Lady Gaga Concert

Over the summer I purchased two tickets to see Lady Gaga in Amsterdam. I wasn't even in the country yet and already I had plans. Those plans had to be postponed, however, when Lady Gaga had to reschedule the European leg of her world tour due to complications with her fibromyalgia. Last Saturday night however, about three months after the ticket date, Gaga was well enough to give her show in Amsterdam. I am very glad that she took the time she needed in order to give her all. 

I went with a classmate of mine, and we took the train into Amsterdam. We got there a bit early due to the train schedules, (7:00 for a 7:30 show, though if we had been going for GA we would have already been late). Our seats where the third highest in the dome, but the building was designed for concerts so the view really wasn't that bad. Her documentary was playing when we entered. I had already seen it but it was nice to talk with my friend about it. It was kind of like an opening act. After all, who better to open for Lady Gaga than, Lady Gaga. She started around 8:40, about 15 minutes or so after the documentary ended. 

Needless to say, the show was amazing. She's an absolutely brilliant performer. I have no idea how she manages to have such a strong and powerful singing voice,  while dancing, or while playing a instrument, with all of her quick changes (there were many, her outfits were phenomenal), with sets moving, and while managing a chronic pain condition. She is a true performer. Her set list was an even mix of old and new songs. And while she did not play my favorite song from her new album (Sinner's Prayer) there is no way I could've been disappointed with the show.

The set was deceptively minimal, with large open spaces for her dancers. Deceptive because different parts of the stage would raise and tilt during the performance. There were three large cloud-like masses suspended over GA in the theater. They were projecting things on them during the show so I assumed that was their only purpose. There were also two small platforms in the middle of the GA, which were offset from each other and isolated from the stage (at first glance I actually thought they were trampolines, this was not true). They also projected lights from them. I noticed before the concert began that there was a large tarp covering something behind the GA floor. I assumed it was another stage and that Gaga would disappear through one trap door and come through another. While trap doors and stairs were used more than once for Gaga's quick changes, that is not how she got from one stage to the other.  The bottom of the "clouds" would detach from the rest and flip 180 degrees, forming a flat plane that could be used for larger projections. However, the two sides of this flat plane could also fold up and rotate, forming a bridge that could be lowered. The isolated platforms were raised to meet the bridges, spanning the length of the theater and connecting one stage to the other. It was actually quite unexpected. At one point Gaga stayed on the bridge while it ascended back into the cloud, doing a costume change in the cloud before the bridge returned. I have to give a shout out to the dancer that assisted her (clipping her into the safety cord etc). When the bridge came back down the dancer had to unclip Gaga and slide (not walk because the audience wasn't supposed to see her, we were just high up enough to) off the bridge and onto one of the isolated platforms before the bridge went back up again. The dancer then laid in the dark for the duration of the song, never breaking character. Props to her.

I was on my feet for the whole show, dancing as best I could. No one was sitting down. The whole crowd was vibing. The show was over around 10:45. Really a great experience. We took an 11:20ish train back to Lelystad after getting some snacks at the Albert Hijn and hitting up some porta-potties. We were back in Lelystad around 12:15, and I biked home from there. You know, it's really nice to bike alone at night. At least when you don't have to bike that far (about 20 minutes), and when the weather isn't that bad (it's been ranging low thirties to mid fourties lately). I was so happy from the concert and nice night that I could just enjoy the bike ride home. There weren't many stars out, but I was facing one of the two constellations that I can recognize: Orion. He kept with me the whole way home, and I enjoyed his company.