The Fame Ball concert review in Helsingin Sanomat

Lady Gaga is the pop-princess of the new age

The singer has talent to even inherit Madonnas scepter

Published: 7.30.2009 in the Culture section of the paper
Translater by Sire Sasa


Pertti Avola
Helsingin Sanomat
Timo Jaakonaho/Lehtikuva

Lady Gaga transformed the stout concert hall into a disco.

First came Madonna and Cyndi Lauper, then Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera, and now this Stefani Joanne Germanotta or Lady Gaga.
Is Lady Gaga serious, or does the former performance artist just bring her disputed image so far, that it start to become a parody?
Hard to say.
At her concert in Kulttuuritalo, or show is a better word, Gagas numerous influences could clearly be seen.
Besides Madonna she borrows tones for her image for example from Gwen Stefani, David Bowie, Freddie Mercury and Cher.
Especially Gaga's imaginative costumes and emphasis of her own sexiness reminded the latter one.

Gaga's music is slightly 1980s style dance-pop, energetic but empty - or then gentle parody produced with a grin in the corner of the mouth. Perhaps the name of Lady Gagas first hit represents the music best: Just Dance.
Gagas show is a comprehensive product, where live music unifys with backtracks and video. Gaga gives an image of herself both as a selfconscious worldstar and just a stardom reaching neighbourgirl, who wants to keep close relationships with her fans
She accentuates that she wants even her every listener to feel like a star, to cherish great dreams about themselves and then made the dreams come true.
Like this Lady Gaga said in June in Rolling Stone -magazine and now also at the stage of Kulttuuritalo.

Close the relationship between Gaga and her fans really is, in Finland too. Sold-out Kulttuuritalo was filled with 1700 fans, whose average age felt to be about sixteen.
They appreciated without term Lady Gagas flirt, small talk and posing, not to mention the music itself. At the same time formed up a real fine atmosphere, which transformed a little stout concert hall to a sweaty disco for an hour and a half.
Lady Gagas music is pulchritudinous dance-pop, which lyrics tells about disco, sex, boys and cheating. The familiar dance-pop share from The Fame -album was leaded through energetically and fast in the show.
A bit mechanical in the album sounded songs Lady Gaga presented with the help of three dancers more warmly and also more frantic.

Vibe steadied when Gaga performed with piano and the accompaniment of the backing band the ballad versions of the songs Brown Eyes and Poker Face, which although turned to dance version in its end. In these versions at the latest could be heard that this woman can sing.
In the same part was heard a funny story about what is it like to perform in the slick floor of a New York gay-club, when the warming-uppers were naked dance group oiling themselves.
In her own playful postmodernism Lady Gaga is perfect pop-princess of 2000s, excellent performer and as a singer in way different cast than some Britney, but to the state of Madonna she has still a way to go.
Although Lady Gaga is 23 and Madonna 50. Youth exuding pop-queens scepter could swap soon.

The Fame Ball

I was at the Fame Ball in Helsinki, Finland 28.9.2009. The show was in Kulttuuritalo, "House of culture", which has room for lousy 1388 people (889 seats and 504 standing). Totally underestimated even if it was Gaga's first concert in Finland.
I didn't right away get to know that Gaga was going to perform in Finland, so I missed totally the ticket sales. But in the Finnish internet auction Huutonet there were many tickets for sale. I bought one for best place in the standing auditorium. It costed me double price or 100€ ($140), but it was totally worth it.
The concert was awesome! It was the first gig I was ever been! But certainly not the last. But I will only go to Gaga's concerts, no other artist or band is worth my money. The set list was:

1. Paparazzi
2. Lovegame
3. Beautiful, Dirty, Rich
4. The Fame
5. Money Honey
6. Boys Boys Boys
7. Just Dance
8. Eh, Eh (Nothing Else I Can Say)
9. Brown Eyes
10. Poker Face (Acoustic Version)
11. Poker Face

Concert started an hour late and during that time we was forced to listen Hyper Crush, which was a warming up band, lousy one. But the concert was my best experience before Monster Ball. Especially Poker Face got the crowd crazy. It was very hot and tight in the standing auditorium and I was jumping all the time. I was wearing my Back Hole Glasses (my first ever Gaga prop), Lightning Bolt Shirt (made after Lady Gaga logo), white silk gloves (that I've bought just before the concert and I almost got late because of them), black leather biker gloves, metal bracers and chainmail belt. I was the most "outrageous" dressed fan there (nothing to compare my later outfits though) and I think Gaga saw me:

I went to the concert alone, because I didn't know absolutely any Gaga fans yet. But with a surprise when the concert was over I met my friend from high school when we were coming out of the building. I didn't knew she was a Gaga fan, and she didn't knew about me being one. We talked and I showed her a picture of Gaga that I've made with Illustrator (vector graphics program):

I have thought of giving it to Gaga Herself, but She didn't come out then. Luckily I met my friend, because she encouraged me to give my picture to the band members who were smoking outside the building. So I talk to them and I asked one of them (maybe Nicolas Constantine, the guitarist, or Thomas Kafafian the bassist) to take my picture and giving it to Gaga. He asked "What is it, a bomb?" and took it and promised to give it to Gaga. Inappropriate joke, since I'm Her fan and I would never like to bomb Her (I only bomb Her with love).