Delayed Gaga Over Gaga

Yesterday evening, my husband and I set out on our first date (sans children!) in 8 1/2 years, to watch Lady Gaga in action during 'Summerfest', at  Milwaukee's lakeside Marcus Amphitheater.

The leather jackets of late June in Milwaukee, WI - the home of Harley and Buell

I am a great fan of the Lady, as she is original, unapologetically self-proclaimed weird, and a passionate perfectionist...not to mention compassionate, empowering, and inspirational. I personally was expecting high standards and to be honest, I wasn't disappointed by Gaga herself. Her show was energetic, arty cool, flamboyant, even kinda touching (when she played the piano and sang 'Born This Way' with heart, legs splayed, with no other accompaniment)...ok, that sentence didn't quite turn out the way it should have...

 

Yet, my husband and I left an hour into the show quite disappointed - not with her performance - but with her sense of punctuality .
 

So, the show was scheduled for 7:30 p.m. on June 26th 2014. We hurried to the venue an hour in advance, as we had read of long queues, milling crowds, parking nightmares, etc. - none of which we encountered in the mighty fine Midwestern city of Milwaukee.

The infamous scalloped bra...

We had great seats - the best seats, in fact - about 50 feet from the stage and at a higher elevation. Perfect. Throngs walked up and down the aisles cheering their fellow audience members, braving the 50 degree chill and the fog rolling in from the lake abutting the amphitheater. And so we all sat, shivering and waiting for Godot as it were, and slowly going gaga.

 

Crayon Pop, the helmet-wearing Korean girl band opening act, were fairly entertaining, saccharine sweet, eager to please...Their music was a mix of dance, disco, techno...I suppose 'bubblegum pop' would be a fairly apt description. They gave it their all, bravely attempted to speak American with clarity, and bopped off 45 mins later.

Crayon Pop

Then came Lady Starlight (who could pass off as Gaga's twin). She was very cool and edgy, wore a deep blue mini dress with a sailor collar, and played club beats on her Roland, jerking spasmodically. She was clearly into the music and enjoying herself. Her crinkly eyes and smile were infectious. For a while. The crowd danced occasionally when they could (note - they were anywhere between the ages of 13 and 70, many of them tottering about resolutely for their star).

 

One of our neighbors, a pudgy lady in her 60's, dressed in a sequined top, black leather leggings, and black kitten heels shook her Mohawk and creaked about in stern camaraderie. The audience was as colorful as the much anticipated entertainment...In fact, with their costumes and wisecracks, they provided better entertainment than the opening acts. 

 

After 45 mins of drum beats, Lady Starlight turned boring as well. The swirling club lights, flashing spots, and occasional pink and green laser displays grew jaded. My elderly neighbors were actually yawning and set us off too. Security kept promising us that Gaga would open at 8pm, then 830, and finally 9pm (!). Alas. My husband and I realized at that point that we would have to leave midway, as our kids were home with a babysitter.
 

So, when Lady Starlight bowed out, the crowd breathed a sigh of relief that went up like a nimbus cloud in the freezing cold. Lady Gaga didn't disappoint - she was right there in our faces at 9:30 p.m. - "G.U.Y.!" - with her incredible vocals, style, flamboyance, and totally cool song and dance show with flashy fit dancers, spandex, balloons, gyrations, squid suits...and expletives...lots of them in a vain attempt to wake up the audience.



Mama Monster...Note the alien orb on her chest.

And yet, the crowd (including the mosh pit) drooped from end-of-day tiredness (it was a weekday after all), from having had too much to eat and drink, and from the biting cold. If Gaga had indeed moved fast through the opening acts (45 minutes each) and started at a warmer 8:30 or 9:00 p.m., many would have moved to her beat, instead of standing frozen in a state of near hypothermia, hugging themselves in the frosty night.

The domed, tentacle-ridden, Santorini style set.

An hour into her show, at about 10:30 p.m., many of the 35+ crowd walked out with us, presumably home to their children. As we were making our way to the doors, we could hear Gaga's impassioned commands, "Raise all your mobile phones, you fucking crazy kids!", "You are beautiful babies! And do you know what beautiful babies get? They get to have a fucking good time!" Ho hum. Well, good night darling. When the mobile phones come out, you know exactly what level of interest your show has garnered, even in this day and age when mobile phones are practically attached to everyone's hands.

 

You know, Lady Gaga, you are one artist who commands a DIVERSE fan base. As a Mama Monster, YOU should know better than all others that your fans and admirers make a great effort to attend your shows. Your fans come from all walks of life (we even spotted Gruber of Gruber Law there - yes, the "One call, that's all!" guy), and from all age, income, class and lifestyle groups. Don't you think you should respect their time, interest, and love for you by starting your show somewhat on time? You are a world-class professional for whom we pay top dollar. Carelessness is something I'd expect from someone shallow...but not you.
 

Although my husband and I enjoyed ourselves very much indeed, and indeed have wonderful memories of the show, we were disappointed by the wait. Seriously.

 

I was especially put off as I had made the choice between Motley Crue (with Alice Cooper) and yourself, simply because my husband would have preferred your youthful entertaining show rather than to have watched a bunch of grandpas belt out a headbanger's ball (that I personally wouldn't have minded at all, actually).
 

I continue to believe in you and your originality. Just don't be terribly late again please.

 

For those interested in watching Gaga - I'm sure this particular show was a one-off...so I would give it a 3/5 rating. I believe the general response to Gaga concerts has traditionally been phenomenal...
 

Bottomline: The show itself was great throughout. The songs were all from her latest album Artpop, but snatches of several earlier hits were sung as well (Telephone, Bad Romance, Poker Face, to name a few). It was still worth braving the cold for, although I would opt for an indoor performance the next time. Let's face it, I am growing older and would like more predictability in my life. I don't want to attend a concert and face pneumonia the next day.