Live Performance/Music Review

Lady Gaga’s Live Set, Opening the I-Tunes Festival ‘#Swine-Fest’

Written by Jonathan Taylor

15 minutes of eerie introduction music in and all those watching are wondering if Lady Gaga, (or in this case ‘Latey Gaga’), will ever appear on stage. The crowd were visibly intoxicated with the electric and mysterious atmosphere; the excitement didn’t waver at all, as her ever devoted fan-base, (her Little Monsters) waited patiently, but certainly not silently, as Gaga’s first live festival set in almost 2 years was about to ‘set the stage alight’.

While surveying the crowds of Little Monsters lucky enough to either win/buy a ticket to this performance, I sat at home and drowned my sorrows with a bag of Tesco’s own-brand sweet & salted popcorn and slightly flat Lemonade, watching a live-feed of the performance through the I-Tunes Store on my computer. This is Gaga’s first UK performance since under-going an operation to fix a serious hip injury, which lead to her having to cancel the remaining tenth of her hugely successful and critically acclaimed worldwide ‘Born This Way Ball’ tour. The performance precedes her upcoming new album ‘ARTPOP’, about which Gaga says will be her most experimental album yet, so as is always the case with Lady Gaga, you do not know what to expect, at all.

At roughly 10.30 pm, the eerie music halted and a countdown begun; the shock of which nearly made me choke on a gluttonous handful of Popcorn I had helped myself to (it was Saturday, what can I say). The crowd responded, screaming each number which increased anticipation. 10, 9, 8 … it began as I started to remember how long I had awaited the return of one of the very few modern music solo-artists I not only think has an abundance of raw talent, an innovative creativity and musicianship quite like no other, but what she stands for and her message being one of the most profound and powerful around today. The question is, after recovering from a serious Hip injury and being inactive for a little while, can Gaga still make her fans give her the ‘Applause’ and happiness she loves? Could these 8 brand new tracks from ARTPOP match up to her previous artistry?

*Spoiler Alert*

Yes, she can and yes, she did.

1)      AURA

Lyrics – 10/10

Production & General Song Quality - 10/10

Live Vocal Performance - 8/10

General Performance (Visuals etc.) - 8/10


She opened with the track ‘Aura’ – which previous to this performance had blown up online when a demo version titled ‘Burqa’ (the tracks’ original title) had leaked suddenly, causing both Gaga’s fanbase and her haters alike to search and discuss the song and listen to it, with an overwhelmingly positive reception, the song holds the record for the most searched/talked about song of 2013 and the fastest searched with over 1500 people searching the song per second. The Complexetro-fueled track was a bold opening, with Gaga telling how she ‘Killed her poor friend, left her in the trunk on Highway 10’. The song is lyrically quite ingenious, with the mentioning of a Burqa (an garment related to the Islam religion/culture in which a women wears a full body covering only revealing the eyes), being an ‘Aura’, so the song is about true identity behind physical means, unusual concepts. The DJ White Shadow/Zedd production is class and unusual. Gaga is seen in a black ninja/burqa inspired outfit, who then becomes trapped in a body cage as she spits the words out theatrically. First song done and wow, what a performance!

2)     ManIcure

Lyrics – 8/10

Production & General Song Quality - 8/10

Live Vocal Performance - 9/10

General Performance (Visuals etc.) - 8/10

‘I didn’t get a pedicure, instead I got the Man I Cure’ – definitely more pop than Aura, but Gaga’s vocals really soar through here. She involved the audience throughout, with many singing the catchy chorus with her. ‘ManIcure’ contains elements of Rock & Roll music, which makes the song even more infectious and feel-good.

3)     Artpop

Lyrics – 9/10

Production & General Song Quality - 9/10

Live Vocal Performance - 9/10

General Performance (Visuals etc.) - 6/10

Before starting the track, Gaga exclaims to her fans how much she has missed them and how they make her feel ‘alive’. Gaga shows her David Bowie inspiration here, as this is definitely more ‘art’ sounding, pushing away from typical pop music sounds and structure, the music containing pentatonic scales mainly (so has a very dreamy/hypnotic quality). Lyrically brilliant yet again, with ART and POP representing both metaphorical ideas and emotive ideas, as you see them both meaning actual art and actual pop music, but also an actual relationship. Clever music!


4) Jewels & Drugs (ft. T.I, Too Short and Twi$ta)


Lyrics – 6/10

Production & General Song Quality - 8/10

Live Vocal Performance - 7/10

General Performance (Visuals etc.) - 9/10

She starts this track by again speaking to her fans, telling them that ARTPOP contains lots of different kinds of music, because she doesn’t want to be in the ‘box’ they put pop-artists in. While this was surely not my favourite track performed, it is an intriguing song, with different elements thrown into the mix every 30 seconds or so, the song is never boring. All 3 rap-artists bring a different pace/theme to the song. Gaga talking about money and ‘bling’ here, then dismissing materialism confuses me a bit and I’m not quite sure what she means by the whole song. I think I’ll have to wait for the studio version to make a proper judgement on the song.


5) Sex Dreams

Lyrics – 8/10

Production & General Song Quality - 9/10

Live Vocal Performance - 8/10

General Performance (Visuals etc.) - 7/10

The song, evidently talking about explicit sexual thoughts could only be sung like Lady Gaga and still sound somewhat classy and honest. Gaga talks about her sexual-fantasies she has about a female crush, the whole track is cleverly written, with a very catchy chorus and some humorous undertones. I can imagine this being played in a club and it becoming an instant club/party classic.

6) Swine

Lyrics – 8/10

Production & General Song Quality - 10/10

Live Vocal Performance - 9/10

General Performance (Visuals etc.) - 10/10

Gaga speaks openly about how her pain inspired this song, about her drug addiction and her self-hatred. She takes off her wig and shows her fans who she is ‘under the wigs’ – it was a very touching moment and all she did was take her wig off.This really is a whirlwind of a track, starting as a piano ballad, becoming a rock-style track, then into an electro-pop verse, then this acid-dance breakdown comes in and just blows everyone away. The audience seem to lose themselves, as Gaga’s dancers, dressed in white body suits and wearing large metal pig-head/gasmask, the whole thing was terrifying, intense, incredible and a rave all at once, blended with master-skill. Gaga gets on the drums and pig-squeals too, a seriously frightful delight!


7) I Wanna Be With You

Lyrics – 9/10

Production & General Song Quality - 8/10

Live Vocal Performance - 9/10

General Performance (Visuals etc.) - 8/10


‘I’d rather be poor and happy, than rich and alone’ - Gaga starts by taking off her wig and shows her fans who she is ‘under the wigs’ – it was a very touching moment and all she did was take her wig off. Getting behind her piano, she then sings what can only be described as a song written by angels themselves. The lyrics, obviously very personal, cut you deep with emotion but her vocals are just flawless. She refers to her past and how her fans are her everything, but also doubling up as about a celebrities struggles with living this life and trying to have love too. A beautiful song, showing her real raw talent and artistry.



8) Applause

Lyrics – 8/10

Production & General Song Quality - 8/10

Live Vocal Performance - 7/10

General Performance (Visuals etc.) - 10/10

Her final performance was a pure spectacle at it’s very best, lights, smoke, dancing, madness. Greatness indeed. While ‘Applause’ garnered mixed reviews, you cannot deny that it is easily the catchiest pop track released in quite a few years. An applause-worthy ending indeed!


Overall Average Scores:

Lyrics – 8.25/10

Production & General Song Quality – 8.75/10

Live Vocal Performance – 8.25/10

General Performance (Visuals etc.) – 8.25/10


If you haven’t seen it yet, you’re missing out. Gaga fan or not at all, this is point in Pop music you cannot afford to miss. When ART and POP blend so perfectly together.