Lady Gaga - Glasgow SECC (01/03/2010)

Steph Cosway | Wednesday, 03 March 2010

Pop-phenom Lady Gaga proclaims to be like Tinkerbell – if you don't clap for her she'll fade and die. Well, this fairy may as well have been slugging on elixir straight from the Philosopher's Stone Buckfast bottle after the exceptional reception she received from the droves of Glasgow fans at the SECC last night.

Held on the brink of gaga-ism, fans waited for the fame monster to arrive on stage through a 45 minute delay. Not that revellers were deterred - far from it; the few frosty boos bouncing around the hall were aimed more at the third play of Michael Jackson's 'Thriller'. It only took the first beat of 'Dance In The Dark' for all to be forgiven as the 20ft silhouette of Lady Gaga appeared on stage to unleash the Monster Ball, where the freaks and geeks rule the world.

At times more opera than concert Lady Gaga's Monster Ball is the Wizard of Oz meets Rocky Horror Picture Show meets Cinderella. And what a journey it is; there's a broken down car, a subway cart that Gaga cavorts in wearing a see-through polythene nun dress to sing 'Lovegame', and then there's the monster. Not a metaphorical monster or a video of a monster; no. Only the premature legend that is Lady Gaga could get away with having a 15ft monster straight out of Cloverfield with humongous tentacles trailing across stage; it looked so perfectly sane.

But this show isn't all about the props and the outfits - it's hugely important to mention here the flaming bikini where Gaga's crotch and breasts sprouted sparks. Yes, the costumes, the dancers, £1 million stage setup and every other extra-thingy-addon-jinglybits were amazing. But that was nothing when held against the lady herself.

Lady Gaga is the most talented artist to have graced our charts for a very long time. Not only can she sing perfectly while dancing her little La Boutons off, but she's also a genuinely charismatic woman. Gaga effortlessly had the crowd in giggles with her unprecedented humour and openness. There is no doubt that this Lady considers each and every one of her fans to be her friend, making it impossible not to fall in love with her.

Rating: 5/5