embracing vicious lust (lady gaga live @ the nokia in los angeles)

"Image". One sole word drives the unreal spiral of success that has pushed an outrageously bold figure into stardom. Lady GaGa is her name. To be honest, I started out with very little interest in her "dance music" that involved poking faces and disco sticks. However, YouTube mysteriously recommended a Lady GaGa music video to me one day, and being the crazy motherfucker that I am, I clicked it.

What the fuck just happened?

Masquerade masks, dalmatians, leather, all drenched in an aura of sex. Count me in. Ever since then, I began following Lady GaGa as her singles rose to success. It wasn't so much the music that got to me, but her image as an expressionist - like a rebellious teen that said "fuck the real world" and actually came out on top.

My sister and I saw Lady GaGa at the Nokia Theater on the 21st. Slightly disappointed that Kid Cudie would not be starting her off, we entered the place after paying $25 self-parking. Fail. The show started off with Semi-Precious Weapons. Not exactly my cup of tea, but it was entertaining watching the dude prance around in tights while yelling almost incoherently into the mic about biting down on diamonds and sticky champagne. After that came the intermission, which lasted a drudging hour and a half. I had almost wondered if the show was even going to happen when the lights finally dimmed.

Just...wow.

Lovegame.

The stage was set up with a "box" that would splay all sorts of different graphics and textures over the dancers while the background flashed different videos and images. I'm not going to post anymore pictures from my shitty as iPhone camera cause they won't do her justice. I was in a trance the whole time, consistently blown away by her AMAZING outfits and intense visuals. And when she hit her piano solos, I melted. Mentioning how critics would scoff at her for just making "bland dance music", she makes it a point to show that she can fucking sing like a nightingale and play the piano like a goddess on a harp.

She would talk to the audience quite a bit, and I'm surprised about her personality. Half of her is a regular girl, the other half is this star she wants to be. GaGa thrashes out vulgarly and boldly, but still hints at how appalled she was to have risen to such blazing success so quickly. She represents all of the closet freaks and artists within ourselves. No, I'm not talking about painters and goths. I'm talking about you, and your fear of liking things that society would not deem "acceptable" or "cool". Fuck it all; do what you want.

Lady GaGa announces her new global hand gesture, the "little monster".

In all, it was a great experience. I wouldn't hesitate for half a second before purchasing a live DVD because her performance left me flabbergasted. Her outlandish style very closely coincides with how I think and how my personal artwork flows: chaotic but focused at the same time. Society has seen too much of the same shit happen. This is the reason for her success: the need for something new, something expressive, and something unafraid of itself. We're at a turning point in the world of art and entertainment, and Lady GaGa is just step one.

Nothing much to say. Xmas, New Years, then back on the grinder. Yucks.