misspoptart

Thank the heavens that I had tickets to ArtRave: The Artpop Ball. Lady Gaga is beyond unbelievable. Words do not describe the immense love I have for this performer. The show was incredible, colorful, full of energy - essentially, an epic party.

What's interesting is that I had set my expectations so low. I used to idolize Lady Gaga back in her Poker Face days, with "Beautiful Dirty Rich" being one of the songs I identified with most actually. Not that I'm rich, I just totally buy in to the "be extremely ridiculous as much as possible" mantra. However, once she went into the "Born this Way" phase of her music my love her her swiftly tapered off. She seemed whacked out a lot of the time, kind of a mess. The album was fine but nothing as addictive as her Fame or Fame Monster stuff. I just wasn't feeling "You and I" or "The Edge of Glory" and "Born this Way" seemed too familiar and not fresh somehow. So that was that, I figured.



When ARTPOP was released last year, I was pleasantly surprised. "Applause," "MANiCURE," and "Venus," all reminded me of her original catchy and dance-able tracks, and I was sucked in. Needless to say, I would not pass up an offer from my roommate to see her in concert in Istanbul (although concerts here generally disappoint due to lack of enthusiasm from the audience and oft-abridged versions of the show). I took a chance and we splurged on pretty expensive tickets.

I could not be happier about that.

Setlist (underlined are the highlights):

ARTPOP
G.U.Y.
Donatella
Venus
MANiCURE
Just Dance
Poker Face
Telephone
Paparazzi
Do What U Want
You & I
Born This Way
Judas
Aura
Sexxx Dreams
Judas
Alejandro
Bad Romance
Applause
Swine
Gypsy

First off, I think the stage design and colors really made this show special. Everything was a rainbow with splashes of neons/bright colors everywhere. If you know me you know I love color, so right off the bat I was in love with the costume designs and lighting effects. Everything was explosive and beautiful, which set the tone as a fun, free-for-all atmosphere. Kind of priceless, actually. If I was throwing a party onstage I would basically do the same thing, so I really adored that unbridled style. Confetti was frequently used. I love confetti. It had an almost circus (a la Cirque du Soleil) feel.

Second, she really did play everything. I was expecting to forego songs like "Donatella" "Judas" or "Swine" which weren't that popular in Turkey, but she did the setlist as described and did not leave anything out, unlike *cough* Justin Timberlake in May. Her stage was huge (though lacking the walk-out ramp I've seen in her other shows online), and came with all the set pieces she has been using throughout the tour. She and the crew gave it their all, and I really admire that considering this part of the tour will not be very lucrative for her (and the stadium was far from full). She also went ahead with "Gypsy" as an encore, which was kind of surprising. Generally the artists haven't been doing encores here because the Turkish crowd tends to leave immediately without cheering very much or staying after the show seems to have ended. I think it's so rude when people start leaving clearly before the show is over. Really, people? Anyway I really, really felt in my heart of hearts that Gaga is not copping out at any of her shows. She is doing her very best and I appreciate that so much.

Third, she is such a performer. I mean, I have seen her perform live on youtube or whatever before and I can't say I ever thought it looked that interesting. She generally looks like she's on something or is otherwise out of her mind, but last night she gave an absolutely awe-inspiring performance. To be singing and jumping around and dancing her head off for 2 hours straight, I mean - I was tired after the third song. I had already used so much energy singing and dancing. I don't know how she does it. So much relentless energy, so infectious! Engaging the crowd as she did is also hard to resist. Who can say no to Lady Gaga asking you to "put your paws up?"

In terms of the singing, I had heard in a few other reviews that she was "relying on backing tracks too much" and "wasn't singing enough," but I did not get that impression at all. Conversely, she added so much creativity to her music improvising and singing well-known songs with slightly different melodies to keep us guessing. Not to mention the phenomenal band she brought along with her (complete with extremely sexy drummer). They were so GOOD. Songs like "MANiCURE" and "Aura" stick in mind so well because the band added so much depth to those songs that, frankly, the studio album did not provide.

Still, the songs that were so memorable were mainly so because of the choreography and awesome vocals. In that respect "Applause" and "Swine" showed off her vocal range the best.

As is the norm for concerts of this caliber, I discovered just how much I really love the song "Donatella." That song really stuck with me after hearing it in concert, again, it had something that studio version lacked. Gotta love that about going to a concert.

At 1 hour and 30 minutes long, I literally was so tired and spent at the end of this show I felt as if 3 hours had gone by, and I still wanted to dance and sing. I literally left the show thinking "I could go to that show every night."

And that, my friends, is why ArtRave: The Artpop Ball gets a 10/10 from me. Without a doubt, the best show I have seen in Istanbul and a serious contender for the best pop show I have ever seen, ever.

Note: Although this show was good, ITU Stadium is still the worst venue for concerts ever. It is not a true stadium and just has two disconnected tribunes that are quite far from the stage. For those on the field, they probably can't see very much and that sucks. In addition, Turkish fans continue to be the most lazy/boring fans ever, as only about 10 people in our stand were dancing throughout the show and we got dirty looks from plenty of *******s who apparently came to just sit down and stare blankly, occasionally taking a photo but otherwise looking disinterested. Tsk.

Btw, you can click "VVV" in my siggy for the blog version of this, it's also posted there.