Lady Gaga’s Monster Ball Invades The Rosemont Theatre In Chicago
January 12th, 2010 by Cristl
Brooklyn’s Semi Precious Weapons and their classic rock-esque tirade wrapped in subtle fibers of glam, indie, and just a little grunge set the stage for the sold out show this past weekend at the Rosemont theater in Chicago.
It goes without saying that all three acts – Semi Precious Weapons, Jason Derulo, and Lady Gaga – worked their collective tails off to give Chicago a great show. Semi Precious Weapons kicked off the event performing the singles, “Fucking Gorgeous” and “Put a Diamond In It”. Steve Pyne, the guitarist and backup vocalist, managed to wrestle his guitar to the floor to keep the riffs coming. Cole Whittle on bass joined in, running back and forth across the stage with Steve in a fashion reminiscent of AC/DC’s heyday. Not a single member of the band failed to deliver amazing energy to the show and their music. Dan Crean on drums kept the energy going for the set, tossing his sticks in the air while the others rolled around and ran on stage, or even jumped in the audience. Justin Tranter, the lead vocalist, pulled out a bottle of champagne featuring a picture of his face on it, and poured it into the mouths of a few lucky front row fans. As though that wasn’t enough, he held up a t-shirt bearing a picture of that bottle of champagne which in turn had a picture of his face on it. Another lucky fan received this t-shirt. Chicago may very well have found a new love in New York.
Jason Derulo, an emerging artist of the R&B/hip-hop persuasion, made an appearance and performed his June 2009 single “Whatcha Say” along with a brand new track, “In My Head”. Though the show was fairly simple with a few dancers and a bar stool, it is all that was necessary given Derulo’s approach to his art. An excellent dancer among a small pack of excellent backup dancers, Jason Derulo added another dimension to the entire show with his pop-lock inspired choreography. When the songs got softer, he pulled a female fan up on stage and sang to her, and concluded the performance by ripping off his shirt in a pseudo strip tease, much to the delight of the entire audience.
Only a few minutes later when the stage was clear, and shortly after the Michael Jackson dance party had a packed theater dancing their shoes off, the lights went out and a neon green grid befell the stage. A giant, computer-generated version of Lady Gaga appeared within the grid, and began a countdown to her appearance in real life. The crowd became deafeningly excited as Lady Gaga seemed to suddenly emerge from out of nowhere dressed in a light-up leotard in her performance of “Dance in the Dark”. Lady Gaga performed tirelessly through several costume changes including an entirely gold-plated getup that seemed a mashup of ancient Egypt meets Gladiator meets vintage glam Madonna. Her performance of “Speechless” and “Poker Face” on the piano showcased her talents in burlesque performance and piano. She took the time to literally make a connection with her fans, and called a young lady from the audience on her cell phone. The two were then set to have drinks after the show as again the audience roared in applause.
As Lady Gaga closed the show, almost no one left the theater. Every single fan started singing “Bad Romance”, as she had yet to perform this new single. The stage was empty. A few minutes later, Lady Gaga returned and gave them all exactly what they wanted. Everyone danced and sang at the top of their lungs, “…you and me could have a bad romance”…
All the dancers returned once again, held hands with Lady Gaga, and bowed out.
After all was said and done, no one was left disappointed. Semi Precious Weapons, Jason Derulo, and Lady Gaga herself all performed flawlessly and were truly there for the fans. The Monster Ball Tour is one of the only tours in pop music today that brings a theatrical experience to its fans and is worth checking out, even if you don’t normally listen to pop.
Lady Gaga helped me at a rough time, just the thing this world needs. Spread your love to everyone. We can create a better future
she is all we need to this world please respect her outfits its whats on the inside that counts (mostly, her awesome voice!) i am so sad i missed her concert last night