Lady Gaga triumphs in Milan ahead of UK shows
Northsound 1 previews Mother Monster live!
Last updated 22nd Jan 2018
Lady Gaga proved why she is one of the greatest live acts on the planet with a spectacular performance in Italy on the European leg of her 'Joanne World Tour' on Thursday night (18th January).
Northsound 1 was lucky to be invited to Mother Monster’s show at Milan’s Mediolanum Forum to get a sneak peak of what to expect ahead of Gaga’s gigs in the UK, and it was truly an all-consuming sensory spectacular from the offset.
Consisting of seven acts and a truly spine-tingling encore - each with a costume change and jaw-dropping new theme and stage set-up – after a tantalising countdown intro, Gaga emerged on stage in a mirrorball cowboy hat and sparkly outfit to a rapturous response from the Italian crowd and quickly launched into a scintillating rendition of ‘Diamond Heart’.
Technically on home turf, it didn’t take long for Gaga to pay tribute to her Italian-American heritage, continually expressing her love for the crowd in Italian and saying “how proud” she was to be in the room tonight. The love back from the Milan faithful was palpable.
A true master of crowd engagement, Gaga implored “all sides of the arena to get on your feet!”, and we duly obliged, before tearing into ‘A-Yo’ where she showcased her incredible musicianship playing guitar while belting out the anthem with her tight-knit band.
Unsurprisingly, seminal Gaga tune ‘Poker Face’ was monumental, while a rip-roaring ‘Perfect Illusion’ – with Gaga strutting around the stage like she completely owned it – proved that Gaga’s latest material from 2016 album ‘Joanne’ sits perfectly alongside the early classics.
Picking up momentum, after a video interlude, the second act saw Gaga dispatch ‘John Wayne’ while the stage erupted with dazzling pyrotechnics, a shortened version of ‘Alejandro’ was truly phenomenal, while hard-hitting ‘Born This Way’ track ‘Scheiße’ was dedicated to “all the Italian girls in the room tonight who know what it’s like to be strong.”
Bounding around the stage and infectious energy (Gaga honestly puts every inch of her being into her live performances) breakthrough anthem ‘Just Dance’ was met with a cacophony of fireworks before ‘Love Game’ and ‘Telephone’ upped the ante and sent the entire 13,000 capacity crowd into ecstasy.
As you’d expect from a Gaga show, the whole production was truly mind-blowing. Flanked by a massive screen, alongside the pyrotechnics and fireworks, the stage continually moved on pistons as Gaga and her flawless dancers prowled it. During one of the standout tracks of the night, ‘Applause’, two walkways adorned with psychedelic flowers lowered from the ceiling and Gaga walked onto two stages in the centre of the arena, ensuring everyone in the room has the chance to see Mother Monster up close and in the flesh.
An intensely personal gig, before ‘Come To Mama’, Gaga reveals her mum is in the audience before dedicating it to the LBGT community and people of every colour, race and religion in the crowd and also urged them to show “compassion for the people not in favour of equality.” For two hours when you’re in the arena with her, you truly feel like a member of Gaga’s family.
Getting emotional once again, ‘Edge of Glory’ saw Gaga reveal she met family members from Sicily for the first time today and she also paid tribute to her good friend Donatella Versace in the crowd.
Gaga perhaps at her best tonight when she stripped everything back. ‘Edge of Glory’ was performed on a kaleidoscopic piano and it perfectly showcased her truly stunning voice and it had the hairs standing on the back of our necks. It paved the way nicely for an almighty, energetic rendition of ‘Born This Way’.
Returning to the stage in a fiery red dress, ‘Bloody Mary’ was nothing short of a triumph with red flames blasting from the stage, ‘Paparazzi’ saw Gaga strut around while draped in an Italian flag before performing a Houdini act at the end and a poignant version of ‘Joanne’ (once again shining the spotlight on Gaga’s stunning voice) was dedicated to her family.
Saving one of the best moments for last, ‘Bad Romance’ was performed on a wonky stage with Gaga belting it out in a white latex outfit and mask. It was a perfect rendition of one of the standout pop songs of the past decade.
With audience members holding up ‘Stay Joanne!’ signs, before a searing performance of 'The Cure', the stage was showered with letters from Little Monsters at the front of the crowd. Gaga picked one up and read from a 21-year-old girl who reveals that Gaga’s music saved her when she lost her father. Poignantly, Gaga then descended into the crowd and gave the girl a kiss on the cheek. Powerful stuff.
Ending with a rousing performance of ‘Million Reasons’ on the piano, Gaga stood atop her kaleidoscopic piano and told the crowd: “Thank you for this beautiful country I’m so proud to be from.”
If tonight’s show is anything to go by then Lady Gaga’s shows in the UK will be truly unmissable. Tickets still remain to Lady Gaga’s shows in Birmingham, London and Manchester. Head to Aloud.com to get yours now!
>> Click here to buy tickets <<
See some photos from Lady Gaga's amazing performance in Milan below:
Lady Gaga
Lady Gaga plays:
JANUARY 2018
Birmingham Arena - 31st
FEBRUARY 2018
Birmingham Genting Arena - 1st
London O2 Arena - 4th
Manchester Arena - 6th
London O2 Arena - 8th
The full set list in Milan was as follows:
ACT I
Diamond Heart
A-Yo
Poker Face
Perfect Illusion
ACT II
John Wayne
Scheiße
Alejandro
Act III
Just Dance
LoveGame
Telephone
Act IV
Applause
Come to Mama
The Edge of Glory
Born This Way
Act V
Bloody Mary
Dancin' In Circles
Paparazzi
Ambulance
Act VI
Angel Down
Joanne
Act VII
Bad Romance
The Cure
Encore:
Million Reasons