well, in today's entry, i'm going to give a multifaceted review of Lady Gaga's concert appearance in okc yesterday. although this blog will primarily be a lifestyle, leisure, and political mouthpiece for Tulsans, i'm reasonably sure that enough of Tulsa was at, or wanted to be at this show.
to start off, i'm only going to briefly mention that the westboro baptist church was there in protest of the show, but Gaga fans were not phased by them, and they were at best a non issue. so, i will not fill up this post talking about how much i abhor the hate message they've created surrounding an (ideally) loving figure. thanks concert goers for showing tact and class.
now, on to the opening band: Semi Precious Weapons
Semi Precious Weapons hearkens back to a time when rock lead singers were overtly feminine in appearance yet ultra-masculine in demeanor (think Queen or Poison) instead of androgynous on the outside and whiny little bitch tarts who cut themselves because girls like men. they are unabashedly rock and roll. in fact, at one point in the show, lead singer Justin Tranter begs parent chaperons not to hate them for showing their children real rock and roll, but to love them for the education.
the music was raw, but danceable. i found myself torn about actually liking the band, however, even with all the praise i could give. there wasn't a lot of band cohesion; the other members could have been studio musicians steeped in grunge-era licks. Tranter is the real star here . . . actually in some band pics, the other members were cardboard cutouts of his face as masks. to be fair, their is nothing really fundamentally wrong with this. most bands have a runaway star. i only know Freddie Mercury in Queen or Brett Michaels in Poison, so i guess the examples hold true.
Tranter was an interesting spectacle to watch. he actually performed a live, uncovered full body costume change on stage, so i'm told. to be honest, i missed that part because i was in a beer line. this news comes from my girlfriend, Stephanie. he had amazing heels on with a sleeveless top and leggings for a majority of the show.
the most memorable line from their whole performance comes from the first song (they think it's memorable too, i think they put it on a t-shirt): "i can't pay my rent, but i'm fucking gorgeous." thanks to Lady Gaga playing them lip service (apparently they got their starts in the same NYC glam club scene), i doubt the line is true now.
on to Gaga (the real reason we all went):
as high as the ticket prices were (close to $100 dollars each, even in the ultra cheap parts of the balcony), i expected an eventful show and was not disappointed. i want to break the show down and go into a few aspects of the show that i found stunning or newsworthy.
concept:
the concert as a whole was actually conceptualized as one entity, complete with a loosely branching over story. as i understood it (did i mention loose??!), Gaga and a group of her friends heard about a party called The Monster Ball, where everyone was free to be exactly who they wanted to be. they decide to go, but in the first scene, their car breaks down. they instead take the subway, but take a wrong turn and are lost in central park. a tornado comes, carrying Gaga and crew to a very dark place. Gaga's friends become scared leaving her alone, when a monster (looking like a cross between an angler fish and an octopus) comes in an attempt to eat her. she manages to be freed (honestly, i didn't get the rest), and i think by the encore arrive at The Monster Ball (which may or may not have been some sort of meta reference to the concert itself). this is the first themed show that i've ever been to, and i found it to be a successful and creative way to give cohesion to the song list. the show became campy at times, but i'm reasonably sure that was intentional.
visuals:
i have to give it to the designers in Haus of Gaga for having some really stunning eye candy here. the sets were amazing (Steph and i absolutely loved the central park scene) and the outfits were a great mix of the recent-Gaga weirdness and the early Gaga flesh = sexy. i had two favorite outfits (one for each category). the first, and former, being an outfit after she emerges from the twister that actually had animatronic pieces (wings and leg coverings moved on their own) it was an all silver metallic angel getup that sent an image of a Victoria's Secret runway show in the year 2334. My favorite sex sells outfit would have to be the outfit worn in "Show me your Teeth." It was simple: panties, corset, and lots of fake blood. That one showed me what it would look like if The Flaming Lips had a sexy lead singer.
it wasn't all about costumes and set pieces though. one of the best parts of the visual experience happened while Gaga wasn't on stage at all. with such elaborate sets and costumes, there had to be several intermissions. these were filled with really good dance beats and videos directed by Haus of Gaga djs and cinematographers. the video before "Show me your Teeth" featured Gaga and text graphic asking the audience to "get their paws up." badass.
sounds:
the vocals were spot on. her voice is just perfect live. the music didn't sound like the radio edits and there was a healthy mix of live instruments to keep things interesting. it's sad, but sound will be my shortest section and this is the review of a concert.
message:
Gaga's message was pretty clear to anyone watching. Love yourself. Love everyone around you. Be yourself and have fun. it's a pretty simple message but to hear all the ways that she talks about, especially dealing with the LGBT community (who is a big support structure for her blossoming career) really felt genuine and tugged on my heart strings. at one point, she is lying on the stage in heavy fog, drenched in blood, and asks the audience to scream for her. she very candidly looks out into the audience after and says that she finds she abuses this section of the concert because she wasn't well liked in high school.
a portion of the concert's funding (i believe it's $20k a show) goes to Re*generation, an outreach organization who caters to LGBT homeless who have been cast out of their homes by parents who refuse to accept their children. it's clear that she struggles with acceptance herself and has built an organization using her less successful friends to give them opportunities on the road.
she seems to be emulating a very Andy Warhol-esque career. She's an artist with a designing loft in NYC, making pop art, with her hands in fashion, design, filmography, and rock and roll (a Velvet Underground reference, mayhap). I look forward to more work from the Haus of Gaga and hope to see more blossoming stars come out from under her shiny, metallic, sequined wings.
official afterparty:
wanted to briefly mention the afterparty. it was held at rok bar, the older sibling to Tulsa's pink. the guest dj was alright. his spinning was definitely better than the fare at pink. the songs weren't 15 seconds of top forty, then another ad nausium. the club was just as douchey, but i had a good time. that might have had something to do with $3 dollar red bull and vodkas, though.
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