Lady Gaga’s Mayhem Ball Takes New York: 8/23 Concert Review

Lady Gaga’s theatrical, macabre, and spectacular 2.5-hour show at Madison Square Garden on Saturday night truly showcased the artist’s spark, spunk, and mastery of storytelling.

The sold-out concert, one of several MAYHEM Ball tour dates in Gaga’s New York City home turf, highlighted the artist’s provocative stylings, lyrical depth, and expansive vocal prowess. The show, which featured five “acts,” showcased Gaga’s big hits, with emphasis on songs from her most recent album, Mayhem. The artist also played a handful of cherished B-sides, including “Killah” and “How Bad Do U Want Me?”

And while summarizing the show’s most impactful moments is near-impossible task given the immensity of MAYHEM Ball’s production (including 20 dancers and a full band), it’s fair to say that not one concert goer in the heavily Gaga-cosplayed crowd left the night disappointed. For me and the three other mom friends (Gaga diehards) who attended the show together, the night was one for the books.

Kicking off her set with “Bloody Mary,” her 2011 hit made famous in the more recent first season of the Netflix hit show Wednesday, Gaga entered the main stage like figurine atop an oversize, red-draped wedding cake. And as she crooned, “dance, dance, dance” in the song’s pre-chorus, the draperies of the red cake pulled back to reveal half of her dancers writhing in a life-size cage, their flailing hands reaching past the bars, frantically outwards..

It was a very Les Miserables moment that truly set the tone for a show Gaga that aptly subtitled, “The Art of Personal Chaos.”

While Gaga’s music doesn’t need a Broadway production to sound great, the magnitude of effort the artist and her team infused into each number — from the symbolic choreography, elaborate props, and costume changes to the constant presence of a crimson-coated, talon-nailed “shadow” self — felt epic.

And while it’s hard to pick a single notable moment, a few song treatments stood out:

• The ballad “Shallow” from A Star is Born, which Lady Gaga sung solo while riding in a Venetian gondola with her shadow self;
• The moment she took to the piano to play “Marry the Night” and gave a shoutout to her vocal coach
• The epic feel of the power ballad “Paparazzi,” during which Gaga trudged down the stage ramp in crutches, trailed by a white, billowy cape that eventually served as the conduit for a rainbow of light.
• Gaga hanging out in the sandbox grave filled with human skeletons during “Perfect Celebrity”
• The triumphant dance off during “Born this Way”
• A Frankenstein-worthy vignette where Gaga twitched beneath a white sheet before being brought back to life for “Bad Romance.”

Gaga’s longtime backing band – including guitarist Tim Stewart; Brockett Parson (keys); Ricky Tillo (guitar); Tosh Peterson (drums/percussion), and Eric Ingram (keys) — also played a visible role throughout (sometimes accompanying her, while she played electric guitar onstage). Notably, even though Gaga is 39, she fully kept pace with younger backup dancers, all while belting out choruses and evoking her most dramatic self.

As expected, the moments that were most poignant came during the show’s closing. Gaga had just wrapped up “Bad Romance” and exited to a screaming audience, when a video of the artist wiping off all her makeup while donning a skullcap appeared. That moment sparked the “encore,” as Gaga wove through the backstage area, gathering dancers to share the spotlight ight before she and her dancers made their way back to the stage for a musical sendoff.

As she laid on the floor at one point, between songs, clearly soaking it all in, I felt seen. It’s hard to appreciate the serendipity of where you are, and to enjoy the big, powerful moments when they happen. But Gaga’s concert was a clear reminder to do just that, at least for me.