Lady Gaga @ Madison Square Garden, 2.22.11
Lady Gaga performs at Madison Square Garden in New York City on Feb. 21, 2011. Credit: Getty Images
It's nice to see that Lady Gaga can still let loose.
Though her “Monster Ball” show is tightly scripted and has been essentially the same for more than a year, she still managed some new moments at last night's performance at Madison Square Garden.
For the New York native, playing for the home crowd is always a charged affair and filled with unique memories. (In explaining how the FDNY ruled that she couldn't set her piano ablaze to end her new song “You and I,” Gaga talked about her memories of the 9/11 terrorist attacks when she was in high school and how she could never be mad at New York's Bravest.) She packed some extra emotion into the end of “You and I,” where she ends up in a heap on the floor.
And the lengthy a cappella run-up to “Born This Way” found Gaga getting overwhelmed in its gospel harmonies, her vocals quivering just a bit from the extra emotion. However, once the big dance beat kicked in, she was back to her controlled self.
“If we stick together,” she told the capacity crowd of Little Monsters, “we can do anything.”
SETLIST: Dance in the Dark / Glitter and Grease / Just Dance / Beautiful Dirty Rich / Vanity / The Fame / LoveGame / Boys, Boys, Boys / Money Honey / Telephone / Speechless / You and I / So Happy I Could Die / Monster / Teeth / Alejandro / Poker Face / Paparazzi // ENCORE: Bad Romance / Born This Way