Sure, so maybe the whole reason to go to Vegas this time was to see U2 at the Sphere. But when you find out Lady Gaga is playing there at the same time, you go. The very night you land, because there are only two shows of hers left and this is your only free night!

Maybe you pray to the universe, please don’t let our flight be delayed! And you thank the Rock Gods, it was not!

I knew when I bought tickets to see the Lady Gaga Jazz and Piano at the Dolby Live Theatre this would not be a ‘normal’ Lady Gaga show.

Jazz and Piano, it’s right in the name. Smaller Casino theatre instead of sports arena.

And I knew she had released a couple albums of duets with Tony Bennet, so I assumed this show would be that Las Vegas-y lounge-y Frank Sinatra-style show.

And it was. Boy, was it ever!

And wow, this woman can sing!

Sometimes I think the flashier an artist is, the bigger, more theatrical their shows, the more the world forgets about the talent, or even denies the talent. Especially the bigger the star they become.

Especially when they fall under the pop music category. ‘Pop music is bubble gum, trivial.’ ‘Pop artists lip sync, don’t write their own songs, don’t play instruments.’ Etc. Etc. (None of this, by the way, applies in any way to Gaga, don’t even try to say otherwise!)

And especially when the pop artist has a strong female and/or LGTBQIA+ fan-base. (Don’t even get me started on the issues behind fan-based behaviours seen as fanatic, hysterical, over the top, when it’s female-based… yet accepted, normalized, and even encouraged when its male-based (e.g. sports).

Just look at the controversy surrounding Taylor Swift fans standing up, singing, and dancing in the movie theatres, going to the movie dressed in Taylor fashion; verses any sports event aired on any tv in any location and it is very acceptable to stand up, yell, cheer, jump around in excitement, and expected, encouraged, to come dressed and painted in team jerseys and colours).

Well, I guess I got myself started on that topic.

My original point was it seems like sometimes people get either distracted by the glam and dazzle, the meat suits, and shoulder pads, or suspicious of the fame, and forget pop-stars actually have loads of talent to get them to the level of stardom they attain. It frustrates me to no end.

Pop stands for popular, and popular music is popular for a reason. It is very rare that talent is not involved in that equation.

This is turning into a very long way to just say this Lady Gaga Jazz and Piano show provided the perfect forum to strip away almost all that glam Gaga is famous for and focus on her voice.

I’ve seen Lady Gaga in concert before, and I know she can sing. There is no doubt.

But there is something different about Gaga in an arena with the light show, dancers, costumes, and all the things that make an arena-sized concert (that I will endlessly love) and this stripped-down theatre, lounge-style stage, a big band (that I will also endlessly love). And these songs (that I will endlessly adore).

Sinatra, Bennett, Ella Fitzgerald, Billie Holiday, Nat King Cole, Edith Piaf… To name just a few.

And some of her own songs arranged into the style of these songs.

It’s not different good, or different bad. It’s just different. Maybe it’s the difference between Lady Gaga the Performer (with a capital P) and Lady Gaga, the Singer (with the biggest capital S). Capital P Performer can still capital S Sing. But the Performer has the dancers, the glam, the light show, the extravaganza.

The Singer has her Voice (with a ginormous capital V). And what a powerhouse, sublime, irrefutable Voice she is.

During Fly Me to the Moon, Gaga put down the mic and sang, a cappella. We were in the last rows of the theatre and we could hear her. That is a powerhouse, my friends. Beautiful, stunning!

I mean, don’t get me wrong, the Performer has breath-taking moments in the arena concerts when it is just a piano and her Voice. And there was certainly still glam at this Jazz and Piano show. So much gorgeous glam.

There was a backdrop of fairy lights (or are they beads of something? I can’t tell, but they were sparkly!), velvet curtains, palm trees, and a grand piano. There were still multiple costume changes.

Gaga is still Gaga, after all, and a Vegas Loungey/Swing/Jazz show is still a Vegas Loungey/Swing/Jazz show.

Oh, the costumes! So many gorgeous, show-stopping costumes. They were all the perfect touch to the Voice and this show; the glamour of the 20s, 30s, 40, and 50s.

A glorious white feathered cloak with a beaded flapper-style number underneath and a Vegas Showgirl headdress; a Marilyn Monroe-worthy ball gown of metallic pink; and a Marlene Dietrich tuxedo, to name a few.

What else would you expect from the fashion icon that is Gaga!

And let’s not forget the amazing Gaga-inspired fashionistas that attended in audience. There was so much glitter and rhinestones. platform stilettos, feathers, and sequins. It was a fashion show in the rows. (I really need to up my glitter game!)

This show was so spectacularly moving for me. I love these eras of music and fashion. I grew up listening to my dad’s big band albums, watching re-runs of Sinatra, Rogers, Astaire, and Kelly dancing and singing in these amazing Hollywood movie sets. I LOVE this music, these styles.

It was truly the perfect trifecta of music, fashion and Gaga.

And it just occurred to me, that Lady Gaga concert I saw – I basically jumped off a plane and ran to that one after a series of U2 concerts in Europe… Seems I am always running to Gaga.

I am ok with this. Bring on more.

The Setlist

Act I

1. Orange Colored Sky (Nat King Cole cover)
2. Luck Be a Lady (Frank Loesser cover)
3. Steppin’ Out With My Baby (Irving Berlin cover)
4. The Best Is Yet to Come (Frank Sinatra cover)
5. Call Me Irresponsible (Jackie Gleason cover)
6. Poker Face

Act II

1. It Don’t Mean a Thing (If It Ain’t Got That Swing) (Duke Ellington and His Orchestra cover)
2. I Can’t Give You Anything but Love, Baby (Jimmy McHugh cover)
3. If I Had You (Irving King cover)
4. Do I Love You (Cole Porter cover)
5. Born This Way
6. Stupid Love

Act III

1. Sway (Dean Martin cover)
2. Rags to Riches (Tony Bennett cover)
3. Mambo Italiano (Bob Merrill cover)
4. ‘O sole mio (Eduardo Di Capua cover)
5. Paparazzi

Act IV

1. La vie en rose (Édith Piaf cover)
2. What a Diff’rence a Day Makes(Dinah Washington cover)
3. Bad Romance
4. Lush Life (Billy Strayhorn cover)
5. Fly Me to the Moon (In Other Words) (Kaye Ballard cover) (A cappella, unplugged)

Encore:

1. Theme From New York, New York (John Kander cover)