The Fame, Lady Gaga

...Wowsers, it's a long post. But filled with necessary details that describe the adventure, thoughts, and events of jetting around California and rushing to Vegas to meet a popstar.  Since I am feeling rebellious, I will start from the end instead of the beginning --a very good place to start!

 Since I am an avid listener of Lady Gaga I entered a contest a few months ago, and forgot about the entry. I had seen her fifteen minute set when she opened for New Kids on the Block and loved it! Fast forward to last week when my cousin and I planned a last minute trip to the So You Think You Can Dance Finale on Thursday since we received tickets. We drove and stopped in St. George for lunch when I received emails that eventually lead me winning a trip to Lady Gaga's Monster Ball concert in Vegas. Airfare, Hotel, Concert, transportation via limo and Meet and Greet were included (One other winner and her guest were chosen as well).

When I first won, I was excited and somewhat anxious. When meeting Lady Gaga, what  happens? Would she be all crazy and mean, or would she be fiercely nice and genuinely interested in taking a picture?

Getting to the Concert

After driving a few hours we arrived in Vegas, the city of craziness. We were booked in a suite at Planet Hollywood. One neat thing about their rooms is that they all have some Hollywood memorabilia. Ours was "sponsored" by Benny and Joon which featured Johnny Depp's pajamas and a jacket he wore in the movie. Another fun thing about the room was that the bathroom was the same size as the sleeping area.

After relaxing for a bit, we got ready for the concert and headed to the lobby where we met the other contest winner and the sponsor. Mike was the guy in charge of everything in Vegas. He was incredibly friendly guy with many connections in the entertainment industry.  We then walked out of the lobby, and into the hotel drop off point where our chariot was waiting for us. Within a few minutes we are transported to the back entrance of the MGM Grand to see the Monster Ball.  We walked through various hallways and eventually ended up in the concert venue. Once we walked through the doors, you could tell we were at a Gaga concert. Fans were dressed in all kinds of Gaga inspired attire. Some were pretty decent, and some must have missed the memo for modesty.  Just wearing caution tape is not something a normal person can sing and dance in!

We were given our tickets and I was amazed on how close our seats were to the stage. We were just a few rows away from the front. I was stoked that our tickets were not general admission standing room only!  I can only take so many people telling me that I am too tall, or having their sweaty arms against my body! 

The Ball Begins

The "pop-opera" concert was pretty incredible. There was a lot of production and special effects that were put into the show. Gaga sang every song live while dancing -- a hard feat for almost any artist or performer in today's music industry.  The show was just over 2 hours, and was filled with many songs from her two albums.  My favorite songs showcased were Just Dance, Paparazzi, Vanity, Telephone, Speechless, Teeth,  and of course Bad Romance.  Sadly though she did not include her song Paper Gangsta which is my favorite song. Something unique I noticed is that Utah audiences actually sound good when singing to musicians. The Vegas crowd still needs to work on their vocal technique...

Gaga's music is very fun and bass heavy, something I appreciate. Another thing I love about Gaga's shows  is that she has a quirky way of presenting her songs.  Some parts of the show had interludes of tornadoes, model-esque poses, and words flashing across the screens while they prepared the stage. Through out the entire concert there were not any slow moments or times when I started to get bored.  Perhaps my favorite parts of Gaga's concerts is the fact that she is so dramatic and serious, that it comes across as hilarious.  Case in point:

The layout of the concert is that Gaga is trying to get from her home in New York to the Monster Ball.  It's somewhat of a theatrical twist to the Wizard of Oz.  At the beginning her car broke down (Just Dance) and eventually led to a phone call from Ms. Beyonce (Telephone). She then called a random audience member that had provided their information to a Virgin Mobile rep previously. The fan, Little Monster, then got to talk to Gaga and move to a better seat.

One of my favorite moments that showed how great a musician Gaga was when she was singing Speechless on a fiery piano. It started out with her playing on her piano and all of a sudden it turned into a 10 foot tornado and spun. It was quite amazing. 

Scary... 

I don't intend to sugar-coat the entire show -- there were some things said or done that I did not agree with, but I can understand how someone can come to those conclusions or perform the way they did. She loves her little monster fans and is very protective of them.

Also with the city being Vegas, I am not sure what was said and done because it was "Vegas."  There were many mean drunks, who I am not a fan of, that happened to be seated near us. Sure it's comical for a bit, but when you are screaming, acting like you are carrying on a conversation with the performer, or pushing people, it gets annoying after 5 minutes. One of these inebriated people (whom we later found out has a close tie to Gaga)  mistakenly pulled down a teenage monster's shorts by accident (we later find out she was trying to tug his caution tape vest (Telephone music video attire). This resulted that the drunk woman got a punch to the face by another audience member trying to protect the teen. Wild.Careless.People.

The show ended with the entire audience making it to the Monster Ball. This was perhaps my favorite moment, because everyone in the arena was singing at the top of their lungs and dancing to Bad Romance. Pure energy filled the room.

Sealed with a Kiss

After the concert we were ushered through the passages of the MGM Grand.  We waited outside Lady Gaga's dressing room for a few minutes and went into her suite. You may wonder what my conversation would be like with top charting pop superstar. The idea of meeting and carrying on a conversation with a celebrity made me nervous several years ago, but after meeting a few of them,  I have decided they are just like the strangers we meet with a smile everyday. The key is to provide a compliment, and share something you have common ground on.

My cousin, Mike, and the other contest winner and her guest entered Gaga's dressing room.  The contest winner went first and chatted with Gaga.  At one point the winner handed the Grammy Award winning singer her phone so she could talk to her friend A____ who happens to be in fashion school.

"Hello A___ this is Lady Gaga. How are you? 

"Well I  just wanted to let you in on a little secret."  

"F%^* Fashion! You need to tell your professor to  F%^* Fashion!!" 

"I promise you will get an 'A!'"

Then it was my turn to meet Lil Gaga:

Back story: The day before I happened to be at Disneyland, and as tradition, I get a fortune card from the robotic fortune telling machine. I then decided that Gaga might appreciate a small, random and simple gift, so I decided to give her one. Snippets of our conversation went a little something like this:

"Hey Gaga, I just wanted to say thank you for starting to put an end to the
manufactured pop machine.I went to Disneyland yesterday and got you this: It's a fortune from the fortune telling machine, and I got it in honor of you."

Gaga: "Bad @$$!!!"

Gaga then leans over and gives me a kiss on the cheek as I try and focus on reading the card. Our hands both are shaking so she takes her other hand (which had remnants of fake blood) to steady the card. 

I share part of the fortune with her --"Beware of Ladies, they never have your back.
the 16th of any month will result in joy."

"Will you sign my program and CD insert?"

She agrees to providing her autograph and  thanks me for her fortune. I hand her a brand new Paint Marker, and after struggle to get the cap off with my hands so I just bite it off.

I tell her she may need to draw on the program to get the marker started.

Gaga then proceeds to scribble and some shake the marker. I respond back with, "A little shake shake, shimmy shimmy." She laughs.


She then autographs my program cover and CD inserts.  At one point she leans in and whispers "I'm so shy."  To comfort I whisper, "Me too!" 

When she is done, I thank her by winking and saying  "Paper Gangsta." 

My cousin then takes pictures with Gaga and compliments her on the concert. We leave the room and are taken back to a room where we talk about the experience with the other contest winner.Within a few minutes we also meet the little caution tape wearing monster. Turns out he got to meet Gaga because of the brawl.  After a few minutes we walk back to the MGM  lobby, where we slide into a limo as people stare at us, wondering if we were celebrities.

The After-Thoughts

I have thought about how I feel about Lady Gaga before and after meeting her. She is an extremely smart individual who is genuine and quite nice. She could have easily demanded that she was not going to sign anything because of my marker not working, but she was patient and kept trying. Also with other conversations with other people in her dressing room, she has great comedic wit.  Some have asked if I think Stefani Germanotta is the same as Lady Gaga. I think L.G. is a melting pot of her own persona, and that the two are distinguishable.  She knows how to work the media as well as entertain a massive audience. She then can switch gears and still be normal and have a conversation.  

While I may not agree with some of the antics that are done on stage, I can understand why and how she has come to those conclusions. Her fans are somewhat unique because they cover the entire spectrum, from conservative gun carrying soccer moms to LGBTQ youth who are looking for someone to look up to. Also she donates $20,000 from each show to helping homeless youth.

While some of Gaga's antics and ideas differ than mine, I can still respect that she is an uber talented songwriter and performer. She's on the top of her game every night.  I really had a fun time singing and dancing at the concert as well as chatting with my new friend Gaga. It's definitely a moment of my life I will never forget and think about often.  However if I don't remember, it will all come back if I Just Dance...