In an interview she stated, "[Kanye] is going to take a break, but the good news is, I am not." After assuring the public that she would be embarking on her own tour, Gaga officially announced The Monster Ball Tour on October 15, 2009. It was originally planned to debut in London in early 2010, but ended up kicking off on November 27, 2009, in Montreal. Rapper Kid Cudi and singer Jason Derülo were confirmed as the supporting acts for the tour, with Cudi supporting Gaga from the beginning of the tour, and Derülo joining from December 28, 2009. The official poster for the tour featured Gaga in Versace 676 sunglasses and wearing a gyroscope around her called "The Orbit", which she first wore on the October 3, 2009, episode of "Saturday Night Live".
Background
The Monster Ball Tour
The Monster Ball Tour | Background
Montreal Sorry. I cannot find the answer based on the context. Phoenix, Arizona. At Madison Square Garden in New York City
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
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
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 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 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 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
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
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
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
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 "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
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
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
[...] 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
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
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
At the 2010 "Billboard" Touring Awards, Gaga won the Breakthrough Performer Award, as well as the Concert Marketing and Promotion Award, the latter being an acknowledgment of her partnership with sponsor Virgin Mobile.
Lady Gaga Presents the Monster Ball Tour: At Madison Square Garden | Background
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
The more her image gets around, the better Lady Gaga does."
The Monster Ball Tour | Original 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
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
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
Initially, rapper Kanye West and Lady Gaga had plans to launch a joint tour in October 2009, known as . Amid negative response to his controversial outbursts at the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards, West declared that he would take a hiatus from his music career. Nevertheless, the complete schedule for Fame Kills was released, with the tour set to begin on November 10, 2009, in Phoenix, Arizona. Shortly afterwards, the tour was officially cancelled without any explanation. Gaga addressed the situation at "Billboard"s annual Women in Music luncheon, where she cited creative differences as the reason for the tour's cancellation.
The Monster Ball Tour | Background
In the United States, it entered "Billboard"s Top Music Video chart at the top, selling 26,000 copies of the DVD—the greatest total for a music video since Beyoncé' "I Am... World Tour" live CD/DVD sold 37,000 and 31,000 copies in its first two weeks in November and December 2010, and held this title until the release of Adele's "Live at the Royal Albert Hall". Its final appearance on the chart was for the issue dated November 30, 2013, where upon it tallied a total of 64 weeks inside the chart. "Lady Gaga Presents the Monster Ball Tour: At Madison Square Garden" became the fourth best-selling music video of 2011 in the United States.
Lady Gaga Presents the Monster Ball Tour: At Madison Square Garden | Chart performance
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
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
She is also fused into a keytar, standing near her dancers in front of a medieval castle. The first and second legs for the Born This Way Ball were announced the following day, revealing that Gaga would perform concerts in countries such as South Korea, Hong Kong, and Singapore. Additional dates as part of the Australasia leg were added on February 15, 2012. Live Nation Global Touring CEO Arthur Fogel and his team will steer around the tour, as they did the bulk of the Monster Ball tour of 2010–11. Fogel explained that "The last tour established [Gaga] as a major act worldwide and I believe this tour will be an extension of that, particularly considering we're going to territories she's never been in, like Southeast Asia and Latin America." A European leg was announced in March 2012, which consisted of twenty-one dates over a period of two months, initiating in Bulgaria while concluding in Spain.
Born This Way Ball | Background and development
Gaga had initially planned to accompany rapper Kanye West on concert tour . After his controversy at the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards with Taylor Swift, West announced that he was taking a break from music. All the Fame Kills tour dates were immediately cancelled and Gaga confirmed that she was going on tour alone to promote "The Fame Monster". Described by Gaga as "the first-ever pop electro opera", The Monster Ball Tour started from November 2009 and finished in May 2011. Gaga and her production team initially developed a stage that looked like a frame with the show fitted within it.
The Fame Monster | The Monster Ball Tour
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
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
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
In an interview she stated, "[Kanye] is going to take a break, but the good news is, I am not." After assuring the public that she would be embarking on her own tour, Gaga officially announced The Monster Ball Tour on October 15, 2009. It was originally planned to debut in London in early 2010, but ended up kicking off on November 27, 2009, in Montreal. Rapper Kid Cudi and singer Jason Derülo were confirmed as the supporting acts for the tour, with Cudi supporting Gaga from the beginning of the tour, and Derülo joining from December 28, 2009. The official poster for the tour featured Gaga in Versace 676 sunglasses and wearing a gyroscope around her called "The Orbit", which she first wore on the October 3, 2009, episode of "Saturday Night Live".
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
"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
"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
Her dancers conglomerate around her near the end and Gaga reveals herself to be covered with blood. She then states that the thing she hates more than money is the truth and performs "Teeth", while introducing her band. Gaga and her friends then find the Eternal Fountain, which pours out red colored liquid and Gaga explains that it bleeds for anyone. She starts singing "Alejandro" while jumping into the fountain and singing, as blood pours over her. Gaga then returns and sings "Poker Face" on the cat-walk. After the performance, she and her friends find themselves in a dark place, and after some dialogue, Gaga's friends run off, leaving her alone to deal with the Fame Monster, a giant angler fish.
The Monster Ball Tour | Post-revisions
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
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
Gaga drives around the Monster Pit followed by choreography for the last chorus of the song. After "Bad Kids" an acoustic section follows with songs like "Hair", "Princess Die" and "You and I". The section concludes with "Electric Chapel" with a display of flashing lights before Gaga leaves the stage. After a Spanish guitar intro, she then returns in a recreation of the meat dress and performs "Americano". "Poker Face" is performed next and at the end of the song Gaga is lowered into a meat grinder. A moment later she emerges from the stage sitting on a meat couch and performs "Alejandro" with her gun bra and green trousers.
Born This Way Ball | Concert synopsis
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
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
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
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
Following the canceled tour with rapper Kanye West, Gaga embarked on her second worldwide concert tour, The Monster Ball Tour. Staged in support of her extended play "The Fame Monster" (2009), the tour was critically acclaimed and grossed $227.4 million, making it one of the highest-grossing concert tours of all time. Gaga also performed songs from the album at award ceremonies—the American Music Awards of 2009, 52nd Annual Grammy Awards and 2010 Brit Awards. Gaga's second studio album "Born This Way" (2011) released the eponymous lead single, which she first performed at the 53rd Grammy Awards, where she emerged from an egg-like vessel.
List of Lady Gaga live performances | Introduction
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
During the release of "Judas", the second single from "Born This Way", Lady Gaga confirmed in an interview that she would embark on a concert tour in 2012, which would visit Latin American countries for the first time, like Brazil, and would return to Mexico. In November 2011, producer DJ White Shadow asserted that Gaga was "doing [preparations] for the next round of touring", adding that the singer's main objective in the following year was to continue preparing for the Born This Way Ball, as well as create new songs for her next studio album. Fernando Garibay, who began collaborating with Gaga in "The Fame Monster" (2009), felt that "Born This Way" was one of his most personal moments.
Born This Way Ball | Background and development
During this song, she tells the audience about her life as a teen in New York, and how she became who she is today. Gaga and her friends then continue down the Glitter Way, and soon they run into an angel, who plays a tune that summons a twister, taking them closer to the Monster Ball, but landing them in a strange place that they did not know. Gaga sings "So Happy I Could Die", decked in a white dress, that moves on its own accord. The third segment begins with Gaga returning on the stage and singing "Monster", inside a forest with black, thorn-like trees.
The Monster Ball Tour | Post-revisions
"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
[...] 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
In Australia, the DVD debuted at number two on the ARIA DVD Chart. The next week, it remained in the same position, while being certified platinum by the Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) for shipment of 15,000 copies of the DVD. "Lady Gaga Presents the Monster Ball Tour: At Madison Square Garden" was certified double platinum in January 2012, denoting shipments of 30,000 copies. It was the fifth and eleventh best selling DVD of 2011 and 2012 in Australia, respectively. The DVD charted on the UK Music Video chart at number four, for the issue dated December 3, 2011. It was certified gold by the British Phonographic Industry (BPI) for selling more than 25,000 copies.
Lady Gaga Presents the Monster Ball Tour: At Madison Square Garden | Chart performance
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
For the tour, Gaga told Capital FM that she wanted something other than the "Monster Pit" arrangement she previously had in the Born This Way Ball tour, since she was always limited to performing on one portion of the arena. Hence Gaga and her team thought of building two stages, one main stage and an accompanying one on the far end of the arena. It would be enhanced by the addition of a catwalk which would wind all around the arena floor, enabling the singer to interact with the audience. In March 2014, Gaga tweeted a picture of the stage which showed a runway extending from the main platform up to the general admission seats and then bifurcating into two additional runways, ending in small stages within the audience.
ArtRave: The Artpop Ball | Stage setup
It was also present on the set list of Gaga's Monster Ball Tour (2009–2011). On the original version of the show, she wore multiple donned braided extensions and was perched atop a railing. From each of her braids, a dancer was attached on the stage. A backdrop of stars were shown during the performance. During the revised Monster Ball shows, Gaga changed the concept and the performance of the song. She wore an emerald green dress by Thierry Mugler, and was attacked by a giant, mechanical Angler fish. Gaga then removed the dress to reveal a leotard of the same color and during the bridge she is lowered beneath the stage to acquire her pyro-technic bra.
Paparazzi (Lady Gaga song) | Live performances
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
Gaga then started performing the song "Speechless" on piano, and continued with an acoustic version of "Poker Face". Rapper Kid Cudi joined her then to perform his song "Make Her Say" which contains a sample of "Poker Face". This segment was followed by the performance of "Fashion" and "The Fame", during which Gaga wore a gold Egyptian styled crown and matching body suit, compared to the garment of a viking. Gaga crawled atop her piano during the follow-up songs "The Fame" and "Money Honey", after which she returned to the stage, dressed in black vinyl and nearly nude in a red patent leather bikini, to perform "Boys Boys Boys", backed by a squadron of skinny and shirtless leather boys.
The Monster Ball Tour | Pre-revisions
After a costume change, Gaga burst into "Money Honey" with an extended keytar solo after emerging from beneath the stage as the New York scenery disappeared around her. As she walked towards the Glitter way, Gaga recalls when she was in jail and her friend Beyoncé bailed her out, thus performing the song "Telephone". A piano is then brought in and Gaga goes into the song "Brown Eyes", after which she performs "Speechless" while the piano starts spitting fire. This segment also saw the performance of "You and I" in some of the shows; the song was later added to Gaga's second studio album, "Born This Way".
The Monster Ball Tour | Post-revisions
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
In the final chorus of the song Gaga returns and kills the monster with the sparks from the bra. The song was part of the setlist of Gaga's 2012–2013 tour, the Born This Way Ball. Gaga was notably absent from stage for the first two minutes of the song, and "Mother G.O.A.T.", a floating mechanical head performed it instead of her. Gaga then emerged on stage, and concluded the song while shooting the head, making it to cry blood. During the tour (2014), Gaga performed "Paparazzi" dressed up in a polka-dotted rubber outfit with tentacles growing out around her waist and her head.
Paparazzi (Lady Gaga song) | Live performances
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
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
"Lady Gaga Presents the Monster Ball Tour: At Madison Square Garden" features concert footage as well as pre-concert and backstage content. The special received critical acclaim; critics praised Gaga's performance and the onstage theatrics while expressing doubt in Gaga's sincerity during her monologues and in pre-concert scenes. When aired, the special was watched by 1.2 million viewers and was nominated for five awards at the 63rd Primetime Emmy Awards, winning one for Outstanding Picture Editing for a Special (Single or Multi-Camera). The video album released for the special includes extra footage like a capella performances and a photo gallery. 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.
Lady Gaga Presents the Monster Ball Tour: At Madison Square Garden | Introduction
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
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
Gaga appeared in the middle of the stage being surrounded by her dancers holding glass encrusted plates which camouflage them. She wore a futuristic black dress in geometric patterns with a triangular piece on her right breast and peplum. DJ Space Cowboy was present at a corner, playing the backing music. Gaga came out in the center as the plates rolled around and started singing "Paparazzi". The performance ends with continuous clicking of the camera. Gaga comes to the top of the pillar and sings a combination of "Starstruck" and "LoveGame" as she is joined by her dancers in tracks and jackets and hands Gaga her trademark disco stick.
The Fame Ball Tour | Concert synopsis
"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
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
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
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
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
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
Gaga evaluated the tour as an "electro-metal pop-opera"; "the tale of the Beginning, the genesis of the Kingdom of Fame. How we were birthed and how we will die celebrating." Dance rehearsals occurred for approximately one month. In February 2012, she revealed that she would release stage designs for the Born This Way Ball via Twitter. Gaga unveiled a sketch of the stage design, which was designed by the singer herself and her creative team Haus of Gaga. Gaga tweeted: "I'm so excited. The Haus has been working so hard, we can't wait for you to see it!! Love you Little Monsters, have the time of your life." The stage was completed over a period of a few months, and was modeled after a medieval Gothic castle, featuring viewing towers, intricate carvings and a large catwalk to interact with the audience.
Born This Way Ball | Background and development
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 show is mainly divided into four parts with the last part being the encore. The main show began with a video introduction called "The Heart" where Gaga appeared as alter-ego Candy Warhol. She was shown dressing up and displayed the symbol of a pink heart on her T-shirt and said "My name is Lady Gaga, and this is my Haus". The video was projected on a giant screen in front of the stage. As the video approached towards the end, a countdown from ten to one happened, Gaga's face was shown wearing the video sunglasses, and flames engulfed the screen as it dropped.
The Fame Ball Tour | Concert synopsis
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
On November 17, 2014, Gaga announced through her social medias that the last concert show, which took place at Bercy Arena in France on November 24, would be streamed live around the world, online on Yahoo! Live. The concert started with a 30-minute video presentation of Gaga's portraits, as shot by Robert Wilson, and which were previously exhibited at the Louvre Museum in Paris. The live stream broke records for Yahoo! Live and Live Nation.
ArtRave: The Artpop Ball | Broadcast and recording
"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
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
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
Cover artwork was done by Hedi Slimane and has a gothic look which Gaga had to convince her record company to allow her to shoot. The composition takes its inspiration from Gothic music and fashion shows. Contemporary critics gave a positive review of the album, with the majority of them complimenting the songs "Bad Romance", "Telephone", and "Dance in the Dark". In some countries the album charted together with "The Fame" while in others like the United States, Canada and Japan, it charted as a separate album. It has reached top 10 in most of the major markets. She announced The Monster Ball Tour supporting the album, which started on November 27, 2009 in Montreal, Canada, and finished on May 6, 2011, in Mexico City, Mexico.
The Fame | "The Fame Monster"
For "Bad Romance", Gaga arrives on the stage inside a vessel. Following the song, she escapes to the top of the castle and sings "Judas", before escaping and performing "Fashion of His Love" and "Just Dance". During "LoveGame", a clear bathtub built on the stage inside which it is sung. After a speech from Gaga, thanking the audience for coming to her show, "Telephone" is performed with the original choreography. An interlude follows, with Mother G.O.A.T. describing "Gaga's take over of planet earth". "Heavy Metal Lover" is performed next and Gaga appears laying atop across the body of a motor-"tricycle" with her arms in two slots, a recreation of the album cover.
Born This Way Ball | Concert synopsis
"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
The backdrop featured the close-up of a black bird's wings. During the 2010–2011 shows of the tour, the performance of "Monster" was changed a little to include an ending, where Gaga is portrayed as getting killed by a murderer, after which she lies "dying" in a pool of blood. Her performances of that scene in Manchester, England, triggered protests from family groups and fans in the aftermath of the Cumbria shootings, in which 12 people were murdered by a taxi driver. "What happened in Bradford is very fresh in people's minds and given all the violence which happened in Cumbria just hours earlier, it was insensitive," said Lynn Costello of Mothers Against Violence.
Monster (Lady Gaga song) | Live performances
On his show, Stern was also critical of inappropriateness and unreasonability of the numerous speeches Gaga gave between the songs in the special, calling them "prattle", "drivel", and "condescending". Dedicating over half an hour of his show on May 9 and 10, 2011, to express his criticism of the concert, Stern compared the manner of Gaga's speaking to professional wrestling due to echoing, Gaga's gasping between the words, and the audience's arguable inability to hear the words enough to understand them. In particular, Gaga claimed in the concert that her incentive to work is to "set [her audience] free", not money.
Lady Gaga Presents the Monster Ball Tour: At Madison Square Garden | Release and reception
The Fame Ball Tour was the debut concert tour by American singer Lady Gaga, in support of her debut studio album "The Fame" (2008). North American shows began in March, followed by dates in Oceania and a solo trek through Europe. Dates in Asia soon followed, as well as two performances at England's V Festival and two shows in North America that had been postponed from April. Gaga described the tour as a traveling museum show incorporating artist Andy Warhol's pop-performance art concept. Tickets were distributed for charity also. Alternate versions of the show with minimal variations were planned by Gaga to accommodate different venues.
The Fame Ball Tour | Introduction
"So Happy I Could Die" was part of the setlist of Gaga's second headlining concert tour, The Monster Ball (2009–2011). On the first version of the tour, Gaga performed the song alongside "Teeth", wearing a black leather corset. During the revamped Monster Ball shows, it was performed after playing some of her songs on the piano. She was then caught by a "tornado", which was portrayed by a cylinder shaped video screen lowered from the ceiling, covering the singer. Reappearing on stage, Gaga started performing the song while a hydraulic lift raised her high up in the air. She was seen wearing her "Living Dress", a white costume that moves on its own accord, complete with wings and a long train.
So Happy I Could Die | Live performances
The stage had a blue setting with mechanical fog. Gaga left for a costume change as the third video interlude titled The Face starts. After the video ended, she then came on the stage wearing a tutu shaped dress with pointed shoulder pads and peplum. Her dancers were clad in Louis Vuitton Steven Sprouse printed trousers which matched Gaga's shoes. The backdrop changed to show blinking disco lights and Gaga stood in the center wearing her video sunglasses which display the line "Pop Music Will Never Be Low Brow". A remix of the intro for "Just Dance" started and Gaga was joined by her dancers on stage.
The Fame Ball Tour | Concert synopsis
Mask by Phillip Treacy, Sculpture by Nick Knight, Music by Lady Gaga. We miss you." She started the performance by announcing "This is for Alexander McQueen." Gaga was dressed in a complete white outfit with a huge Marie Antoinette-style wig. The whole performance was low-key in comparison to her previous ones. Gaga added the song to The Monster Ball Tour's setlist, for the 2010–11 leg. She was dressed in black underwear and imitated a phone call with Beyoncé at the beginning of the performance, yelling "Beyoncé? You shady bitch!" to her cell phone. She then started singing the track while doing its choreography on an extended catwalk from the main stage.
Telephone (song) | Live performances
The fourth act begins with Gaga wearing the tentacle dress and singing "Paparazzi". She then removes the tentacles and sits on a hand-shaped chair, performing "Do What U Want", followed by Gaga singing "Dope" and "You and I" on piano. Later, Gaga invites a fan onstage and sings a piano version of "Born This Way". She and the fan exit through a trap down as "Jewels n' Drugs" is played as an interlude.
ArtRave: The Artpop Ball | Concert synopsis
Philip Borof from Bloomberg Television reviewed the concert in New York's Madison Square Garden and found it average, calling the crowd decked in various costumes as the "most entertaining". "Toronto Star"s Ben Rayner appreciated the show, exclaiming "hot damn, that was one hell of a show Gaga brought to the Air Canada Centre Sunday night and suddenly it doesn’t seem redundant to add one more voice to the Lady Gaga choir." Mariel Concepción from "Billboard" felt that Gaga "may be best known for her gaudy outfits and over-the-top stage shows, but at her hometown headlining debut at Madison Square Garden last night, the pop phenomenon proved she's a regular girl at heart." "The Seattle Times" staff writer Marian Liu declared that as "one of the most anticipated touring acts of the year, [Gaga] stimulated the crowd's senses on Saturday night in a way few artists can.
The Monster Ball Tour | Revamped show
"Yoü and I", written by Lady Gaga and produced by Gaga and Robert John "Mutt" Lange, was one of the first songs previewed from the album. Gaga said she wrote the song in New York, while she was busy playing her old piano. The singer first played "Yoü and I" at Elton John's White Tie and Tiara Ball in June 2010. She said that the song was a bit of a "rock-and-roll tune" and, as such, was unlikely to be released as a single from "Born This Way". She said that it "is very dear" to her heart. Footage of the performance appeared on the Internet soon after, and positive response encouraged Lady Gaga to perform the song during the first concert of the North American leg of The Monster Ball Tour in Montreal.
You and I (Lady Gaga song) | Background and release
After the first performance of "You and I" at Elton John's White Tie and Tiara Ball, Gaga performed the song live on the television program "Today" on July 9, 2010, before an estimated crowd of 18,000–20,000 people, the largest ever to pack Rockefeller Plaza. It was next performed on the July 31, 2010, Phoenix stop of The Monster Ball Tour, where Gaga protested Arizona's immigration law SB 1070—which mandates that state police officers "question any person they suspect to be an illegal immigrant and imprison any aliens not carrying one of four allowed forms of proper identification"—and dedicated her performance of "You and I" to a boy whose family had been affected by the law.
You and I (Lady Gaga song) | Live performances
Concerts performed at Madison Square Garden in New York City were filmed for an HBO television special, "". Gaga also performed songs from her albums at the 2009 Royal Variety Performance, the 52nd Annual Grammy Awards, and the 2010 BRIT Awards. Before Michael Jackson's death, Gaga was set to take part in his canceled This Is It concert series at the O Arena in the UK.
Lady Gaga | 2008–2010: Breakthrough with "The Fame" and "The Fame Monster"
Chris Rock later defended her flamboyant, provocative behavior. "Well, she's Lady Gaga," he said. "She's not 'Lady Behave Yourself.' Do you want great behavior from a person named Gaga? Is this what you were expecting?" "Monster" was part of the setlist of Gaga's 2014 residency show, Lady Gaga Live at Roseland Ballroom. She performed the song while playing on a keytar decorated with red roses, wearing a crimson leather body suit. The intro of Gaga's Joanne World Tour (2017–2018) started with the line "Don't call me Gaga", taken from the song, before Gaga declaring that she instead wants to be called Joanne, and starting the show.
Monster (Lady Gaga song) | Live performances
"I just don't know how this shit gets any traction without people doing their homework... Just a complete fool would say something like that and it could only come from somebody who has an agenda, because it makes absolutely no sense, on any level", Fogel concluded. A total of 800,000 tickets have been sold for the tour, as reported by "Billboard". In June 2014, "Billboard" released the first boxscore figures for the tour, up to the June 2 date. Gaga placed at number four on the boxscore list with total gross of $13.9 million, and more than 171,000 tickets sold.
ArtRave: The Artpop Ball | Boxscore
During the revamped Monster Ball shows, Gaga performed the song on a piano that was caught on fire, while wearing bra and knickers. Gaga was the opening performer of the 52nd Annual Grammy Awards on January 31, 2010. She appeared in a green outfit with glittery shoulder pads. After performing "Poker Face", she was thrown into a flaming bin with the word "Rejected" written on it. Seconds later she re-appeared on stage joined by Elton John, with both of them covered in ashes. They sat at opposite sides of a double piano and sang the track as a medley with John's "Your Song".
Speechless (Lady Gaga song) | Live performances
When the song shifts to the bridge, Gaga once again is handed her disco stick and performs the bridge with it. The ending shifts to a remixed version of the song. Then Gaga and the dancers, joined by DJ Space Cowboy or DJ Nicodemus, take a bow in front of the audience. Gaga comes back with her dance to perform the encore. The encore of the tour consisted of "Boys, Boys, Boys" and the original version of "Poker Face". Gaga was dressed in a khaki leotard embellished with crystals. She wore an admiral's cap and gloves on her hands, both were decorated with the word Gaga on them.
The Fame Ball Tour | Concert synopsis
On January 15, 2010, Gaga performed "Monster" as part of a three-song medley on "The Oprah Winfrey Show". The performance began with Gaga appearing on the stage wearing a dress, that looked both like a pantsuit and dress. Her hair was in spikes and she held a spiked ball and chain in her hand. "Monster" was the first song of the medley that she performed, others being "Bad Romance" and "Speechless". She also performed the song on all legs of The Monster Ball Tour. The performance was preceded by a video interlude featuring snarling dogs and brooding ravens. "Monster" began with Gaga emerging in a black feathered jacket and performing dance moves reminiscent of Michael Jackson.
Monster (Lady Gaga song) | Live performances
Gaga performed "Alejandro" on her 2009–2011 The Monster Ball Tour. It was the fourth song of the set list on the North American leg of the tour. However, on the European and British legs of the tour the song was performed towards the end of the show. The live performance saw her wearing a silver bodysuit and then being carried by her crotch by one of her male dancers and lowered onto another male dancer, engaging in a threesome with them. T'Cha Dunlevy from "The Gazette" said that "the song followed in fast order, with not quite enough to set [it] apart.
Alejandro (song) | Live performances
The main set list for the residency included songs from "The Fame", "The Fame Monster", "Born This Way", and "Artpop". The show began with Gaga appearing on top of the platforms and danced towards her piano to perform an acoustic version of "Born This Way", before proceeding to dance on the rafters with her backup troupe to "Black Jesus + Amen Fashion" in her purple leotard and jacket. A costume change ensued and Gaga performed "Monster" wearing a crimson leather body suit and roses atop her head. She played the rose-adorned keytar and gradually segued into "Bad Romance". Middle of the performance, she ran to the left of the stage to climb a ladder to the mezannine floors, where she sang the final chorus and "Sexxx Dreams" followed with energetic dance moves.
Lady Gaga Live at Roseland Ballroom | Concert synopsis
In May, during an interview with "Edmonton Sun" Gaga announced that the tour would continue through European festivals in summer. She also declared plans for a bigger North American tour including Canada. Gaga explained that the show is supposed to be much bigger than the previous version. She said, "Oh, you have no idea, [...] The tour that we're about to announce is such a dream that I have to pinch myself almost every day to remind myself that it's happening."
The Fame Ball Tour | Background
Lady Gaga then invited an already surprised Aragon to perform "Born This Way" with her at The Monster Ball Tour concert in Toronto. In Toronto, Ontario, Canada, 99.9 Virgin Radio called Aragon and offered to fly her to Toronto for free. On March 3, 2011, Aragon joined Lady Gaga on stage at the Air Canada Centre, where they performed an acoustic duet of "Born This Way" with Aragon sitting on Gaga's lap, playing piano, singing and Lady Gaga working the pedals. Aragon later rejoined Lady Gaga and her team of back up dancers for an uptempo finale version of "Born This Way".
Maria Aragon | 2011: Career beginnings, "The Monster Ball Tour" with Lady Gaga and "Maria Aragon"