Favorite Concerts

Concerts are an amazing experience, connecting for two hours with fans of the same artist and sharing the music.
Britney Spears brought her Circus Tour to Chicago in 2009, thrice. Playing to a sold out audience at the Allstate Arena, the opening act of the Pussycat Dolls was more artistic than Ms. Spears, and that's saying a lot. They belted out live vocals while dancing around on stage, or moving on electronic risers. They connected with the audience, giving shout outs to Chicago, and to "the fellow pussycat dolls" in the crowd. I'm not embarrassed to admit it, but I was smiling during their short set of their hits, ranging from Don't Cha and Buttons, to recent songs When I Grow Up and Hate this Part. Britney was aptly preceded by a freak show, replete with a circus troupe and a midget, who I later found out was once a porn star. Nothing could better introduce the audience to the world of the craziest pop star alive.

After a baby murdering intro of Perez Hilton, Britney came down from the big top, playing a ring leader to her dancers while lip syncing Circus. For Piece of Me, she was trapped in a golden cage and wheeled about on stage. The only other highlight was the Touch of My Hand/Breathe on Me medley, which saw Britney flying around in a picture frame and simulating sensual poses while elevated from the ceiling. There were no live vocals, Britney's dancing wasn't captivating, and there were so many distractions (lights, moving set pieces, dancers, etc) that Britney's own robotic hold on her life was more than apparent. There were parts when she wasn't even visible on stage but a voice pumping from the speakers carried through the arena. Really, she couldn't have been there and the show would've been the same soulless spectacle.

Madonna's Sticky and Sweet Tour visited a sold out United Center in 2008. Madonna is a commanding presence, at times chilling, but she mustered a few smiles during this show. It wasn't dark as previous tours, but a warm explosion of color and 80s dance beats. Songs from Hard Candy that fell flat came alive on tour, and a clap and sing along rendition of Miles Away was moving, considering her recent divorce. The concert was impeccably timed and danced. Classics like Into the Groove and Like a Prayer became thunderous, transcendental house songs that got everyone out of the their seats. House songs in their own right such as Vogue, were reinvented as hip hip numbers, while upbeat songs like Borderline, Hung Up and Ray of Light became rock tracks.

Madonna's most real moment was singing You Must Love Me, a tearful paean to her fans. A highlight was the request song of Dress You Up, preformed just for Chicago for the first time in over a decade. Whether riding a Rolls Royce on stage during Beat Goes On, gyrating on a stripper pole behind Keith Harring graphics, strumming the guitar during La Isla Bonita, or leading the audience in a jump-up-and-down rendition of Give it 2 Me, replete with old school video game screens, Madonna's show was energetic, impeccable, and superior. And what could beat 15,500 people staying in the arena, singing along with Holiday playing after the show ended? Madonna was a star enough that she needed no opener, as was Kylie.
Kylie Minogue's US 2009 Tour stopped at the UIC Pavilion for one night and brought her brand of unabashedly cheesy pop Stateside. Preforming to a sold out crowd of nearly 5000 people, Minogue entered astride a massive silver skull, then strutted around in robotic attire reminiscent of retro scifi films, speeding through electro songs Come into my World and Speakerphone. She preformed a fast paced, energetic, and fun show that was chock full of her hits. Dressed as a sultry bell hop for her New Wave section of Like a Drug and Can't Get You out of My Head, she commanded the stage with her warmth and appeal. Kylie wore an awards night gown for the ballad section, showcasing her soaring vocals in an homage to old Hollywood.

When the sound system failed, Kylie sang an acapella rendition of your Disco Needs You that earned effusive love from the fans, as many of the moments during the concert (which sometimes left the starlet speechless). A parade of confetti fell for the encore, where she got the audience moving to her 80s hit Better the Devil and club favorite Love at First Sight, while colorful shapes flashed across the screens. If Madonna's show was the most impeccable, then Kylie's was assuredly the most fun. It was also a once in a lifetime opportunity to see a megastar in such an intimate venue.

Lady Gaga's Monster Ball stopped at the Rosemont Theatre in early 2010. The show was plagued with problems from the start, from a changing venue, to ticket problems, and really ought to have been moved from a three night residency to a single night at the Allstate Arena. The show opened with pulsating beats that were repeated through each transition between the acts. The ominous Dance in the Dark started the show, with Gaga enveloped by fog, dancing in a glow in the dark suit. The stage was designed like a retro video game grid, and Gaga preformed a string of dance numbers that blended seamlessly into one another.

If fans weren't familiar with the material, then the songs would have been indistinguishable. Her video interludes were so bizarre that they were pointless, and her commands for adoration between songs was as much of a turn off as the product placement for a cellphone company that stalled the show halfway through. Her singing was good, the music was great, but Lady Gaga's show needed some tweaking. There was a self conscious break before the last two songs and hedonistic behavior that was sometimes cringe worthy, other times understandable. Gaga was opened by Jason Derulo and Semi Precious Weapons, both of which I skipped because I was unfamiliar with them.

Coldplay played two shows at the United Center in mid 2008. The look matched the Viva La Vida album, and the stage was simple enough to showcase the band, but contained some laser and light effects that spruced up the show. The setlist was heavy on the new album, but old favorites like Yellow, Fix You, and Clocks popped up, though I attended an early show, before more beloved songs from X&Y were added to the setlist. Coldplay's instrumental skills weren't overwhelmed by the arena, and their songs were big enough that they were every bit arena anthems. Chris Martin's warm stage presence carried the band, and we got to hear Lost! preformed twice for the music video filming.

An impromptu encore of Green Eyes closed the show, after a wistful rendition of Strawberry Swing and the confetti heavy of Lovers in Japan. The setlist could've included more X&Y, but the eagerness of the band and the massiveness of the music made up for it. A solid, though short, show. Opening act Santagold was fun, and I actually downloaded one of their song (Les Artistes) afterwards. There was another opener that I missed, because it didn't matter and I don't remember who they were (Clearwater, or something like that?).

Track of the Week: Monster

"Monster" by Lady GaGa from the album "The Fame Monster."

Seeing as we reviewed Lady GaGa and The Wolfman movie this week, I've chosen Lady Gaga's "Monster" as the Track of the Week.

"Monster" is one of the best tracks from the album. It is dark, eerie and epic all at the same time. The opening robotic cries of "He ate my heart" practically make the song excellent by themselves. The electronic dance track is as dark as the lyrics, which relate the story of Gaga's Monster consuming her completely. We get the sense that this wasn't a nice guy. The bridge of the song is astonishing, as Gaga sings "we french kissed on a subway train, he ate my heart and then he ate my brain." The prechorus, in which Gaga sings about wondering who the Monster is on the dancefloor, has the best melody on the entire album.

Gaga performed monster in an homage to to Alfred Hitchcock's "The Birds" (an excellent campy horror film!) on her Monster Ball Tour. Dressed in a black feathered cape with feathered mask, images of ravens and a forest flashed across a red background video.

The song isn't single worthy, as say "Alejandro" or "Bad Romance," but it is a highlight of the album. It's dark, entrancing lyrics, powerful dance beats, and arena-sized melody, makes for an enjoyable and bewitching three minutes.

Lady Gaga: A Review and Conclusions

"We're Plastic but we Still have Fun": Gaga After and Before

I didn’t like Lady Gaga at all the first I heard of her. Her songs would blare out of the stadium near my abode during football games and so I associated her with drunk sports fans. I had heard of her early on because ads for “Just Dance” would show up on the internet. Then she became really huge. “Just Dance” flew to number one and then she released “Poker Face.” It was that song that thawed Gaga for me. “Poker Face” is one of those timeless, eternal dance-pop songs with huge, international appeal. It went to number one everywhere.

The first time I listened to her debut album “The Fame” I wasn’t wholly impressed. But listening to the songs, they really grew on me to the point that not a day goes by I don't listen. While she owes most of her signature sound to producer RedOne, the songs have catchy dance beats with admittedly silly lyrics. But those lyrics get stuck on repeat in your head! “LoveGame” was released and I exhausted it by overplaying it. Then came “Paparazzi”: it’s a dance song but a ballad and has a great melody. It’s still powerful. Album tracks “I Like it Rough,” “Boys Boys Boys,” “Money Honey,” “Paper Gangsta” and “Starstruck” share identical throwbacks to 80s, dark, urban-synthpop. “Beautiful Dirty Rich,” and the “Fame” are rock tracks with a dance vibe to them. The only song worth skipping is “Brown Eyes.” “Eh Eh” and “Summerboy” have Caribbean vibes and take repeated listens to grow on you.

I eagerly awaited the release of her second album, “The Fame Monster.” “Bad Romance” was an epic first single, almost bigger than “Poker Face.” Almost. It’s still on heavy rotation on my mp3 player. “Telephone,” the next single, fizzled out fast for me and isn’t that good. Skip “Speechless” and “Teeth.” The former is boring and sung terribly, and the latter sounds like a leftover from a Christina Aguilera album. But “Alejandro,” an homage to ABBA and Madonna, is buoyant and bubbly. “Monster” is the best song on the album. Its eerie, dark, industrial beats and captivating robotic cry of “he ate my heart” makes it standout from the rest. “Dance in the Dark” is purely magnificent. It starts off like a machine slowly gaining momentum then bursts into full speed. The rap is a complete rip off of Madonna’s “Vogue” but the quality of the track forgives the thievery. “So Happy I Could Die” contains subject matter I don’t find appealing (do we really need to know Gaga touches herself while drinking red wine?), but the melody and lounge atmosphere of the track redeems it.

Gaga’s aesthetic didn’t make sense at all to me until I saw her “Monster Ball Tour.” A blend of old-school video game graphics, glow in the dark lighting, bone-like costumes, and odd videos, the “Monster Ball” was just pure fun. She’s contrived, manufactured, and weird-for-the-sake-of-weird but she likes it that way. “We’re plastic but we still have fun” she sings in “Paparazzi.”

But is she the next Madonna? I am hesitant to make the comparison. She doesn’t really address religious issues in her music. Madonna’s whole message is a blend of the sexual and the spiritual. Gaga’s is more of a pretentious attempt at “performance art” with a heavy dose of sex. Whereas Madonna’s sexual explorations were intelligent (perhaps even coldly calculated), Gaga’s sexual persona is smutty and seamy. In layman’s terms, Madonna would be in an art museum, Gaga in the local adult movie store. But then again, they’d probably like that.

Madonna is still active, so it’s not a good idea to dismiss her or dethrone her. If anyone, Britney Spears will enjoy the longevity and solid success that Madonna has. She continues to move to a new audience while keeping her old one. Britney is an icon in her own right. Beyonce and Rihanna are ubiquitous, but they are not all pop. While they have crossover appeal, their music appeals primarily to the urban community. After their prime passes, it is there that they will continue to enjoy success.

Is Lady Gaga good? Certainly. Her songs are catchy and fun. And I can't remember being this obsessed with an artist in a very long time. I listen to her music incessantly. I follow her every move. Is she the next Queen of Pop? She has a lot of time to develop as an artist, so let’s not make hasty pronouncements. “Eh, eh, there’s nothing else I can say.”

Update: Found this on Youtube. Gaga preforms Paparazzi whilst in the snare of a 40 foot Tentacle Monster on the second leg of the "Monster Ball Tour." What could be better? Perhaps simulated tentacle rape on stage, and I don't so that because I like it but because it would extremely hilarious. But what does this even mean? If it's a metaphor for "paparazzi being monsters who destroy lives" that's not very original. The monster is kinda kawaii!