Lady Gaga w/ Semi Precious Weapons

Time Warner Cable Arena

Sept. 18, 2010

The Deal: Pop star Lady Gaga hits Time Warner Cable Arena for a sold out show on her Monster Ball Tour.

The Good and the Bad: The show kicked off with a 30-minute set by Semi Precious Weapons. The high-energy show was the right opener for Lady Gaga as the band not only said it's own name about 10 times during the show, but also shouted out Gaga's twice as often. The word "fuck" was used quite liberally throughout the set, making me wonder if it was right for the kids who were likely in the audience — and then I wondered who was bringing their kids to a Lady Gaga concert...? While Gaga may be a role model for a freedom of expression, she's hardly a role model in the eyes of those young enough to be hearing "fuck" for the first time. Or maybe parents want their kids to have their ass hanging out of a meat dress — you never know.

Semi Precious Weapons singer Justin Trantner offered up the story of how they and Gaga played a show back in 2006 when just 12 people were in attendance. He also mentioned that "Lady Gaga stage dove during this song when we played it at Lollapalooza!" which made me reply, "Um, who in Charlotte cares about that?" Trantner didn't bother going off stage to change costumes, instead stripping off his high heels, fishnets and top to put on some leggings and tank top and a different pair of glittery heels. "Don't be offended by us," he told the crowd, adding, "Thank us for introducing your kids to real rock 'n' roll."

The band's set ended and a video of one of their songs played, before a video of Lady Gaga appeared as she talked about the issue of homeless people in the country and asked for donations, saying she would match them up to $25,000.

As the lights went down and a video played on a white curtain, I knew I was in for something very theatrical — as well as something identical to the performance I saw (part of) at Lollapalooza in Chicago earlier this year. "Dance In the Dark" led into "Glitter and Grease" as Gaga made her way down a flight of stairs and into a large choreographed production in the front of a neon-green car. The song ended with a solid minute of Gaga's heavy breathing — we know she's actually dancing and singing (for the most part), but did we really need to hear her heavy breathing? Kinda sounded like Darth Vader...

As for the singing — Gaga definitely wasn't lip synching, but that doesn't mean she was singing the whole time. She sang the vast majority of songs, but also had help from two backup singers and, likely, a backing track. No fault of her own — she's dancing her ass off for the majority of the show, but she made a big point of how she doesn't lip synch — without mentioning that she does use help in other ways. She was often on stage with a group of roughly 12 dancers — and a small band— who did their best to back up Gaga and not take the spotlight away.

Gaga tried her best to tie together costume changes and set designs with a short chat about how she's going to the Monster Ball with her friends, but got lost on the way. It was a little odd — kind of like a two-minute play in the middle of a concert.

After a quick chat with an audience member before "Telephone" which restated Gaga's love of the gay community — anyone else notice it's mainly just the male gay community? — she hit what was to be the highlight of her show.

Gaga took her place at a grand piano that had a fire streaming off the top of it and performed "Speechless" and "You and I," showcasing her songwriting talent and vocals. I'm not a fan of Gaga, to say the least, but I have to say I was quite impressed by the duo of songs and her live abilities. It also made me sad that these aren't the types of songs that have made her famous, instead finding her fame through over-the-top costuming, pop songs that will sound dated in a month and bizarre antics — such as wearing a meat dress or elaborate masks at the airport.

Gaga shared that she wrote a new song while in Charlotte, but without a name, we'll be left wondering if she truly did and which one it might be. It's easy to see the inspiration that she gives to her fans — "little monsters" which she referenced roughly 10 times during the show. Gaga told the crowd to "let go of their insecurities" if people were told they weren't talented, or pretty, etc. and that "you're a superstar and you were born that way."

Aside from the homeless aspect of the video, Gaga also took time out to address her efforts to repeal "don't ask, don't tell," offering up a phone number to call and suggesting that fans call their senators. There seemed to be few unscripted moments in the show — having heard much of the same banter at Lollapalooza. I wondered if it was a case of "Insert city name here." At the end of the song "Teeth," Gaga found a moment to bite the head off of a Barbie doll — not the first time she picked something up that was tossed on stage. She earlier showed some signs and a "gay penguin" doll.

The set ended with four of her biggest hits — "Alejandro," "Poker Face," "Paparazzi" and "Bad Romance" — as the dressed-to-impress crowd (which made for some of the best people-watching ever) filed out in complete satisfaction.

The Worst: The worst part of the night was the fact that vendors sold out of draft beer before Gaga went on stage and two songs into her set, the only bottles left were warm. (Kudos to the Arena who called to address the problem — some lines were redone in the building and unfortunately had an affect on getting beer to the concession stands. This caused greater demand on the cans/bottles so they couldn't be cooled fast enough.)

Even Worse: Tickets for the general admission floor and entire lower tier of the arena were sold for $196 — and sold out. That's sad considering a lot of those same people won't pay $5 to see a local band. What's even more ridiculous though was Gaga having the audacity to tell the crowd, "I love all my little monsters and I love you, Charlotte. I'm not here for your money!" Yeah, right... You can't charge $200 a ticket and then say you aren't there for the money.

The Verdict: If not for all the glitz and glam, Lady Gaga would instead be Stefani Germanotta, that talented piano songstress who plays for a few hundred people at the Neighborhood Theatre. While there is talent there, it's a shame that it takes all the over-the-top production to sell out a large venue — with $196 tickets. You have to give her credit for putting together a show that is a complete "performance" from start to finish.

Setlist

Dance in the Dark

Glitter and Grease

Just Dance

Beautiful, Dirty, Rich

Vanity

The Fame

Love Game

Boys, Boys, Boys

Money Honey

Telephone

Speechless

You and I

So Happy I Could Die

Monster

Teeth

Alejandro

Pokerface

Paparazzi

Bad Romance