Lady Gaga finally kicks off Chromatica Ball tour and the verdict is unanimous: ‘Unreal’
Lady Gaga kicks off her Chromatica Ball tour in Dusseldorf, Germany. (Getty)
Mass gay screaming and rah-rah-rah-ing were reported in Germany after Lady Gaga finally kicked off her Chromatica Ball tour.
More than 60,000 Lady Gaga fans squeezed into the Merkur Spiel-Arena in Dusseldorf on Sunday (17 July) for the opening night of the heavily delayed Chromatica Ball.
The gig was, of course, a piece of theatre. Split into four acts, the ball was bookended by a “prelude” and a “finale” and included countless outfit changes involving a lot of leather.
For Lady Gaga, being able to be back on the road for the first time since 2018 was a special moment.
Speaking in an Instagram video before she took to the stage, she said: “I want to allow you all to interpret this show in the way that you want to, but I will say that it really documents the many different stages and sides of grief and the manic energy of grief that I feel that I’ve experienced in my life.
Lady Gaga has opened The Chromatica Ball and revealed the setlist for the tour. (Kevin Mazur/Getty Images for Live Nation)
Lady Gaga, after nearly two years, finally took to the stage for the Chromatica Ball. (Kevin Mazur/Getty Images for Live Nation)
Lady Gaga said Chromatica was an album that explores her ‘grief’. (Kevin Mazur/Getty Images for Live Nation)
“I really want to thank you for sticking it out with me and loving me through all the different iterations of my artistry as well as me as a person.”
She continued: “I feel more clear today than I have in a long time and more pain-free than I have in ages. And being free of pain on stage is a real healing experience because I’m able to dance and sing and enjoy the audience, enjoy the show, and really tell a story.
“But if you know people ask me all the time what Chromatica was about and in ‘Babylon,’ I say battle fair life and when I made Chromatica, I was really battling from my life,” Gaga added.
Reviews were breathlessly enthusiastic. Fans described how “magical” it was to see Gaga perform an album among the most personal she’s ever done, one she’s said explores the tension she feels between “Lady Gaga” the performer and Stefani Germanotta the person.
https://twitter.com/ninaaa321/status/1548804971948376064
THAT’S HOW YOU MAKE A COMEBACK TO THE STAGE #CHROMATICABALL pic.twitter.com/871xGVE2ka
— paula (@LGTHELOML) July 17, 2022
YOU HAD THE GUN, YOU HAD THE GUUN, YOU HAD THE GUUUUUUN #ChromaticaBall https://t.co/8sFGi8Se5N— isadora. (@freewxman) July 17, 2022
https://twitter.com/dnerevetilliw/status/1548759866914783233
I‘M DEAD 😭😭😭😭#ChromaticaBall pic.twitter.com/5uldDvdBlK— Luis 🫧 (@hloluis) July 17, 2022
the mic was ON, the room was FULL, the face card was APPROVED #ChromaticaBall pic.twitter.com/rFircSnfPr— ✨ (@magdalenepop) July 17, 2022
The set list comprised 20 songs, including “Rain on Me” and “Babylon”. Lady Gaga performed nine Chromatica tracks in total, and even dusted off her 2009 hit “Monster” for the first time in eight years.
The Chromatica Ball will arrive in Stockholm on Thursday (21 July) with shows in Paris, France, and Arnhem, the Netherlands, following suit.
She’ll then head to London for two shows at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. In August, she’ll finish up the tour with nine stadium shows across the US and Canada.
Fans can get their hands on remaining tickets from ticketmaster.co.uk and ticketmaster.com.
This article contains affiliate links, PinkNews may earn revenue if you click through and purchase products through the links.
