Lady Gaga
The MonsterBall Tour @ Milano - Mediolanum Forum 5/12/2010

Here she is, the pop star of the moment, Lady Gaga, making her appearance on a staircase after an interesting play of lights and colors, in front of the thousands of ecstatic people at the Forum, and she begins with the notes of "Dance In The Dark"; the intro is well-curated, but perhaps not exciting, certainly not something "epic," but it is just the beginning of a pharaonic show.

I'm not interested in describing the "visual" side of the show, I believe enough has already been said in the review of the "carbon copy" date in Turin, but I cannot avoid giving a rather negative judgment on the choreography, which in my opinion were really too "crowded" with dancers, as were the musicians: 1 bassist, 2 guitarists, 1 drummer, two keyboardists, 2 backing vocalists, a harp player, and a Japanese violinist, at one point I wondered if they were really playing something or just pretending.

Lady Gaga, however, definitely sings, indeed she emphasizes several times that she does not use playback, and it is true, but it is also true that in many pieces she is supported by tracks and backing vocalists; I finally get to hear her when she is alone with the piano, when she performs the 1-2 Speechless/You And I, where she shows a powerful, rough, and perfectly pitched voice, she doesn’t miss a note, for the entire duration of the show she manages to stay in touch with the audience, even if she often exaggerates with declarations of love towards Italian fans, Italian gays, and the city of Milan.

The message she wants to leave with her show is commendable, that of believing in oneself and being happy with who you are, but in the long run, it gets boring to hear it repeated after almost every song; however, one cannot but be struck by the incredible stage presence, vocal power, charisma, and skill that make Lady Gaga a truly promising artist.

The highest points were definitely the two ballads on the piano, the overwhelming "Teeth," "So Happy I Could Die," "Dance In The Dark," and "Paparazzi": here the choreography became more simple and refined, less trashy and more engaging, and Gaga's voice could be heard at its best; I did not appreciate instead the more commercial, most famous pieces, overloaded with tracks, with a veritable army of dancers surrounding them, I'm talking about "LoveGame," "Telephone," "Boys Boys Boys," "Poker Face," and the final "Bad Romance," which was a bit of a disappointment, at least for me, maybe for others it was the triumph of lights, colors, sparkling outfits, but the singer's voice was drowned out by her pseudo-musicians and pre-recorded parts.

I can only give a positive review of the show, even though it lacks improvisation and still gives me the impression of being too constructed, it is very engaging, it entertains you, it does not bore you even for a minute in the total two hours; Lady Gaga, whether you like her songs or not, is without a doubt an exceptional performer, she has a fantastic voice, she is not stunningly beautiful but she can be sensually captivating in her own way, she is not lacking in charisma and manages to establish direct contact with her audience; she is light years ahead of colleagues like Katy Perry, Rihanna, etc... I am hopeful for the next album, the right choice would be to move away from the overly commercial genre she has done so far (which overshadows her true potential), toward something more refined and innovative.

And Lady Gaga is certainly capable of it, I wish her a long career.

1. Intro 
2. Dance in the Dark
3. Glitter and Grease 
4. Just Dance 
5. Beautiful, Dirty, Rich 
6. The Fame 
7. LoveGame 
8. Boys Boys Boys 
9. Money Honey 
10. Telephone 
11. Speechless
12. You and I 
13. So Happy I Could Die
14. Monster 
15. Teeth
16. Alejandro 
17. Poker Face
18. Paparazzi
19. Bad Romance