In an interview with "Rolling Stone", Gaga explained that she wanted to put together an expensive looking, beautiful show which would be affordable for her fans. She asserted that the tour was a "pop-electro opera" because the theatrics and the story elements interwoven in it were played like an opera. According to her, the design of the show was innovative and forward in terms of creativeness. Gaga wanted to change the shape of the stage and designed one with Haus of Gaga that was "essentially a frame with forced perspective, and the frame is put inside the stage." The stage had a triangular inset, like a diamond, and everywhere the show took place, the dimensions were measured in such a way that the box fit any stage.
Original concept
The Monster Ball Tour
The Monster Ball Tour | Original concept
The musician wanted to put together an expensive looking, beautiful show which would be affordable for her fans - the tour was a "pop-electro opera". The show revolved around themes of evolution, as well as her paranoias represented on "The Fame Monster". The show revolved around themes of evolution, as well as her paranoias represented on "The Fame Monster". Gaga explained that she wanted to put together an expensive looking, beautiful show which would be affordable for her fans.
what is the meaning of the song alejandro
user
The song bids farewell to her lovers.
assistant
whose song is it?
user
Lady Gaga
assistant
was it a single release or part of any album?
user
It was part of her third EP, "The Fame Monster".
assistant
where was it performed live?
user
Yes, she performed at The Monster Ball Tour.
assistant
did it perform well on charts?
user
It debuted at number 72 on the "Billboard" Hot 100 for the issue dated April 17, 2010; debuted on the Mainstream Top 40 chart at number 35, and the Hot Digital Songs chart at number 71.
assistant
what is this above tour you mentioned just?
user
It was the second worldwide concert tour by Lady Gaga.
assistant
where did it take place?
user
Montreal
assistant
was it broadcasted anywhere?
user
Yes, it aired on HBO
assistant
what was its actual concept?
user
The revamp of the tour was planned from the arena shows in the United Kingdom from February 2010. "My team thinks I'm completely psychotic. But I don't fucking care what they think. [...] Well, just to give you an idea, the stage is about four times the size of the one we're on now and conceptually, it's completely different. One thing that has been lost over the past 10-15 years, in pop music, is the idea of showbiz. And this is definitely going to bring that back", clarified Gaga. According to James Montgomery of MTV, the show recalled the film musicals "The Wizard of Oz" (1939) and "West Side Story" (1961), the science-fiction film "Metropolis" (1927), and the television mini-series "Angels in America" (2003).
The Monster Ball Tour | Revamped concept
She's a hybrid from all these other instruments." During an interview on KISS-FM with Ryan Seacrest, on his show "On Air with Ryan Seacrest", Gaga explained that the concert tour was still called Monster Ball, but it had become more of a musical and less of a concert. It had a New York theme at its core; telling a story where Gaga and her friends traveled to the Monster Ball, but got lost.
The Monster Ball Tour | Revamped concept
"So no matter where I go, my fans get the same experience. So often you go into theaters and there's ambient light flying in from all sorts of places, and the audience is in different spots, and the stage is in different shapes and lengths and widths and depths, so this is a way for me to control all the light and all of the different elements of the show", she added. The show revolved around themes of evolution, as well as her paranoias represented on "The Fame Monster". While developing the tour Gaga spoke about original sin and demons inside human beings; "So we talked about growth, and that led us into this kind of scientific space, and we started talking about evolution and the evolution of humanity and how we begin as one thing, and we become another." This theme of monsters and evolution played a part in the fashion for the tour, which according to Gaga was "another level from where we were with the Fame Ball.
The Monster Ball Tour | Original concept
In December 2009, Gaga revealed that she planned to cancel the concept of the original shows of The Monster Ball Tour and start afresh. She felt that the revamp of the show was needed as the original tour was constructed in a very short span of time. Gaga recalled that after West and she split up for this tour, she was unsure if she could get a show together in time, but nevertheless wanted to promote "The Fame Monster". Hence she was able to put together "something that, in truth, I never would have done if I had a longer amount of time".
The Monster Ball Tour | Revamped concept
The stage of the original show looked like a frame, comparable to that of a hollowed-out television set. Since "The Fame Monster" dealt with the paranoias Gaga had faced, the main theme of the original shows became human evolution, while elements of the canceled tour with West were still included in some parts. From 2010 onwards, the revamped shows had a New York theme and portrayed a story set in the city, where Gaga and her friends got lost and had to find their way to "the Monster Ball". Both versions of the show were divided into five segments, with the last being the encore.
The Monster Ball Tour | Introduction
In an interview with "Rolling Stone", Gaga explained that she wanted to put together an expensive looking, beautiful show which would be affordable for her fans. She asserted that the tour was a "pop-electro opera" because the theatrics and the story elements interwoven in it were played like an opera. According to her, the design of the show was innovative and forward in terms of creativeness. Gaga wanted to change the shape of the stage and designed one with Haus of Gaga that was "essentially a frame with forced perspective, and the frame is put inside the stage." The stage had a triangular inset, like a diamond, and everywhere the show took place, the dimensions were measured in such a way that the box fit any stage.
The Monster Ball Tour | Original concept
During an interview with London's 95.8 Capital FM radio station, Gaga further elaborated on the changes in the show. She said that the show was constructed like a piece of musical theater. It also incorporated a number of contemporary and old musical pieces, some of them being re-recorded specifically for the show itself. A new keytar was constructed for the show and was named Emma. The instrument was created by the Haus of Gaga and the singer said, "We have this new instrument that I brought to the Brits tonight, 'Emma', which is what I was playing on the stage.
The Monster Ball Tour | Revamped concept
The stage of the original show looked like a frame, comparable to that of a hollowed-out television set. Since "The Fame Monster" dealt with the paranoias Gaga had faced, the main theme of the original shows became human evolution, while elements of the canceled tour with West were still included in some parts. From 2010 onward, the revamped shows had a New York theme and portrayed a story set in the city, where Gaga and her friends got lost and had to find their way to "the Monster Ball". Both versions of the show were divided into five segments, with the last being the encore.
Lady Gaga Presents the Monster Ball Tour: At Madison Square Garden | Background
The more her image gets around, the better Lady Gaga does."
The Monster Ball Tour | Original show
She brought spectacle and backed it up with soul." "The Guardian" journalist Alexis Petridis reviewed the opening show of the European leg, and commented that "it takes a certain je ne sais quoi to open your show doing something that looks suspiciously like mime on a rickety metal staircase while wearing an outfit with shoulderpads the size of the deck on a small aircraft carrier."
The Monster Ball Tour | Revamped show
[...] It's going to be a truly artistic experience that is going to take the form of the greatest post-apocalyptic house party that you've ever been to." Although Gaga stated that she was inspired by the things she and West were doing with the Fame Kills tour, she concluded that she did not want to use any of the things that they had designed together. Later, she said that Fame Kills was "the great lost tour", but confirmed that some of the elements of it were incorporated into The Monster Ball. In an interview with MTV News, Gaga further described the tour:
The Monster Ball Tour | Original concept
The 5.1 surround sound of the release utilized DTS-HD Master Audio and new technology to provide the viewer an optimum experience of watching the live concert. Emphasis was given on the main music and the vocals sung during the concert, while adjusting them against the screaming and the cheering of the crowd. The release was a commercial success, reaching the top of the DVD charts in the United States, France and Italy and the top-ten in other nations. It received double platinum certifications in Australia and France, while in the United Kingdom, it was certified gold.
The Monster Ball Tour | Broadcast and recordings
HBO filmed a special of The Monster Ball Tour during Gaga's February 2011 shows at Madison Square Garden in New York City. Documenting the whole concert with intersperses of backstage footage, "", aired in May and was released on DVD and Blu-ray on November 21, 2011.
The Monster Ball Tour | Introduction
James Montogomery from MTV reviewed the concert at San Diego and said that "[Gaga] powered through and turned the San Diego Sports Arena into a raucous, delightfully raw discotheque." Writing for the "Las Vegas Sun", Joe Brown observed that "Lady Gaga out-Cher-ed Cher, made Cirque du Soleil and Britney's 'Circus Tour' look like county fair carnivals, and made New Year's Eve in Las Vegas anticlimactic." "Los Angeles Times" writer Ann Powers avouched that the tour was "an invigoratingly ambitious show, executed with vigor by its star and her expressive dancers." Jon Pareles from "The New York Times" said that the tour always provided "something worth a snapshot: a sci-fi tableau, perhaps, or a skimpy, glittery costume.
The Monster Ball Tour | Original show
The contraption was designed by Nasir Mazhar in collaboration with Gaga's own creative production company, Haus of Gaga. The tour's sponsor of the American leg was Virgin Mobile USA, who introduced the "Free I.P." program which offered free show tickets to fans who volunteered their time to homeless youth organizations.
The Monster Ball Tour | Background
HBO filmed a special of The Monster Ball Tour during Gaga's February 21–22, 2011 shows at Madison Square Garden. The special, titled "Lady Gaga Presents the Monster Ball Tour: At Madison Square Garden", aired on HBO on May 7, 2011 and Sky1 on May 21, 2011 in the United States and the United Kingdom respectively. Prime showed the special in New Zealand on June 2, 2011. The special showed the whole of the Monster Ball Tour, and some backstage footage, which was shown in black-and-white. It ended with another black-and-white backstage scene where Gaga and her backup singers perform "Born This Way" a capella.
The Monster Ball Tour | Broadcast and recordings
The show is set in and around a large medieval style castle, known as the "Kingdom of Fame" which rotates and manoeuvres throughout the show. A classical score accompanies the show's interludes, tying in with the show's dark, operatic theme. The show began with "Highway Unicorn (Road to Love)" accompanied by an extended intro, which Gaga performed while atop a fully puppeteer-ed horse, with a mechanical look, built by The Jim Henson Company, out of the three-story medieval castle prop. After the song, the stage went dark and spotlights were shone across the stage with a helicopter sound being played.
Born This Way Ball | Concert synopsis
Over the course of the next many months we're trying to play to as many people in as many places as possible", Fogel added. "It's an across the board home run." Demands increased and another additional six dates were added to the announced itinerary. The Monster Ball sold-out shows in Toronto, Vancouver and San Jose who were compelled to add second dates in each city. In Los Angeles, to ensure that concert goers had the best possible access to tickets, a second performance was announced prior to the onsale of the first shows, and both Staples Center concerts were completely sold out.
The Monster Ball Tour | Commercial reception
After revisions, the show was divided into four sections: "City", "Subway", "Forest", "Monster Ball" and concluded with an encore. It began with a projected video onto a curtain—which contained images of Gaga smoking a cigarette—while a club remix of "Dance in the Dark" played. Surrounded by violet light, her silhouette appeared on the curtain while she performed "Dance in the Dark". Once the curtain was removed and the chorus reached, the New York cityscape and neon lights were revealed. Gaga gyrated on the set dressed in a "futuristic, angular, glitter ball suit". After descending from her fire escape, she poked around in the hood of a dilapidated green Rolls Royce while performing "Glitter and Grease".
The Monster Ball Tour | Post-revisions
Semon was appreciative of the show, calling it "an out-of-this-world blast and end-of-the-world blow-out that must be seen to be believed." Rick Massimo, reviewing the concert for "The Providence Journal", wrote that as a musical theater, the Monster Ball was not that exciting, but "that leaves the music, and when you lay two hours of her songs end-to-end, it's easy to see the vision, the intelligence and a serious songwriting talent at work." Jay N. Miller from "The Enterprise" was impressed with the show, saying that the music was somewhere between industrial disco and house music with a rock edge, but "always danceable".
The Monster Ball Tour | Revamped show
[...] After [the show] at the Wang Theater, fans could justifiably walk away thinking Lady Gaga is crazy, brilliant or both." Jeremy Adams from "Rolling Stone" reviewed the performance at Wang Center in Boston and said that "Throughout the evening, Gaga [..] aimed for a kind of pop theatricality that might potentially cement her burgeoning status as performance artist." Aidin Vaziri of "San Francisco Chronicle" said that "During her 90-minute performance—not so much a live concert as a meticulously choreographed spectacle—Lady Gaga also evoked Kanye West with the futuristic set, Britney Spears in her heavy-lidded stage movements, Courtney Love with her interminable between-song monologues highlighted by four-letter squelches and—who else?—Madonna for, oh, just about everything else." Jim Harrington from "San Jose Mercury News" felt that the show would have been better technically if around thirty minutes were lessened from it.
The Monster Ball Tour | Original show
The singer felt that the design would allow her creative control. Since the album dealt with the paranoias faced by Gaga over the year, the main theme of the show became evolution, with Gaga portraying growth as the show progressed. The set list consisted of songs from both "The Fame" and "The Fame Monster". For the 2010 shows, Gaga felt that a revamp was needed as the original tour was constructed in a very short span of time. The new theme narrated a story where Gaga and her friends, traveling through New York, get lost while going to the Monster Ball.
The Fame Monster | The Monster Ball Tour
The five nominations were among the 104 HBO received for 2011; it made up over one-fifth of the total nominations. The special also received a nomination at the 2012 Dorian Awards in the category of "TV Musical Program of the Year".
Lady Gaga Presents the Monster Ball Tour: At Madison Square Garden | Release and reception
He stated that "One of the best things about this concert is despite its artifice, even its artificiality, there's absolutely no question that Lady Gaga is actually singing. What a novel idea for a live concert, and one that seemed especially refreshing after having just sat through the "" concert Blu-ray, where Brit's live voice was all but buried in the pre-records."
Lady Gaga Presents the Monster Ball Tour: At Madison Square Garden | Development
The show was divided into five segments with the last one being the encore. Each segment featured Gaga in a new dress and was followed by a video interlude to the next one. The tour grossed an estimated US$227.4 million from 200 reported shows attended by an audience of 2.5 million, making it the highest grossing trek by a debut headlining artist. A was filmed by HBO during Gaga's February 2011 shows at Madison Square Garden in New York City.
The Fame Monster | The Monster Ball Tour
Emphasis was given on the main music and the vocals sung during the concert, while adjusting them against the screaming and the cheering of the crowd. The release was a commercial success, reaching the top of the music DVD charts in the United States, France and Italy and the top-ten in other nations. It received double Platinum certifications in Australia and France, while in the United Kingdom, it was certified Gold.
Lady Gaga Presents the Monster Ball Tour: At Madison Square Garden | Introduction
They reported that the tour had grossed US$116 million from 122 shows, with an audience of 1.3 million. By the end of the year, Pollstar announced that the tour had earned a total of US$133.6 million from 138 shows, making her the only woman to be placed in their list of the Top 10 Tours of 2010.
The Monster Ball Tour | Commercial reception
After "LoveGame", she talks a monologue about the year "3009". And says that "The kids came out of New York and shot the paparazzi." followed by saying "It was a thousand years before when the monster first entered the city, vanished for our hearts and for our brains and for our faces (referencing to the three video interludes of the tour)" and "we knew we could co-exist with this monster with our MUSIC!!! With our art and with our fashion. My name is Lady Gaga." and tells the crowd she feels "beautiful and dirty rich" and sang "Beautiful, Dirty, Rich".
The Fame Ball Tour | Concert synopsis
For every coat made of Kermit the Frog dolls or headdresses that covered her face in red lace, there was a stomping disco anthem or tender piano ballad to match. That back and forth is the centerpiece of her Monster Ball Tour." Dan Aquilante from the "New York Post" was critical of the show, calling it "scripted, silly, and tired, right down to Gaga's patter." He added that the 15 costumes Gaga wore during the two-hour plus gig were "more successful helping her cement the notion of an erotic and exotic otherworld." Writing in the "Telegram & Gazette", Craig S.
The Monster Ball Tour | Revamped show
Riordan remembered that the main difficulty was trying to preserve the "craziness" of the audience and Gaga's fans, and their screaming during the concert, nevertheless make the music of the show primary. His team used Lossy which did not use compression, instead one-to-one audio mixing giving the whole sound system "much more of an impactful experience". Riordan decided to engineer the concert sound as "center-channeled" since Gaga did not use backing audio, resulting in the listener getting the whole impact of her vocals, when listened with a headphone. Other difficulty faced by team included converting the heavy production of Gaga's songs to a live format and utilizing the singer's bands.
Lady Gaga Presents the Monster Ball Tour: At Madison Square Garden | Development
On review aggregate website Metacritic, the special holds a rating of 81 out of 100 based on four critic reviews, indicating "universal acclaim". Jed Gottlieb of the "Boston Herald" wrote, "[B]etween the orgy of visuals—stripper strobes, androgynous dancers and a very loose, X-rated 'Wizard of Oz' theme—we get some great song and dance numbers: 'Poker Face', 'Paparazzi' and 'Bad Romance'. These are amazing hits, club-thumping tracks that define joy and sadness for a generation of suburban teens and the urban disenfranchised." However, he felt that the show's non-concert content was not genuine, and found the special to be similar to Madonna's 1991 documentary "".
Lady Gaga Presents the Monster Ball Tour: At Madison Square Garden | Release and reception
Credits adapted from "Lady Gaga Presents the Monster Ball Tour: At Madison Square Garden" DVD booklet.
Lady Gaga Presents the Monster Ball Tour: At Madison Square Garden | Credits and personnel
Ball stated in an interview:
Six Feet Under (TV series) | Concept
"Lady Gaga Presents the Monster Ball Tour: At Madison Square Garden" was released on DVD and Blu-ray on November 21, 2011, and was also released as a digital download to iTunes Store. In addition to the content of the original HBO broadcast, it includes new, previously-unseen footage. The video is also a part of a bundled package—along with the 17-track special edition of "Born This Way" and a remix album, ""—titled "Born This Way, The Collection", which was released the same day. "Lady Gaga Presents the Monster Ball Tour: At Madison Square Garden" was captured with a 14-camera High Definition shoot.
Lady Gaga Presents the Monster Ball Tour: At Madison Square Garden | Development
After its broadcast, the special received critical acclaim; critics praised Gaga's performance, but doubted her sincerity during her on-stage rambling and in pre-concert scenes. The special was nominated for five honors at the 63rd Primetime Emmy Awards: Outstanding Variety, Music or Comedy Special; Outstanding Directing for a Variety, Music or Comedy Special; Outstanding Technical Direction, Camerawork, Video Control for a Miniseries, Movie or a Special; Outstanding Picture Editing for a Special (Single or Multi-Camera); and Outstanding Lighting Design/Lighting Direction for a Variety, Music or Comedy Special. A video album was released for the special and includes extra footage like a capella performances and photo gallery.
The Monster Ball Tour | Broadcast and recordings
When he returned onstage, he pulled the plugs off of their instrument amplifiers and stormed offstage without performing an encore. The rest of the band left the stage afterward.
Beautiful Monsters Tour | Tour
The Blu-ray edition of the video album is presented in an aspect ratio of , encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and grants a 1080i transfer. It contains two audio tracks DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 and LPCM 2.0. According to Jim Belcher, Vice President for Advanced Technology and Production of Universal Music Group, the advanced technologies associated with Dolby DTS-HD would allow the audience the best experience while viewing the DVD. Brian Riordan, one of the engineers who worked on mastering the audio for the DVD described in a video interview with "Rolling Stone" how the mix was achieved. He recalled getting a call from one of the show's producers who were looking for specialized sound arrangements to acquire an authentic live concert feeling for the release.
Lady Gaga Presents the Monster Ball Tour: At Madison Square Garden | Development
It went on to appreciate Gaga's vocals and the fact that she did not lip-synch, as well as the hurried costume changes, while commending the "raw" nature of the show. Paul Schrodt of Slant Magazine was more critical in his review, though he gave it a 2.5 star (out of 4) rating. While he positively called Gaga's performances outrageous and "occasionally fierce", he questioned Gaga's authenticity, both on stage and in the pre-concert scenes. Ultimately, he wrote, "Unsurprisingly, HBO's "Lady Gaga Presents the Monster Ball Tour: At Madison Square Garden" raises more questions about Stefani Germanotta (Gaga's birth name) than it answers, which is probably as it should be." Radio host Howard Stern also compared the black-and-white scenes of the special to "Madonna: Truth or Dare", adding that when he darts a glance at Lady Gaga, she is occasionally registered in his brain as Madonna.
Lady Gaga Presents the Monster Ball Tour: At Madison Square Garden | Release and reception
The original version of the tour was acclaimed by critics. Jane Stevenson from "Toronto Sun" gave the concert four out of five stars and said that Lady Gaga came across as a "confident, colourful, and campy performer. [...] Gaga's success was evident with slick-looking videos, lights, elaborate costumes, dancers, and yes, a band, even if her stage was sometimes left dark as she left to make numerous changes." T'Cha Dunlevy for "The Gazette" noted that the performance was lacking—adding that the show never reached its peak until the end, when Gaga performed the "real rendition" of "Poker Face" and "Bad Romance." "Better late than never", Dunlevy concluded.
The Monster Ball Tour | Original show
Williams presented his ideas, which included the Trabant lighting system and the placement of video monitors all over the stage; both notions were well received. Eno's original idea was to have the video screens on wheels and constantly in motion, although this was impractical. Williams and the group proposed many ideas that did not make it to the final stage design. One such proposal, dubbed "Motorway Madness", would have placed billboards advertising real products across the stage, similar to their placement beside highways. The idea was intended to be ironic, but was ultimately scrapped out of fear that the band would be accused of selling out.
Zoo TV Tour | Conception
Although overall plots and characters were created by Alan Ball, reports conflict on how the series was conceived. In one instance, Ball stated that he came up with the premise of the show after the deaths of his sister and father. However, in an interview, he intimates that HBO entertainment president Carolyn Strauss proposed the idea to him. In a copyright-infringement lawsuit, screenwriter Gwen O'Donnell asserted that she was the original source of the idea that later passed through Strauss to Ball; the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, proceeding on the assumption that this assertion was true, rejected her claim.
Six Feet Under (TV series) | Concept
The revamped concerts were also met with critical acclaim. Mark Savage from BBC Online reviewed the first of the revised performances in the United Kingdom. Savage described the concert as a hugely ambitious, terrifyingly loud show, "spread over four acts and held together by a flimsy 'narrative' about Gaga and her dancer friends trying to get to a party." He was also impressed that the entire spectacle was put together in just four weeks. MTV's James Montogomery reviewed the first North American performance of the tour in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. He said that the tour was "packed with more wattage than an overheated power plant and more costume changes than a thousand Vegas reviews, it's the kind of show that leaves you with wide eyes, ringing ears, aching limbs and absolutely zero chance of making it to work in the morning." "New York Daily News" writer Jim Farber expected that the theatricality of the show might have obscured the songs, but instead felt that Gaga's voice was perfect and the concert actually "pushed Gaga a long way towards her obvious goal – to be the queen of this pop moment." Glenn Gamboa from "Newsday" said that Gaga "built her monster-sized fame on knowing how to create a spectacle and then having the substance to back it up.
The Monster Ball Tour | Revamped show
Another proposed idea was to build a giant doll of an "achtung baby", complete with an inflatable penis that would spray on the audience, but it was deemed too expensive and was abandoned.
Zoo TV Tour | Conception
The special ends with another black-and-white backstage scene where Gaga and her backup singers perform "Born This Way" a capella.
Lady Gaga Presents the Monster Ball Tour: At Madison Square Garden | Content
The Monster Ball Tour was the second worldwide concert tour by American singer Lady Gaga. Staged in support of her extended play "The Fame Monster" (2009) and comprising a set list of songs from that and her debut album "The Fame" (2008), the tour visited arenas and stadiums from 2009 through 2011. Described as "the first-ever pop electro opera" by Gaga, the tour was announced in October 2009 after with rapper Kanye West was suddenly canceled. The Monster Ball Tour commenced four days after the release of "The Fame Monster" in November 2009. A revision of the tour occurred after only a few months of performances, due to Gaga's concern that the original version was constructed within a very short span of time.
The Monster Ball Tour | Introduction
During which, a giant silver disco ball illuminated the venue.
Golden Tour | Synopsis
The performance ended with the railing taking Gaga high above the stage, where she faked her death. This was followed by "Eh, Eh (Nothing Else I Can Say)" as she descended from the top—which signified her rebirth—amidst white lights and mechanical fog. She wore a giant gyroscope around her, akin to "The Orbit" by Haus of Gaga. The last song of the show was "Bad Romance" which she performed in an '80s-inspired white power suit with exaggerated high shoulders and high-waisted pants. The show ended with a video of Gaga getting a heart-shaped tattoo on her shoulder, with the word "Dad" in the center of it.
The Monster Ball Tour | Pre-revisions
On the revamped shows of The Monster Ball (2010–2011) "LoveGame" was introduced during the second act and featured a New York City subway car on stage from which Gaga and her dancers emerged. While wearing a revealing plastic dress and an exaggerated nun's habit, Gaga wielded the disco stick, which was modified to look like a torch.
LoveGame | Live performances
Each of them featured Gaga in new outfits, singing songs related to the concept of the segment, as they were followed by a video interlude. The tour received general critical acclaim, with critics praising Gaga's singing abilities, the theatricality of the show, and her sense of style and fashion. The Monster Ball was a commercial success, with sold-out shows and demand for tickets prompting organizers to add more dates to the itinerary. It ultimately grossed an estimated $227.4 million ($ million in dollars) from 200 reported shows and an audience of 2.5 million, becoming one of the highest-grossing tours of all time.
Lady Gaga Presents the Monster Ball Tour: At Madison Square Garden | Background
It was taken of The Monster Ball in early 2010.
Eh, Eh (Nothing Else I Can Say) | Live performances
Fireballs the size of car tires shot from the floor toward the ceiling during some performances. Two large video screens behind the main stage showed appropriate images during the performances; a virtually non-stop laser light show added to the oomph factor.
Watch the Throne Tour | Synopsis
Manson's performance, by contrast, utilized expensive pyrotechnics, elaborate props and set pieces as well as numerous costume changes. Much to Love's chagrin, the majority of concertgoers were Manson fans who were less interested in the Hole performance. The tour commenced, as scheduled, on February 28, 1999 at the Spokane Arena in Spokane, Washington. MTV reported that the inaugural show only sold 8,500 tickets, less than half of the arena's 18,000-person capacity. Monster Magnet's opening slot lasted 45 minutes and, as noted by MTV, displayed "the same energy that made them a hit on Rob Zombie's last US tour". During Hole's performance, Love joked with the audience between songs.
Beautiful Monsters Tour | Tour
Stern attempted to debunk that claim by arguing that Gaga takes potentially psychiatric problems of her audience lightly by urging her fans to "forget all of [their] insecurities" overnight. The special received five nominations at the 63rd Primetime Emmy Awards. It was nominated for Outstanding Variety, Music or Comedy Special; Outstanding Directing for a Variety, Music or Comedy Special; Outstanding Technical Direction, Camerawork, Video Control for a Miniseries, Movie or a Special; Outstanding Picture Editing for a Special (Single or Multi-Camera); and Outstanding Lighting Design/Lighting Direction for a Variety, Music or Comedy Special. It won the picture editing award and lost all of its other bids.
Lady Gaga Presents the Monster Ball Tour: At Madison Square Garden | Release and reception
Each of them featured Gaga in new outfits, singing songs related to the concept of the segment, as they were followed by a video interlude. The tour received positive reviews, with critics praising Gaga's singing abilities and the theatricality of the show. The Monster Ball was a commercial success, with extra demand for tickets prompting organizers to add multiple dates to the itinerary. It ultimately grossed an estimated US$227.4 million from 200 reported shows, attended by an audience of 2.5 million. At the 2010 "Billboard" Touring Awards, Gaga won the Breakthrough Performer Award, as well as the Concert Marketing & Promotion Award.
The Monster Ball Tour | Introduction
Until the next show started, you was also able to vote on the question via Facebook.
Eins gegen Eins | Concept
"You also have the crowd, the house going nuts and all the reverberations at Madison Square Garden, so it was really difficult for me to figure out globally how real, how dry, how punchy can we get this thing to sound", he added. Initially Riordan had featured more of the live instrumentation and mixed the songs a number of times, however felt that they needed a dry reverb hence he pondered on the mix along with co-producer coming to a consensus regarding the sound. According to Riordan, the mixing process was approved by Gaga who watched the cuts while travelling on the tour however, she did not ask Riordan to change anything, unlike previous projects the engineer had undertaken.
Lady Gaga Presents the Monster Ball Tour: At Madison Square Garden | Development
Across Europe, the DVD reached the top of the charts in France and Italy, the former region it was also certified double platinum by the Syndicat National de l'Édition Phonographique (SNEP) for shipment of 30,000 copies of the release. It reached the top-ten of the charts in other nations.
Lady Gaga Presents the Monster Ball Tour: At Madison Square Garden | Chart performance
The Monster Ball Tour was the second worldwide concert tour by Lady Gaga. Staged in support of her EP "The Fame Monster" (2009) and comprising a set list of songs from the EP and her debut album "The Fame" (2008), the tour visited arenas and stadiums from 2009 through 2011. Described as "the first-ever pop electro opera" by Gaga, the tour was announced in October 2009 after an intended with hip-hop artist Kanye West was suddenly canceled. The tour commenced four days after the release of "The Fame Monster" in November 2009. A revision of the tour occurred after only a few months of performances, due to Gaga's concern that the original version was constructed within a very short span of time.
Lady Gaga Presents the Monster Ball Tour: At Madison Square Garden | Background
The Monsters Tour was a comedy tour by British comedian Lee Evans which turned out to be his final tour before his retirement immediately after the end of the tour but Evans has returned to comedy. The tour visited: Bournemouth, Brighton, Nottingham, Sheffield, Birmingham, London, Manchester, Glasgow, Leeds, Aberdeen, Liverpool, Newcastle, Dublin, Belfast and Cardiff with tickets going on sale in late May 2013. The tour follows a fairly similar route to Evans' 2011 Roadrunner Tour. A live DVD was recorded at the NIA, Birmingham on Saturday 20 September with Lee receiving a standing ovation following the finale.
Monsters Tour | Introduction
in February 2011 for another run of U.S. dates. The 2011 dates for the North American Monster Ball Tour were announced as starting from February 19 in Atlantic City, with ten arena dates confirmed through April 18. Additional shows were announced, and Semi Precious Weapons collaborated with Gaga until the tour ended. Live Nation Entertainment's global touring division, headed by chairman Arthur Fogel, held the reins as promoter/producer of the Monster Ball tour. Fogel commented on Gaga's lack of experience in a tour and said that it was an opportunity for her. "As an artist with that kind of talent and vision emerges, it creates a lot of excitement, and ticket sales worldwide demonstrate that people are really excited to see the show.
The Monster Ball Tour | Commercial reception
They played in Japan for the first time since 2006 in October 2013. The new stage show, first used in the European leg, involved a giant robotic spider that moved across the stage and all four members were lifted into the air. The spider shot pyro from its legs and had eyes that glowed. In the tour program for the band's final tour, Simmons reflected on the tour:
Monster World Tour (Kiss) | Introduction
It took over fifteen trailers—which measured fifty-three feet in length—to move the castle onto the stage. The area enclosed by the catwalk was described by Gaga as "The Monster Pit". "The Monster Pit is General Admission only, and Little Monsters [...] unlock it when they arrive to the arena or stadium. Entry to The Monster Pit is relegated [...] to the fans who have arrived first, waited all night, [...] dressed to 'Ball.' Every night Haus of Gaga will choose fans from The Monster Pit to come back stage and meet me! These tickets are not more expensive. No dress code requirement.
Born This Way Ball | Background and development
While discussing the structure to support the centralized PA system, Williams recalled a statement Bono made on the Zoo TV Tour about having a "secret fantasy to play a show underneath a set of gigantic golden arches". So the design was changed to feature a 100-foot (30-m) parabolic arch supporting the PA in the center of the stage. To further develop the concept, Fisher drew a version of the concert stage transformed into a supermarket, which later appeared in the "Pop" album artwork.
PopMart Tour | Set design
"Lady Gaga Presents the Monster Ball Tour: At Madison Square Garden" was filmed at Madison Square Garden in Gaga's hometown of New York City, the two-hour special was directed by the singer's choreographer Laurieann Gibson and produced by HBO, with the first broadcast on the channel on May 7, 2011, a day after Gaga's last date of The Monster Ball Tour. The channel had released a trailer for the special in YouTube and a poster in their website, which showed Gaga with her characteristic pyrotechnic bra emitting sparks. According to "Billboard", the special was watched by 1.2 million viewers. The special received critical acclaim.
Lady Gaga Presents the Monster Ball Tour: At Madison Square Garden | Release and reception
To redesign the stage for the 1992 North American stadium leg—dubbed "Outside Broadcast"—Williams collaborated with stage designers Mark Fisher and Jonathan Park, both of whom had worked on the Steel Wheels Tour stage for the Rolling Stones. The main stage was expanded to be , and the catwalk leading to the B-stage was lengthened to approximately , nearly four times as long as the arena version. The spires of the stage, intended to resemble radio masts, reached as high as , requiring aircraft warning lights approved by the Federal Aviation Administration to be placed on top of them. The stage's appearance was compared to the techno-future cityscapes from "Blade Runner" and the works of cyberpunk writer William Gibson.
Zoo TV Tour | North American stadium leg
The feud between Love and Manson carried over into their shows immediately after the tour began. They traded nightly exchanges of thinly-veiled insults during their respective sets. MTV also noted the extreme difference between both band's production, set design and use of special effects. Hole opted for a minimal set design consisting of a projected backdrop and a series of garlands draped across the monitors and drum kit. Their special effects were limited to occasional use of a pressurized cannon that projected an explosion of glitter during their performance of the song "Dying", and a rain of rose petals that were dropped from the rafters onto the stage during the song "Celebrity Skin".
Beautiful Monsters Tour | Tour
Every once in a while he'd say something. "Hot dog explosion. Cast of "Growing Pains"." Then he'd go back to sleep. Then it would be both of us staring for a while. "Fart Monsters. Return of the Fart Monsters. Mrs. Potato Dick." And that's the first one where I really couldn't stop laughing. The original sketch was first performed in dress rehearsal for the November 14, 2009, episode, featuring the episode's host January Jones instead of Pedrad, but was cut before airing. The version with Pedrad was performed in dress rehearsal for the November 21, 2009, episode, but was again cut before airing.
Recurring Saturday Night Live characters and sketches introduced 2009–10 | Kickspit Underground Festival
This set list is representative of the first show in Los Angeles. It does not represent all dates throughout the tour.
Born This Way Ball | Set list
Years of development occurred due to interest from filmmakers ranging from Robert DeNiro to Oliver Stone along with studios that wanted a lighter ending, but the transition to Lee Daniels and Lionsgate led to interest back to the original ending. The film was produced by Lionsgate and Lee Daniels Entertainment, the first production for the latter.
Monster's Ball | Development
Guests on the show have included of AC/DC, KISS, Van Halen, Motörhead, Cinderella, Ozzy Osbourne, Bon Jovi, Cheap Trick, Mötley Crüe, Ratt, Slayer and Poison.
Monsters of Rock | In popular culture
Lady Gaga Presents the Monster Ball Tour: At Madison Square Garden is a 2011 concert special which documents the February 21 and 22, 2011 shows of American pop singer Lady Gaga's worldwide concert tour, The Monster Ball Tour. Filmed at Madison Square Garden in Gaga's hometown of New York City, the two-hour special was directed by the singer's choreographer Laurieann Gibson and produced by HBO. It was first broadcast on the channel on May 7, 2011, a day after Gaga's last date of The Monster Ball Tour. The special was released on November 21, 2011, on DVD and Blu-ray by Media Blasters.
Lady Gaga Presents the Monster Ball Tour: At Madison Square Garden | Introduction
During "Poker Face", she wore a bondage inspired black leather dress with guns hanging from it and a hat made of muzzles, and pumped her hands in the air while performing the song. This was followed by Gaga sitting on a dentist's chair and spreading her legs during "Paper Gangsta". Another video interlude followed, displaying arty poses of Gaga in gothic looks. She returned to the stage while wearing multiple donned braided extensions for "Paparazzi". Gaga was perched atop a railing and from each of her braids, a dancer was attached on the stage. A backdrop of stars were shown during the performance.
The Monster Ball Tour | Pre-revisions
You help kill off favorite characters and rewrite the ending of the show yourself." The show includes "a local "choose your own adventure" band whose live show involves twelve-sided dice the size of beach balls. As per the night's theme, the group will perform new material inspired by "Game of Thrones"." The Holy Sh*t Show, lampoons Scientology, and the yearly XXX Show, started in 2012 at the Mitchell Brothers O'Farrell Theater. In DeWolf's own words about Tourettes, "If you've never been to a rap battle, if you've never been to a poetry slam, if you've never seen burlesque, if you've never seen stand-up comedy, or dirty haiku, or freakish, inventive contests—then that's what the show is for, to put all of those elements into one show.
Jamie DeWolf | Tourettes Without Regrets
Thus, the tour is officially known as the Monster Energy Outbreak Tour presents: Iggy Azalea—The New Classic Tour.
The New Classic Tour | Background
The 5.1 mix was further orchestrated by using the sound recordings from the microphones placed around the audience members in Madison Square Garden, giving a new dimension to the surround sound in the Blu-ray. It has a length of over 114 minutes and contains five subtitles: English, French, Spanish, Portuguese and German. Extra features added to the release included another a cappella version of "Born This Way" which was performed on stage unlike the one in the closing credits. A photo gallery was also included as well as backstage footage showing Gaga meeting with actress Liza Minnelli. According to Jeffrey Kauffman of Blu-ray.com, the audio tracks were commendable for their crisp sound.
Lady Gaga Presents the Monster Ball Tour: At Madison Square Garden | Development
Bret and Jemaine play a fragment of "Rock the Party" at the gig in the hotel lounge. In the park at the end of the episode, when Murray is on the phone, we can see the boys on stage in the background playing the intro music for "Robots".
What Goes on Tour | Other songs
Upon checking under the vehicle's bonnet, Gaga revealed a keyboard and began to play the opening notes of "Just Dance". Gaga then performed "Beautiful, Dirty, Rich" while scaling various pieces of scaffolding and subsequently "The Fame" where she rose from beneath the stage and played her keytar Emma, wearing a giant red cape. "LoveGame" saw the beginning of the "Subway" section, with Gaga wearing a translucent nun's habit, and a skeletal hand. The song was performed with the aid of a gilded subway car and a "disco stick" while her next number "Boys Boys Boys" featured muscly male dancers cavorting in spandex shorts.
The Monster Ball Tour | Post-revisions
The following set list was obtained from the concert held on August 7, 2014; at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California. Encore
The Monster Tour (Eminem and Rihanna) | Set list
Dokken again encountered problems with the wireless PA system, as it was broadcasting on the same frequency as Tampa International Airport's tower.
Monsters of Rock Tour 1988 | Tour
As soon as the dates for the show were announced, there was high demand for tickets. As sponsor of the North American Monster Ball Tour, Virgin Mobile customers had access to presale tickets. Bob Stohrer, VP of Marketing for Virgin Mobile USA said "We are excited to take our partnership with Lady Gaga and The Monster Ball Tour to another level. [...] We'll also build on our partnership around combating youth homelessness and continue to enhance the tour experience for fans and our customers." Shows in the first leg of the tour were sold-out completely, prompting Live Nation Inc. to announce that Gaga will return to the U.S.
The Monster Ball Tour | Commercial reception
The idea was intended to mock the desensitising effect of mass media. Eno, who was credited in the tour programme for the "Video Staging Concept", explained his vision for the tour: "the idea to make a stage set with a lot of different video sources was mine, to make a chaos of uncoordinated material happening together... The idea of getting away from video being a way of helping people to see the band more easily ... this is video as a way of obscuring them, losing them sometimes in just a network of material." While on a break from recording, the band invited production designer Willie Williams to join them in Tenerife in February 1991.
Zoo TV Tour | Conception
The animators gave many of the members of the crowd at the Spinal Tap concert long bangs, so they would not have to animate many pairs of eyes. In the final scene to feature the band, their tour bus bursts into flames after being knocked off the road. According to the writers, the scene was not in the original script and was added because they felt the band's final scene was not interesting enough.
The Otto Show | Production
The show ends with large balloons and confetti falling from the ceiling.
That Bass Tour | Synopsis
"Billboard" estimated that by the time the tour wraps up in 2011, it would have grossed close to US$200 million worldwide. The ticket money from the final performance at Radio City was donated for the Haiti earthquake relief. Gaga announced on the rescheduled show at Elliott Hall of Music on January 26, 2010, that about US$500,000 was collected for the relief. At the 2010 "Billboard" Touring Awards, Gaga won the Breakthrough Performer Award, as well as the Concert Marketing & Promotion Award, the latter being an acknowledgement of her partnership with Virgin Mobile. "Billboard" also placed The Monster Ball Tour at position four on their Year-end Top 25 Tours of 2010.
The Monster Ball Tour | Commercial reception
She started performing "LoveGame", which ended with Gaga pointing towards her groin. Flames appeared on the video screens, as she got out of her ecto-skeleton outfit. After stripping down to a silver bodysuit she performed "Alejandro", and was carried by her crotch by one of her male dancers, and later lowered onto another one of them. The section was followed by a video interlude featuring snarling dogs and brooding ravens. The performance of "Monster" began with Gaga emerging in a black feathered jacket and performing dance moves reminiscent of Michael Jackson as the backdrops featured a black bird's wings. She continued with two songs from "The Fame Monster" titled "So Happy I Could Die" and "Teeth", after which she removed the feathered dress.
The Monster Ball Tour | Pre-revisions
The special opens with a black-and-white introduction that sees Gaga ordering a cup of coffee from a New York convenience store before being escorted by security into a black SUV, where she reminisces about the many times she had been at the arena to watch other acts perform, and realizes that she will now be performing there herself. After being escorted backstage, she removes her makeup and cries as she discusses feeling like a "loser". She then sings the opening lines of "Marry the Night" while preparing to take the stage. Full-color footage of the concert (shot on February 21 and 22, 2011) is then seen, interspersed with black-and-white backstage footage.
Lady Gaga Presents the Monster Ball Tour: At Madison Square Garden | Content
The Monster Tour was the one of the highest-grossing tours of 2014 in North America, with a gross of $36 million in only six shows. A total of 581,276 people attended (including outside the stadiums). The two shows at MetLife Stadium in New Jersey grossed $12.4 million with 101, 941 people attending each concert. It was the sixth highest-grossing box office of the year in North America, only behind Billy Joel, George Strait, One Direction and Garth Brooks.
The Monster Tour (Eminem and Rihanna) | Commercial performance
The show begins once everyone is seated. A mummified Beetlejuice opens up his coffin on the stage to tell the guests that he is "wrapped up", so he wants the guests to say his name three times. He closes the lid, and then fireworks burst from the top of it and Beetlejuice, in his striped suit, emerges from it. He goes on to mingle with guests and tell them what he has in store for them. Beetlejuice (here referred to as "BJ") looks for a park guest to join the show, and the Universal Monsters, The Phantom of the Opera, Dracula, Frankenstein's monster, Wolfman and Bride of Frankenstein, then appear out of doors and corridors from the stage, and BJ directs guests to say his name three times, and the Universal Monsters are transformed into rock stars.
Universal Monsters Live Rock and Roll Show | Original Version
In "The Question Block", the hosts read questions from viewers (culled from Twitter) and give their answers, inviting the guest to answer as well.
How Did This Get Played? | The Question Block
She also gave away two guitars and her boots to audience members. However, Hole left the stage after only 45 minutes into their show (out of a scheduled hour and a half set) due to Love's disappointment with the audience turnout. Marilyn Manson was due to perform after Hole's scheduled exit from the stage, but started 90 minutes late due to problems that arose from having to construct their complicated theatrics in a rush after Hole's impromptu walkout. After the problems were resolved, they played an hour and a half show marked by deliberate destruction of their instruments and explicit onstage antics that were the band's trademark.
Beautiful Monsters Tour | Tour
Beginning behind a giant, green, laser lit video screen featuring scrim lights, Gaga appeared in a bulb-covered futuristic silver jeweled jumpsuit with matching eye makeup and mask and sang "Dance in the Dark" as dancers, dressed in white balaclavas and white jumpsuits, moved around her. The video screen, resembling an electric mathematical grid, was eventually lifted during the performance. After the song, Gaga strapped a portable silver jeweled keyboard to herself and began to perform "Just Dance" while emerging from the inside of a white cube on a platform. This was followed by a brief video intermission and Gaga returned onstage in an off-white costume, that resembled an alien ecto-skeleton, while the dancers wore skeletal headgear.
The Monster Ball Tour | Pre-revisions
Gaga starts singing "Paparazzi" and eventually kills the Fame Monster by shooting sparks from her pyrotechnic bra and underwear. She then leaves for the Monster Ball and after appearing there, meanwhile fans assume the show is over, suddenly Gaga appears on stage and performs the final song, "Bad Romance" while standing inside a giant gyroscope.
The Monster Ball Tour | Post-revisions
BJ's Entrance Music: Main Titles from Beetlejuice by Danny Elfman
Universal Monsters Live Rock and Roll Show | Original version: 1992–2002 (Florida) and 1991–1995 (Hollywood)
United States Canada Latin America UK
Monster Math Squad | Broadcast history
Aedan Helmer from "Jam!" magazine said that "At first blush, it might seem the real driving force behind Gaga's meteoric rise to fame is her hand-picked cadre of costume and set designers—dubbed "Haus of Gaga"—who seemingly know no bounds when it comes to pushing the envelope of haute couture and the theatre of the absurd. [...] But what really sets Gaga apart from the middling masses of lip-synching Britney clones and Idol wannabes is her pure, unadulterated musical talent. [...] The Lady can sing." Theatre critic Kelly Nestruck, while writing for "The Guardian", said "While The Monster Ball has nothing on the great operas or the golden age of musical theatre, Lady Gaga's 'electro-pop opera' is at least twice as entertaining and infinitely fresher than any stage musical written over the last decade." Lauren Carter from "Boston Herald" praised the show saying "[Gaga] only has two albums under her belt but who cares? Every song feels like a hit, and Gaga-as-star is already taking on Madonna-like proportions.
The Monster Ball Tour | Original show
In its original American broadcast, "Monster's Ball" was watched by 2.07 million; down 0.56 from the previous episode.
Monster's Ball (The Vampire Diaries) | Ratings
Mirror Ball Man appeared during the show's encore and made nightly prank calls, often to the White House. Bono portrayed this alter ego on the first three legs of the tour, but replaced him with MacPhisto for the 1993 legs.
Zoo TV Tour | Mirror Ball Man
The scrim would occasionally be lowered in front of or behind Bowie, onto which images of Bowie and videos were projected. Bowie described it as being "like a giant Javanese shadow puppet show at times." Two large, round screens at each side of the stage also displayed the videos projected on the scrim.
Sound+Vision Tour | Set design
The show continues through various other songs and dances with each monster singing their own song. At the end of the show, BJ has park guests cheer for all of the monsters, especially himself.
Universal Monsters Live Rock and Roll Show | Original Version
"The A.V. Club"s Genevieve Koski gave the special a B+ rating, claiming that Gaga "proves that she is a "performer"" and that "she puts on a "show"", though she felt that the concert was overly emotional and artistically ambitious, and that Gaga's on-stage banter was slightly annoying. Koski also compared the special to the Madonna documentary. Linda Stassi from "New York Post" was also positive in her assessment of the concert special. She complimented the behind the scenes footage, the costumes and the dancing and the pyrotechnics of the show, describing it as "a concert that would make Madonna's shows look like run-of-the-mill dinner theater." A review in website Idolator described Gaga as "ringleader of her own circus — in complete control of her little monsters".
Lady Gaga Presents the Monster Ball Tour: At Madison Square Garden | Release and reception