicated Born This Way to them, and brought the house down. An encore of Bad Romance was also a highlight.
As the show drew through its latter half, the pace slowed for a beautiful performance of Million Reasons, Shallow, Die With A Smile and Speechless. While Gaga’s vocals had been on point throughout, of course, hearing just her voice along with the piano she played allowed them to truly shine. Just incredible.
Also amazing was the way the show ended, removing her costumes and make-up, and wearing a simple black tshirt dress and hat over her natural hair, Gaga sang How Bad Do You Want Me, taking a well-earned bow with her dancers at the end.
There was probably a deeper meaning behind this, as well as the entire story arc of the show. But I’d let go of trying to figure it out a while back and let the show wash over me like a shower of serotonin. Flawless, frenetic, high camp theatre from start to finish – a lesson in pop perfection. Let’s just hope we don’t have to wait 11 more years for her return.