Lady Gaga Kicks Off Lollapalooza 2010 WIth a Bang!
- Author: F.A.Y.
- Posted on: Sunday August 8, 2010 at 11:00 AM
- Filed under: exclusive, music, lady gaga, headlining, 2007 performance, hairspray, bra-lighting
In 2007, Lady Gaga was simply a hopeful yet largely unknown artist, booked to perform at Chicago's summer festival, Lollapalooza. Relegated to the tiny mini BMI stage in an early time slot, she wore a disco-ball-bedazzled bra, a little disco ball revolved overhead, backed by her best friend and DJ Lady Starlight. A small fog machine served as the only intermittent prop. That day, the crowd was sparse and rather ambivalent-seeming to this scantily clothed teen. The reviews afterwards were equally so. The biggest gossip from the show was that she almost got arrested for indecent exposure by Chicago cops.
Fast forward three years. On Friday night, August 6th, 2010, Lady Gaga seemed intent to prove on Chicago's home turf just how far she had come in a mere three years. Now a global phenomenon, Lady Gaga headlined the opening night of Lollapalooza, in front of a 80,000+ crowd with a fiery 2-hour set. The set involved thirteen costume changes and an impressive array of props, including a disco stick, a nun habit, a blood war, an over-sized angler fish, a fiery statue, a mushroom-esque wig that put The Addam's Family's Cousin It to shame, and a corset that burst into fireworks Madonna-style. She played a jazz song using her right 4-inch stiletto heel. She rose 15 feet above the stage on a podium to play a keytar that looked like what Joan Jett would play if she lived with the Jetsons. Three or four songs in, she brought out her friend Lady Starlight and reminded the crowd of her 2007 performance and the negative reviews. Then, to a Metallica tune, the duo sprayed hairspray into the air and lit it on fire - a decidedly unladylike, rebellious "F*_ _ _ You" to the naysayers of yesteryear.
(PS excuse the photos; they were from far away with a snap and shoot but hey!)
Prove herself she did. The sweeping 2-hour performance mesmerized most - even for those who are not already little monsters (an affectionate term Gaga uses for her fans), or had already seen other prior performances (the Chicago show ran very similar to the NYC set lists, down to her talking points between songs.) It is debatable if she had anything to prove - as the 24-year-old is arguably the most buzz-worthy pop star of the moment - consistently selling out her Monster Ball Tour, making an ubiquitous imprint in the Fashion world, and spending her downtime performing at award parties and private events onstage with the likes of Elton John and Madonna. (Not to mention, she made $62 million dollars in 2009.) Regardless, in the finale, when the pop icon instructed the crowd to raise up their claws like little monsters, the field turned into a sea of Thriller-esque, clawed, screaming, (if smiling) beasts. Little monsters, indeed.
Gaga and her old pal Lady Starlight
Little Monsters
Backstage after the show.
Review & Photos: Faith-Ann Young
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“ I really do admire her for the outfits she wears...if I were famous by chance, then I would dress like her to show off my body as competition. ”
