Hi creatives (and Monsters, of course!) This was an article I wrote for the 6420 back in 2017, following Gaga’s Joanne World Tour. I went to the concert with my sister and we had an absolute ball. Of course this article is completely biased because I am a HUGE fan of Gaga, but I tried to be as objective and level-headed as possible when looking back over my concert footage. This article did not make it into the magazine due to time-sensitivity and the nature of the article being more of a review than newsworthy. Regardless, I hope you enjoy my recap of the concert.

      Third to last, in the long lineup of world-wide shows for the Joanne World Tour, Oklahoma City welcomed Lady Gaga with open arms. Although the show started over an entire hour later than originally scheduled, Gaga did not disappoint. She opened the show with “Diamond Heart,” a stunning performance filled with rocking theatrics, killer vocals and fabulous costumes that could only scratch the surface of the night to come.

     The Joanne World Tour Concert featured throwbacks from “Pokerface,” to “Just Dance,” to “Bad Romance,” and many more. Fans danced, cried, screamed and sang their hearts out with Gaga, on December 9th at the concert which, like many others in the lineup, was sold out.

  Towards the middle of the concert, Gaga took a slight political turn by asking the audience who was and wasn’t part of the LGBTQ+ community.  She told concertgoers that they may have been dragged to her concert by someone and that they might lean over and whisper, “hey, Dad, I’m gay, this is Lady Gaga,” or “hey, Mom, I’m gay, this is Lady Gaga.”  This earned her a collective chuckle from the audience.

      She said that it was okay because “we’re all family here.” She began reciting the lyrics to “Come to Mama,” the 9th track on Joanne and fans chimed in, supporting her and members of the LGBTQ+ community. Before she jumped into the song, however, she paused and added, “to all of those here, who don’t believe in equality, I’ve got something to say. Come to Mama.”

     After the upbeat tune, Gaga took a moment to say a few kind words about the families suffering the rampaging fires devastating southern California. Following her speech, she sang and played the piano, treating fans to a special performance of “Edge of Glory.”  Fans cried and sang along as the star poured her heart out in song. “Put on your shades, ‘cause I’ll be dancing in the flames,” she sang, then paused. “Man, does that have a different meaning, tonight?” she said, referring to the California wildfires.

      Later on, fans tossed gifts onto the stage and the star shrugged on a fan-made, custom jean jacket with her face painted on the back and read a heartfelt fan letter before treating fans to a spectacular performance of “The Cure.”  She danced it out, belting even the highest notes of the song, whilst continuously moving to the music.

“Million Reasons” was one of the most emotional and heartfelt songs of the entire show, not only because fans knew as soon as the song came to a close, so did their time with the singer, but also because of the meaning behind the song, itself, and Gaga’s phenomenal piano playing and extraordinary vocals. Even at the end of a show, she was able to hit each and every single note in the song, seemingly effortlessly.

Lady Gaga is nothing short of an entertainer and she did just that -she entertained among many other things including speaking out on issues such as the status of the LGBTQ+ community and the amount of hatred in the world. She also spoke about loving each other and spread an overall positive message to fans and non-fans, alike. She flawlessly interwove old and new songs, costume changes, pyrotechnics, electronic, rock and western music and put on an incredible show that concert-goers will remember for the rest of their lives.

THANK YOU to everyone who allowed me to use your photos for this article. I know this concert was a pretty spiritual experience for everyone who could attend and it means everything that you not only capture some of the most iconic moments of the show, but that you’d let me use them to show others what a wonderful time we all had. I hope to see some of you at her next tour! #chromatica

Didn’t get enough of Gaga? Well, good news for you, I have another article that made it into the 15th Street News, which you can read here. I covered Gaga’s Five Foot Two Netflix documentary, and you can read all about it here! If you enjoyed this article, please like and consider leaving a comment below!

—Payton