Born This Way Ball concert review in Helsingin Sanomat

Gaga paid a tit for tat 

The new superstar of pop teases with the religion, sex and violence in the imagery, just like Madonna.

Published: 8.29.2012 in the Culture section of the paper 

Mikko Aaltonen

Lady Gaga was photographed last week in Tallinn. It wasn't allowed to photograph the concert so the photo is taken from a building next to it.

Lady Gaga is, as her paragon and current rival Madonna, fixated up to her ears to religious symbolism, sexual imagery and manifestations of violence and their different combinations.
 Immediately at the second scene of Gaga's third concert in Finland included simulated sex after which Gaga shot her parter of the act. After this, she moved to birth new life out of giant, inflatable woman's lower body, on which was projected a face for a moment, which seemed quite like Madonna.
Lady Gaga paid back with interest the Gaga-mockery which her "big sister" performed two weeks ago at her Olympic stadium show.

The major differencies between the queen of pop and the crown princess were highlighted at the show's musical offering, and  in Gaga's even more close interact with her fans.
 As a talented interpreter Gaga did not rely on backing tapes, instead sang most of the songs live. She also accompanied herself with electric piano on a solo number, which offered a taste of the upcoming album, The Artpop: built on a simple melody, Princess Die was not over-energetic dance pop, but a beautiful ballad.

Unlike most superstars, Lady Gaga climbed down to the "audience level" on a number of occasions of her show. For example, she sat down on the edge of the stage and took up stuff fans in the front row throwed her.
From a wallet flown in her lap, she grabbed a credit card, slipped it into a pocket of her biker-vest and said she was going to go shopping, a moment later bursting into a hysterical make-up dripping laughter: "I don't need your money, I just want your soul and your love!"
 We were in the heart of role model and brand building: go over to your audience, do not turn yourself into something unrecognizable.

For the fashion freaks the show offered such a load of eye candy that it would be enough to digest even if the show had been performed mute. If she wanted Gaga would have a chance to spring up the careers of even a couple of local designers during one concert by only flashing in their clothing, but reportedly on Born This Way tour the star has been seen mainly in Giorgio Armani's creations.
These were in their fantasticality in the league of their own: during the Bloody Mary song Gaga appeared like a mutant dropped from space and wrapped in haute couture, in Government Hooker like a giant insects.

It would be interesting to see how Stefani Germanotta could match the conditions of a concert without profusely dispensed sexual provocation. Would it drift a product called Lady Gaga into an identity crisis?
Probably not, because merely in musical gifts and acting skills Gaga has more than enough to spare. Because she's soon made two world tours every couple of years based on the same spiritual essence of imagery and megalomania, the question is: what next?
 A third as pompous and underlining provocative world tour would be repeating herself, and would begin to brittle the power and glamor of the Gaga-fantasy character.

The song Electric Chapel, played with a rock band between glowing crosses showed that it could be natural for Gaga to do a rock band tour. In her case, it would not be conservative, but surprising, and after all the role-play and props it would be a truly bold move. But above all, it would be something which Madonna would hardly ever dare to go.

The Monster Ball concert review in Helsingin Sanomat

Superstar performed also with make-up on the cheeks

Published: 15.10.2010 in the Culture section of the paper

 Mikko Aaltonen

 Lady Gagas show was a mix of pop concert, gay-spirited cabaret, music theater and stand-up.

At the second time in Finland performing Stefani Germanotta alias Lady Gaga offered an unforgettable show, which was a strange mix of pop concert, gay-spirited cabaret, music theater and spontaneous stand-up in Helsinki Arena in Wednesday night.

With her strange costumes constantly shrugging Gaga changed her outfit over ten times during the show.

Most of the garments was the kind that in tram car on the casual passenger they would have caused suspicions about the bearers mental state.

Fashion and music were only one element in Lady Gagas Monster Ball-show. For some kind of a common thread of the performance arose general provocation and raising the self-esteem of teen-aged fandom. The star compared herself with Jesus and shouted: "You are all born to superstars and you can become whatever you want, if you want it enough. I want that when you leave here, you don't love me more, but yourselves."

The use of religious themes is surely an old trick with provocation-willing pop-stars and familiar yet from the concerts of Gagas contest-sister Madonna from the 1980s. Gagas freakiness was nevertheless more fierce: during Teeth-song Gaga swam at the fountain in the set of her home-city New Yorks Central Park, and from the fountain welled up blood and arose a Christ-statue. The fake-blood run down from Gagas slashed throat into her bikini.

Sold-out Arenas 11.000 spectators watched and listened in turn silently as well as incontinently indicating their favour. It felt like here really might be a pop-star, such as we haven't seen before.

A small paradox is that how conservative Gagas popmusic is when compared to the glatantness of her character and show. This is probably completely considered. If mainly as mainstream disco-electro thumped music would be any more challenging, the entirety might have been too hard to swallow for great masses.

Now the performance get strength right from the contrasts. The contrast between musics easiness and shows blasphemy and Gagas own characters supernaturalness and on the other hand humanitys transposition managed to keep the interest on the whole two hours.

The nights most touching moment wasn't the turbo-loaded dance numbers with electro-bumping and nude surface, but when Gag sat with her make-up sprawled in front of a grand piano and told a story about her deceased grandfather.

"My grandpa wouldn't like all this sex and leather, which I have in my show, but he would've liked that that I perform and play music to you."

After this she presented the concerts only taste of her next year upcoming Born This Way-album, this 1980s style adult-rock sounded You and I-song. During these songs Gaga acoustically performed alone, she showed like in passing that she is not just a produced and plastic pop-product, but also a real musician, who control the situation even then where there is no band, battalion of dancers and a truckfull of gadgets for backup.

In front of a flaming grand piano other fakelash slouching sitting Gaga doesn't look a supernatural superstar anymore, rather an ordinary in her twenties, who is sincerely abashed of the grace she got.

When she accompanied herself little bit clumsy with grand piano, it came to mind that Madonna would not even in the start of her career hardly took such risk with exposing so completely her own humanity.

By the aid of that Gaga might even paddle past her most obvious paragon.

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.