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WEEK 9 – LADY GAGA’S MAYHEM BALL CONCERT

Written by

James Fitzgerald Burke

in

Choosing an event relevant to Music Production, and analysing it whilst giving a detailed in depth look at it.

This September I was lucky enough to go watch Lady Gaga perform in the O2 in London. She constructed a show that was laid out like an opera and performance rather than a traditional concert, and gave a performance that was a blend between a standard pop sing a long, a heartfelt ballad to close out a movie, and reached the extremities of the drama and tenacity of an opera to support her newest album ‘MAYHEM’ which was “a return to high-concept pop after a spell of method acting and jazz crooning.” As stated by the article “Lady Gaga serves mayhem, magic and guest stars as UK tour launches” by BBC News.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cn829pjr2mpo

The concert was split up into four different parts to lay out the story of ‘MAYHEM’ about two versions of Lady Gaga, a good and evil counterparts to each other, that are battling each other throughout the concert, as is tension battles. However the album ‘MAYHEM’ is not conceptual but Gaga splits this push and pull between the songs she plays, in the first part called ‘The velvet and vice’, splitting between her move evil intended songs like “Judas” and “Poker Face” which both clash the themes of extreme sexuality in dominance but other tracks like ‘Abracadabra’ showing the horrible nature of this princess her character believes she is, whilst paying homage to her whole discography with “the accompanying tour feels like a bold and hugely successful reaffirmation of Stefani Germanotta as pop’s most unrepentant oddball” stated by the article “Lady Gaga review – from skeletons to sexy plague doctors, this is a glorious, ridiculous spectacle” by The Guardian.

https://www.theguardian.com/music/2025/sep/30/lady-gaga-review-o2-arena-london-mayhem-ball

As we move through the performance, Gaga shows her ability at all her different music genres she has experimented with over the year, but her music is supported by excellent musicians like her guitarist and keyboard player, as well as backing dancers who helped bring this “deceptively deep storytelling around self-sabotage and shadow selves” said by the review Lady Gaga’s Mayhem Ball at the O2 Arena, London review: A sublimely dark carnival of fame monsters by The Attitude. But this story comes to life as their body movements and choreography support Gaga’s artistic emotion to bring this tale of two perspective’s so well as her dancers help support her character or fight against her character in a dramatic disaster which feels so precious compared to your standard pop artists, rather presenting it as a “pop-rock opera” said by the article Lady Gaga: The Mayhem Ball at the O2 review — put your paws up for the stadium show of the century by The Standard.

Below are the links I used to conclude my research on Gaga and her MAYHEM Ball tour.

  1. “Lady Gaga serves mayhem, magic and guest stars as UK tour launches” – BBC News
  2. “Lady Gaga review – from skeletons to sexy plague doctors, this is a glorious, ridiculous spectacle” – The guardian
  3. “Lady Gaga at London’s O2 Arena: timings, set list, last-minute tickets, reviews and everything you need to know” – Time Out London
  4. “Lady Gaga’s Mayhem Ball is the greatest pop show on earth” – The Fourty-Five
  5. “Lady Gaga’s Mayhem Ball at the O2 Arena, London review: A sublimely dark carnival of fame monsters” – Attitude
  6. “Lady Gaga: The Mayhem Ball at the O2 review — put your paws up for the stadium show of the century” – The Standard
  7. “Lady Gaga Setlist Tuesday the 30th of September” – Setlist.fm

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