Lady Gaga: Joanne World Tour—Giving us a million reasons to enjoy the show

Lady Gaga: Joanne World Tour, No opening act

Date Seen: August 3, 2017

Cost of Ticket: $300: Come to Mama VIP Package

Rating: 85%

I've been fortunate enough to see Lady Gaga perform in 3 of her other world tours (Monster Ball 2010, Born This Way Ball 2012 & ArtRave 2014). I have appreciated watching Gaga grow as an artist and performer. There were parts of the Monster Ball tour that were riddled with amateur mistakes from blocking to song choices and pacing. Born This Way Ball was a huge improvement where I believe she really hit her stride. The ArtRave tour made me fall in love with songs from the ArtPop album that I otherwise felt had fizzled. The show gave her music life and her performances were electric. Gaga's latest album, Joanne, had a few stand out songs but overall lacked the edginess that has defined her career. So it was with great anticipation I waited to see what her most recent tour would bring to her fans and tonight I found out.

Gaga took the stage and started her 22 song-set with gusto. Instantly digging into new material—and be prepared, she sings 9 of the 11 tracks from her Joanne album. Diamond Heart was an interesting choice to start the show. However, the little monsters ate it up as Gaga had finally arrived. She rocked Perfect Illusion which is the best breakup song of the past few years. Come to Mama was a poignant and sweet moment where Mother Monster embraced the diversity of the crowd and preached the need for love and acceptance. Her vocals hit all the right notes even if she occasionally missed one or two on the piano.

A few highlights of the show came when Lady Gaga played crowd favorites such as Bad Romance, The Edge of Glory and Just Dance. While Scheiße has never been a personal fave, it was a great vehicle to showcase the energetic dancing of Gaga and her team of dancers. Sadly, a few songs fell flat. Telephone seemed empty without having Beyonce's role (prerecorded or otherwise) filled. While Alejandro was well performed with a multitude of sexy male dancers, the lighting was too dark for both Gaga and the dancers, and the performance essentially became a silhouette to the LED screens on stage. Bloody Mary and Dancing in Circles were both forgettable. But Mother Monster finishes strong with The Cure and a show-stopping encore of a Million Reasons.

Gaga's stage was an innovative network of bridges that get lowered down from 'pods' suspended from the ceilings. Sometimes the bridges were rotated and doubled as screens. On another occasion, they were used for a quick change. They allowed Gaga to move from one end of the arena to the next. It was well used and interesting to experience. The mainstage had moving risers that contorted the stage into different angles. This also added to the overall visual effects of the evening.

Birds' eye view of the staging with the bridges and pods.

I think the biggest flaw of the evening was the disjointed and lengthy transitions between segments. Artists like Cher and Britney Spears change costumes within 30-45 seconds. Gaga's transitions were closer to 3 minutes with the band playing and the odd video segment. It killed the dance vibe the crowd had going. When Lady Gaga reappeared, she had no issue getting the crowd back again, but it felt like a bumpy ride. It should also be said that the costumes were mostly interesting and unique except for the repeated country themed outfits. I can only handle so many cowboy hats in one show.

One final critique is on the organization of the event. Originally when I bought the tickets, the event was scheduled for 7:30 pm. It got changed to 8:30 pm with no notice to concert goers. We had purchased the VIP Come to Mama package, which included floor seats, some swag, and priority entrance. 2 days before the show, the email from organizers informed us that the priority entrance was from 3:30-5:30 pm. Many people arrived around 3:30 pm. Organizers herded us from one line to the next for over 4 hours. Gaga didn't take the stage until almost 9 pm. So by the time the concert had started, many of the VIPs had already been standing for over 5.5 hours and then stood another 2 hours for the show. If you ask me...that's not very VIP at all.

Overall, Gaga did what she does best, she connected with her crowd and sang her heart out. There were places she could have improved but there was also some standout moments that I'll likely never forget. Advice: See the show, Skip the VIP packages and avoid floor tickets.

Remaining Shows are listed below:

AUG 5, 2017
SATURDAY @ 7:30PM
Lady Gaga Joanne World Tour Tacoma Dome
Tacoma, Washington
AUG 8, 2017
TUESDAY @ 7:30PM
Lady Gaga Joanne World Tour The Forum
Inglewood, California
AUG 9, 2017
WEDNESDAY @ 7:30PM
Lady Gaga Joanne World Tour The Forum
Inglewood, California
AUG 11, 2017
FRIDAY @ 7:30PM
Lady Gaga Joanne World Tour T -Mobile Arena
Las Vegas, Nevada
AUG 13, 2017
SUNDAY @ 7PM
Lady Gaga Joanne World Tour AT&T Park
San Francisco, California
AUG 15, 2017
TUESDAY @ 7:30PM
Lady Gaga Joanne World Tour Golden 1 Center
Sacramento, California
AUG 19, 2017
SATURDAY @ 7:30PM
Lady Gaga Joanne World Tour CenturyLink Center Omaha
Omaha, Nebraska
AUG 21, 2017
MONDAY @ 7:30PM
Lady Gaga Joanne World Tour Xcel Energy Center
Saint Paul, Minnesota
AUG 23, 2017
WEDNESDAY @ 7:30PM
Lady Gaga Joanne World Tour Quicken Loans Arena
Cleveland, Ohio
AUG 25, 2017
FRIDAY @ 7PM
Lady Gaga Joanne World Tour Wrigley Field
Chicago, Illinois
AUG 28, 2017
MONDAY @ 8:30PM
Lady Gaga Joanne World Tour Citi Field
Corona, New York
AUG 29, 2017
TUESDAY @ 8:30PM
Lady Gaga Joanne World Tour Citi Field
Corona, New York
SEP 2, 2017
SATURDAY @ 6:30PM
Lady Gaga Fenway Park
Boston, Massachusetts
SEP 4, 2017
MONDAY @ 7:30PM
Lady Gaga Joanne World Tour Centre Bell
Montréal, Quebec
SEP 6, 2017
WEDNESDAY @ 7:30PM
Lady Gaga Joanne World Tour Air Canada Centre
Toronto, Ontario
SEP 7, 2017
THURSDAY @ 7:30PM
Lady Gaga Joanne World Tour Air Canada Centre
Toronto, Ontario
SEP 10, 2017
SUNDAY @ 7:30PM
Lady Gaga Joanne World Tour Wells Fargo Center
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
SEP 11, 2017
MONDAY @ 7:30PM
Lady Gaga Joanne World Tour Wells Fargo Center
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
NOV 5, 2017
SUNDAY @ 7:30PM
Lady Gaga Joanne World Tour Bankers Life Fieldhouse
Indianapolis, Indiana
NOV 7, 2017
TUESDAY @ 7:30PM
Lady Gaga Joanne World Tour Little Caesars Arena
Detroit, Michigan
NOV 10, 2017
FRIDAY @ 7:30PM
Lady Gaga Joanne World Tour Mohegan Sun Arena
Uncasville, Connecticut
NOV 11, 2017
SATURDAY @ 7:30PM
Lady Gaga Joanne World Tour Mohegan Sun Arena
Uncasville, Connecticut
NOV 13, 2017
MONDAY @ 7:30PM
Lady Gaga Joanne World Tour KFC Yum! Center
Louisville, Kentucky
NOV 15, 2017
WEDNESDAY @ 7PM
Lady Gaga Joanne World Tour Sprint Center
Kansas City, Missouri
NOV 16, 2017
THURSDAY @ 7:30PM
Lady Gaga Joanne World Tour Scottrade Center
Saint Louis, Missouri
NOV 19, 2017
SUNDAY @ 7:30PM
Lady Gaga Joanne World Tour Verizon Center
Washington, District of Columbia
NOV 20, 2017
MONDAY @ 7:30PM
Lady Gaga Joanne World Tour PPG Paints Arena
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
NOV 28, 2017
TUESDAY @ 7:30PM
Lady Gaga Joanne World Tour Philips Arena
Atlanta, Georgia
NOV 30, 2017
THURSDAY @ 7:30PM
Lady Gaga Joanne World Tour American Airlines Arena
Miami, Florida
DEC 1, 2017
FRIDAY @ 7:30PM
Lady Gaga Joanne World Tour Amalie Arena
Tampa, Florida
DEC 3, 2017
SUNDAY @ 7:30PM
Lady Gaga Joanne World Tour Toyota Center
Houston, Texas
DEC 5, 2017
TUESDAY @ 7:30PM
Lady Gaga Joanne World Tour Frank Erwin Center
Austin, Texas
DEC 8, 2017
FRIDAY @ 7:30PM
Lady Gaga Joanne World Tour American Airlines Center
Dallas, Texas
DEC 9, 2017
SATURDAY @ 7:30PM
Lady Gaga Joanne World Tour Chesapeake Energy Arena
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
DEC 16, 2017
SATURDAY @ 7:30PM
Lady Gaga T-Mobile Arena
Las Vegas, Nevada
DEC 18, 2017
MONDAY @ 7:30PM
Lady Gaga Joanne World Tour The Forum
Inglewood, California