Lady Gaga gets back to her roots!

Yesterday: just a just a normal Tuesday afternoon, when my husband calls to say he'd been offered two free tickets to Lady Gaga at Madison Square Garden. I was thrilled, but also felt a little unprepared. Sure, I dance to Gaga's music in the safety of my own home, but my knowledge of the meat-dress-wearing singer is limited. Was the hype real? And more importantly, what would I wear?

It didn't matter. People of all colors, shapes and nationalities were in attendance. In our row alone sat three preppy girls from Paris and a guy/girl team sporting a green mohawk and hot pink bustier, respectively. Gaga kept the little monsters (her endearing term for fans) waiting and waiting until we could do nothing but stomp and yell. Finally, at about 9:40pm the shoulder pads appeared as a black silouette through a screen. I was already impressed with the visual display and art direction; the videos in particular, which played along to thumping dance music during wardrobe changes, were spectacular.  

The most surprising thing for me was Gaga's knack for the yack. "I used to live 20 blocks from here...you made me brave, little monsters," she said passionately during one of her monologues. "...and New York made me brave." Lady Gaga flaunted her New York roots and gave the city props for her success.

Some of the images later in the show included lots of fake blood, bondage clothing and religious symbols. My husband said it felt like we were at some bizarre Broadway show.

At one point she spoke vehemently about the need to be true to ourselves, no matter what people say. To a screaming crowd, she said: "I don't lip-synch... especially not with Liza watching." Liza Minelli, Marisa Tomei and Paul McCartney were in the audience.

Gaga has a lot of involvement with the LGBT community. She called out a purple unicorn outfit in the front row, and then made a phone call to a fan who had generously donated to her LGBT youth fund, to thank him personally.

I can see why Lady Gaga has so many loyal fans, and I'm becoming one of them. It's not just her cutting edge music and style, it's her total confidence in everything she does! I so admire that!

-Lilly LeClair, Editor