Lady Gaga’s Monster Ball concert: The Hollywood News Review

By Anthony D’Alessandro HollywoodNews.com: Costumes show their teeth over sets in Lady Gaga’s lean and mean return to Los Angeles. Four out of five stars (****) As stock markets tank and unemployment lines grow during recessionary times, there’s nothing more surreal, or wonderful, than ducking into Lady Gaga’s “Monster Ball” concert, a show that heralds the return of Glam-Rock. Wednesday marked the first of two shows in the City of Angels; her most recent spin here since December. With her sleek body, cabaret vocals, Michael Jackson moves and a string of avant-garde costumes that look like they fell off the fashion runway in the Talking Heads’ movie “True Stories,” Lady Gaga easily seduces and is well worth going into debt for on your credit card. Her Highness knows times are tough, so when she thanks her audience for coming, it’s with a complete sense of sincerity. The Lady doth pull out an endless number of metallic and table cloth-like Burkas as well as bathing suits from a lost Busby Berkleley number on acid. Even so, “Monsters Ball” is quite streamlined in its overall production design next to the pre-recession A/V excess flaunted by Madonna in her 2006 “Confession” and 2008 “Sticky & Sweet” Tours as well as Christina Aguilera’s “Back to Basics” – shows which changed up sets with each and every song, employing a number of complex props and screens. Gaga economically uses fewer sets for as many as four songs. It is here that this Monster of Fame is quite tame: For all her controversy, Lady Gaga isn’t as shocking live as one might think. If you’re looking for a bubble gum version of G.G. Allin, who is probably the Duke of transgressive punk acts, self-humiliation and just all-out gross tricks; her Highness’ ability to drop jaws isn’t that far from her pop sisters’ — Madonna, Aguilera, Brittney Spears and Gwen Stefani—onstage indulgences for Andrew Lloyd Weber and Cirque du Soliel stage glamour. A silver Jesus statue bleeding and aflame during “Alejandro” is as dicey as it gets and is mundane in the wake of Madonna’s Catholic protests. In fact, the video interstitials during “Monster’s Ball” — which include Lady Gaga in a blood soaked Marilyn Monroe dress and her smoking her face into a skull– are more haunting than the S&M dancers parading around. Set a guitar on fire? Throw a [...]