Concert Review: Lady Gaga's Smart Spectacle at Staples Center

Lady Gaga brought her “Monster Ball” show to Staples Center in Los Angeles for two nights (Aug. 11-12) this week, celebrating individuality and hook-enriched songs carried by a powerhouse personality that’s made her a pop phenomenon. 

“The monster ball will set you free!” she screamed and before night’s end there was a whole lot of liberation going on. She also offered up a command the sold-out audience on night one followed with roars:   “Dance, mother#@rs!”

While one could over-intellectualize about the themes – sex (straight, gay, bi), money (she hates it, she said as she’s raking it in), empowerment (but a feminist agenda is not her, uh, main thrust)) and self-expression (she has no problem with that) – this crowd was there for the party, especially that general admission floor with some of the most fanatic “little monsters.”

Presented somewhat like a stage musical, the show’s storyline was about getting to the Monster Ball, where the freaks, clubbers meet for fetish fun.  And for many in the audience, that meant dress up, from glitter bras, panties and fishnets to more outrageous outfits spotted around the venue before show time.

And onstage, there were so many costume changes, one lost count.  Also, set changes too, all very New York, including an array of neon signs and a subway car.   Snippets of music played between the various scenes to keep things moving, but it was those hits-and-more that kept the momentum going for the most part.

She opened performing “Dance in the Dark,” in silhouette behind the huge video curtain.  Once revealed, “Glitter and Grease” and the anthem “Just Dance’ followed, along with a knock-out run of numbers later that included “The Fame,” “Love Game,” “Boys Boys Boys,” and “Money Honey.”

Her dancers were tribal and she was the empress provocateur.  Strapping on a guitar keyboard at one point, she was also bandleader, though the musicians, except for a scorching violinist, somewhat dealt out hard rock clichés punctuating those dance rhythms.

From little body coverage to sort of a stripper-nun ensemble and also a big angelic white dress of sorts with wings, her costumes were purposely over-the-top or made for stage aerobics.  Even her long blonde hair was a prop.

She teased the audience, quipped about having a male member (a jab at some recnt gossip), howled, moaned, screamed, shouted and panted a lot into her headgear mic. But when she turned away from the camp or melodramatic staging with intricate choreography, her main message emerged as one of being true to yourself, not anyone else’s expectations.

That’s why one of the most honest moments came when she talked about a $20-thousand donation to the RE*Generation Campaign through Virgin mobile for homeless GLBT young men and women rejected by their own families. Sure, calling a random fan who’d filled out a form in the lobby area for a such a chance was a gimmick, but rooted in conviction. So much for the star who also told the crowd she hated truth and preferred b.s.

While self-effacing talking about her pre-hits career as a “naked girl with a foul mouth,” it was truth and not bull when she said, “I don’t want to leave loving me more.  I want you to leave loving yourself more.” She  meant it.

Other highlights included the ballad “Speechless”  (for “drunken assholes” including her father, in the crowd that night) and a new, unreleased (but recorded) song, “You and I.”  No choreography.  No staging.  Just Gaga at her piano alone and also with her band.  And more powerful really, than the big production numbers. Okay, there were flames atop her piano, but she can’t help it.

While “Monster” was wonderfully askew bop, the theatrics of “Teeth,” was a bit of a misfire and a breakdown came off as preachy nonsense, not performance art as intended.  The Latin-tinged “Alejandro” came off as generic dance-pop and surprisingly, her giant hit “Pokerface” sounded rushed. What, no sing-along? 

The big finish encore of “Bad Romance” was a big bounce back as she first sang inside a rotating sphere (like the kind motorcycle stunt guys ride around in at the circus) and then went parading down the catwalk in another classic outfit with fireworks-style sparklers blasting from her nipple areas and crotch.  But even with those final outrageous eye-poppers, it was still that charging and darn catchy song that mattered the most.

Gaga is definitely an original, there’s no doubt about that.  Even with inspirations like, yes, Madonna, as well as David Bowie, Queen, arena rock in general mashed up with dance and pop. the fact that she could just sing without the dancers, sets and such and still be commanding makes her all the more impressive.

Concert Review: Squeeze and The English Beat at Gibson Amphitheatre

In general, the (hit) sounds of the early 1980s have held up better over the years than music that came later in the decade. This is especially so for a lot of British acts of that "new wave" power-pop era, compared to say, the much more calculated junk by American hair bands that followed. So when Squeeze and The English Beat played the Gibson Amphitheatre at Universal City Wednesday (July 28), it wasn't just a night of nostalgia (though that was certainly in the air for the 30-to-40-something and up audience, many with kids in tow), but also one of some great songs that still click.
Playing a mix of the band's Jamaican-inspired Ska and punkynad new wave pop, the Beat was part of the late '70s ska boom in Britain that included bands such as The Specials, The Selecterand also Madness. English singer-guitarist Dave Wakeling, now a longtime resident of Los Angeles and a founding member of the original English Beat (which was always just The Beat in its native U.K, but we had a US band called The Beat, too, so...), leads the current incarnation of the group.
It's the 30th anniversary of The English Beat's debut Just Can’t Stop It and the band's spry set looked to that album and also Special Beat Service. For the most part, Wakeling's voice still sounds like it did circa 1982 and his younger band mates, especially toaster Antonee First Class, were all enthusiastic.  While curtains were drawn at the sides of the venue creating a smaller theater atmosphere of just several thousand instead of a capacity crowd, the audience of older folks felt young (or younger), on their feet for numbers that included ska versions of The Staple Singers "I'll Take You There" and Smokey Robinson and the Miracles "Tears of a Clown."  The biggest response came for Beat originals, now-classic tunes such as "Save It For Later," "I Confess" and "Mirror in the Bathroom." Wakeling's Beat will be recording new material and offered a taste of that with "The Love You Give Lasts Forever" and bittersweet "Said We Would Never Die."  Overall, the performance was quite, well, Beat-ific. 


The superb pop-rock and blue-eyed-soul of headliners Squeeze sounded terrific, just as it did when the band played L.A.'s Greek Theatre a few years ago. Headed up by the songwriting team of Glenn Tillbrook and Chris Difford on guitars and vocals, the band's arrangements were crisp and dynamic and oh, those so-hummable tunes. From the get-go, there was "Take Me I'm Yours" to open a best-of-and-more run that included "Annie, Get Your Gun," "Is That Love,"  “Black Coffee in Bed,” and “Pulling Mussels (From the Shell)," to name but a few emotional button-pushers for sing-alongs. The frontmen pair also dipped into their Difford and Tillbrook album. 
Squeeze's new album Spot The Difference features new recordings of those enduring songs, staying true to the original arrangements, though on stage, the band stretched out a bit here and there, reminding the crowd that Tillbrook isn't just one of our great pop voices, but also a skilled guitarist. In recent years, Squeeze shows have become perhaps even more of a treat than during the band's hit heyday in the '80s.
The English Beat will be on tour with another Brit ska band of that bygone late '70s-80s era, Bad Manners. You'll find the Beat on myspace, Facebook, and Twitter.
For more on Squeeze, check out the official band website, along with the Facebook page and follow Glenn Tilbrook on Twitter.