The Fame Ball Tour

The Fame Ball Tour

Tour by Lady Gaga
Official tour poster
Associated album	The Fame
Start date	March 12, 2009
End date	May 2, 2009
Legs	1
No. of shows	28 in North America

The Fame Ball Tour is the first solo concert tour by American pop recording artist, Lady Gaga. The tour is to promote her first studio album, The Fame. The tour started on March 12, 2009 and will continue through North America. Gaga described the tour as a traveling museum show incorporating Andy Warhol's pop-performance art concept. Tickets were distributed for charity also. Alternate versions of the show with minimal variations was planned by Gaga to accommodate different venues.

The show consisted of four segments with each segment being followed by a video interlude to the next segment. The set list consisted of songs from her debut album only. Gaga appeared on the stage in new costumes including an innovative dress made entirely of bubbles and premiered an unreleased song called "Future Love". The show has received positive critical appreciation with critics complementing her voice clarity and fashion sense as well as her ability to pull off theatrics like a professional artist already.

Background

The tour was officially announced on January 12, 2009 through Gaga's official Myspace page. This will be her first headlining tour; she has previously served as opening act for New Kids on the Block's New Kids on the Block: Live tour, as well as the Pussycat Doll's World Domination Tour. Gaga stated, "I consider what I do to be more of an Andy Warhol concept: pop performance art, multimedia, fashion, technology, video, film. And it's all coming together, and it's going to be traveling museum show." In an interview with MTV News, Gaga described the tour as,

"It's not really a tour, it's more of a traveling party. I want it to be an entire experience from [the] minute you walk in [the] front door to [the] minute I begin to sing. And when it's all over, everyone's going to press rewind and relive it again. It's going to be as if you're walking into New York circa 1974: There's an art installation in the lobby, a DJ spinning your favorite records in the main room, and then the most haunting performance that you've ever seen on the stage."

Shortly after tickets went on sale, certain cities added a second show on the same night due to the high demand for tickets. There was no time to add a second night, so the show will be taking place twice on certain nights.

On 20 February 2009, Huliq News reported that Gaga donated tickets and a meet and greet, for any show on her tour, in the United States or Canada, to raise money for Odyssey Charter School and elementary schools in Los Angeles affected by budget cuts. According to Gaga she's preparing three versions of her show to cater to different sizes of the venues she's playing. In an interview with Billboard she said

"I want to have a clear schedule of the dimensions for each venue so that we can properly execute all the technology and visuals. I need to mentally prepare days in advance if things are going to be taken out; otherwise, I won't have a good show...Every show's gonna be an A show by the time I'm done screaming at everyone -- 'Hang it! Hang everything! Find a place to hang it!' That's gonna be my motto."

She also stated, "This is going to be, like, the ultimate creative orgasm for me because I'm ready to move on. I'm not restricted to a certain structure for my show anymore. No limitations. I'm free." In May, during an interview with Toronto Sun Gaga announced that the tour is supposed to continue through European festivals in summer. She also declared plans for a bigger North American tour including Canada. Gaga explained that the show is supposed to be much bigger than the previous version. She said, "Oh, you have no idea, [...] The tour that we're about to announce is such a dream that I have to pinch myself almost every day to remind myself that it's happening."

The show

Gaga opening the show by performing "Paparazzi" in a short silver and black dress with geometric patterns and surrounded by metal plates.

The show is mainly divided into four parts with the last part being the encore. The main show begins with a video introduction called "The Heart" where Gaga appears as alter-ego Candy Warhol. She shows the image of a pink heart on her t-shirt. Then Gaga is shown dressing up for the show. She says "My name is Lady Gaga, and this is my Haus". The video is shown in projection on a giant screen in front of the stage. As the video approaches towards the end, a countdown from ten to one happens, Gaga's face is shown wearing the video sunglass, and flames engulf the screen as it drops. Gaga appears in the middle of the stage. She is surrounded by her dancers holding glass encrusted plates which camouflage them. She wears a futuristic black dress in geometric patterns with a triangular piece on her right breast and peplum. Gaga comes out in the center as the plates roll around and she starts singing "Paparazzi". The performance ends with continuous clicking of the camera. Gaga comes to the top of the pillar and sings a combination of "Starstruck" and "LoveGame" as she is joined by her dancers in tracks and jackets and hands Gaga her trademark disco-stick. "Beautiful, Dirty, Rich" starts next where Gaga frolicks with her dancers. This leads to the end of the first part wherein a video introduction called "The Brain" starts with Gaga appearing again as Candy Warhol and brushing her hair.

After the video ends, Gaga appears on the stage in a white leotard with lightning shaped symbols on it and says "Some say that Lady Gaga is a lie, and they're right. I am a lie... And every day I kill to make it true." She then starts singing a remixed version of "The Fame". It was followed by "Money Honey". The screens on the back show money being made and expensive mansions and jets. She is joined again by her dancers in backpacks and they do a routine to the dance. As the song ends Gaga disappears for a moment only to appear on the stage while riding a Vespa and wearing a hat made of toppled dominoes. and starts singing "Eh, Eh (Nothing Else I Can Say)" with Gaga asking the audience to wave their arms around. The backdrops display a stormy weather scene in contrast to the sunny breezy nature of the song. Next Space Cowboy appears on the stage presenting a remix interlude where Gaga and he at first has a jamming session and later only he performs as Gaga leaves for a costume change.

The third part starts with Gaga appearing on the stage in a dress completely made of plastic bubbles. She sits in front of a glass piano and starts singing a piano version of "Poker Face". She sometimes puts her leg on the piano and even plays it with her stilletos. The stage has a blue setting amidst mechanical cloudings. She then thanks the audience for joining her and as a "surprise" plays "Future Love", a new song about science fiction love with the lyrics talking about far-off galaxies, mechanical hearts and constellations. After that she gets up from the piano and leaves as another video interlude called "The Face" starts where Gaga as Candy Warhol is taught how to speak. As the video nears the end Gaga appears on the stage wearing a tutu shaped dress with pointed shoulderpads and peplum. Her dancers were clad in Louis Vuitton Steven Sprouse printed trousers which matched Gaga's shoes. The backdrop changes to show blinking disco lights and Gaga stands while wearing her video sunglasses which display the line "Pop Music Will Never Be Low Brow". A remix of the intro for "Just Dance" starts and Gaga starts singing it while moving around in choreographed dance moves as she is joined by her dancers on stage. During the "half psychotic, sick hypnotic'" interlude, Gaga brings out her trademark disco-stick again. The performance ends with Gaga and her dancers taking a bow in front of the stage and exiting. As part of the encore, after a short musical interlude by Space Cowboy, Gaga appears on the stage in a nude corset, also wearing an admiral's cap. The word Gaga is written on both as well as the fingerless gloves worn by her. She sings "Boys, Boys, Boys" followed by the final song of the show, the actual version of "Poker Face". The show ends amidst confetti and balloons and Gaga disappearing into the pillar with the Mum-mum-mum-ma hook of "Poker Face" being played continuously in the background. The screen comes up and displays the line "Pop Music will Never be Low Brow".

Critical reception

Gaga speaking to the audience before performing the new song "Future Love" on the piano while wearing a dress made of plastic bubbles.

The tour received positive reviews for the live performance of Gaga and the whole concept and costumes, but the video footages and the backdrops were sometimes criticized.

Entertainment Weekly gave a mixed of the concert saying, "Her onstage banter was at times a bit silly ("I travel the whole world, and when I come home, I can still smell the stench of greed") and the visuals occasionally lacking in coherent theme, but her voice was strong and refreshingly free of overbearing tracking vocals. For all her cocky bluster, perhaps the most undeniable aspect of GaGa's talent is this: The girl can, and does, sing." The show was described to be a "sartorial experimentation that it made Rocky Horror look like cotillion. One presumed the Lady approved - and somewhere, to be sure, Andy Warhol stirred in his grave."

Mercury News said "Lady Gaga successfully proved at the Mezzanine that she's got the right songs and she's got the right concept, never once breaking from her weirdly robotic character during the course of the evening. Let's just hope that she sticks around long enough to show us what else she's got.' However they also shared the same concern that "[Gaga] took far too long with her costume changes, especially for a show that clocked in under an hour. Also, the video segments - such as the one showing Gaga stroking her hair with a pink Hello Kitty brush - were pretty much pointless."

Yahoo! gave a positive review of the concert saying "Gaga's first theater tour is a hot ticket -- and the Lady did not disappoint. Borrowing from Madonna, Grace Jones, David Bowie and Daryl Hannah's "Blade Runner" replicant, Gaga put on a compelling show revolving around her mysterious persona, a trio of leather-jacketed dancers, multiple costume changes and props and a lone DJ providing musical accompaniment."

The Boston Globe reviewed the concert in House of Blues and said "The combination of song and spectacle was crowd-pleasing and exhilarating. Her club-ready songs were delivered by a woman who is clearly studied, intelligent, and talented. It was more than could be said for her opening act."

Ottawa Citizen gave a positive review of the concert at Bronson Centre in Ottawa and said, "Accompanied by a DJ who also played a funky electric guitar, the curvy dynamo (Gaga and Space Cowboy) fronted one of wildest spectacles ever mounted at Bronson Centre, an action-packed circus of sound, lights, video images, fog and choreography. Though heavy on theatrics, there was no skimping on the music." They also commented on Gaga's fashion sense and style in her costumes by saying, "In an hour, Gaga proved her star power by packing in all her hits, displaying influences that ranged from Motown to 80s pop, and exhibiting a fearless fashion sense in several costume changes, none of which covered her bum."

Chicago Tribune was impressed by the show at House of Blues and said "The work is paying off. Just weeks into her first nationwide headlining tour, the 22-year-old New Yorker [...] already commands the stage like a seasoned pro. Backed by a DJ and a trio of male dancers, she succeeded in turning the venue into a glittering discotheque during the first of two sold-out Tuesday shows [in House of Blues]."

Sun Sentinel commented that the short films starring Gaga as alter ego "Candy Warhol" with cryptic dialogues and blank expressions, were as ridiculous as the old Calvin Klein "Obsessions" advertisements. Also the absence of a band was noted by them as a "open-mike tryout". However they praised Gaga's performance saying, "Lady Gaga has enough talent, ambition and magnetism to be the heir apparent [of Madonna]. Her fans on Wednesday night demonstrated Madonna-like devotion. Some waved facsimilies of Lady Gaga's lighted "disco stick"-- basically a scepter. And many sang, with and without the star's prompting."

Billboard also gave a positive review for the performance and complimented songs like "Just Dance", LoveGame", Poker Face", "Boys, Boys, Boys" and the fame obsessed "Paparazzi". The reviewer also said that "[From] her chart success, Lady Gaga has proven herself to be an of-the-moment pop sensation. Dig deeper, and it’s clear she’s versatile and talented enough to have staying power."

Rolling Stone also gave a positive review saying "The tongue-in-cheek tabloid-victim shtick that provides some laughs on The Fame grew somewhat tiresome at the Wiltern, especially when the singer started spewing half-baked media-studies nonsense like, 'Some say Lady Gaga is a lie, and they’re right: I am a lie, and every day I kill to make it true.' Fortunately, this is a woman who knows how to lighten a mood: Within 10 minutes or so, she’d donned a flesh-colored leotard and a bedazzled admiral’s cap and was rhyming 'boys in cars' with 'buy us drinks in bars."

The Hollywood Reporter said that even "before 'queen of all media Perez Hilton took the stage and proclaimed her "the new princess of pop," Lady Gaga showed she's a serious contender to Madonna's crown Friday at the Wiltern. She might be a relative newcomer, but the artist born Stefani Joanne Germanotta commanded the stage with a royal air during her hourlong set, at times even sporting a glowing scepter."

Opening acts

• The White Tie Affair (North America)
• Chester French (North America)
• Cinema Bizarre (North America)

Set list

Gaga, wearing a white leotard with lightning-bolt shapes, performing "Money Honey" while being backed by her dancers at the second act of the show.

1. "The Heart" (Video introduction) (contains an element from "LoveGame")
2. "Paparazzi"
3. "LoveGame" (contains the first line of "Starstruck")
4. "Beautiful, Dirty, Rich"
5. "The Brain" (Video interlude)(contains elements from "The Fame" & "LoveGame")
6. "The Fame"
7. "Money Honey"
8. "Eh, Eh (Nothing Else I Can Say)"
9. "Space Cowboy" (Instrumental Interlude)
10. "Poker Face" (Piano version)
11. "Future Love"
12. "The Face" (Video interlude)
13. "Just Dance"
14. "Boys Boys Boys"
15. "Poker Face"

Additional notes

• On March 13, 2009 Gaga was presented with a plaque from the Recording Industry Association of America by social blogger Perez Hilton commemorating three million sales of her debut single "Just Dance", during her performance at the Wiltern Theatre. This show was also attended by rapper Kanye West.
• During the concert in Ottawa on March 27, 2009, as midnight struck fans started singing "Happy Birthday" to Gaga. She was singing the song "Poker Face" on the piano and seemed overwhelmed with emotion. She got up to the crowd and said, "This show is not for me,.[..].This show is for all of you guys. I really want you to have fun and meet each other and have the time of your life."
• The performance at Terminal 5 on May 2, 2009 was attended by singer Madonna, with her daughter Lourdes, manager, and boyfriend Jesus. Also in attendance was Cyndi Lauper. Gaga said that she was very humbled by Madonna's attendance and said, "I didn't want to talk about it or tell anyone 'cause I thought it was kind that she would want to come at all."
• Some of the songs contain elements from LoveGame.

Tour dates

Date	City	Country	Venue
North America
March 12, 2009	San Diego	United States	House of Blues
March 13, 2009	Los Angeles		Wiltern Theatre
March 14, 2009	San Francisco		Mezzanine
March 16, 2009	Seattle		Showbox at the Market
March 17, 2009	Portland		Wonder Ballroom
March 18, 2009	Vancouver	Canada	Commodore Ballroom
March 21, 2009	Denver	United States	Gothic Theater
March 23, 2009	Minneapolis		Fine Line Music Cafe
March 24, 2009	Chicago		House of Blues
March 25, 2009	Royal Oak		Royal Oak Music Theatre
March 26, 2009	Kitchener	Canada	Elements Nightclub
March 27, 2009	Ottawa		Bronson Centre
March 28, 2009	Montreal		Metropolis
March 30, 2009	Boston	United States	House of Blues
April 6, 2009	Orlando
April 7, 2009	Tampa		The Ritz Ybor
April 8, 2009	Ft. Lauderdale		Revolution
April 9, 2009	Atlanta		Center Stage
April 11, 2009	Palm Springs		Palm Springs Convention Center[A]
May 1, 2009	Philadelphia		Electric Factory
May 2, 2009	New York		Terminal 5
October 7, 2009	Monterrey	Mexico	Arena Monterrey
October 9, 2009	Guadalajara		Auditorio Telmex
October 11, 2009	D.F.		Auditorio Nacional

Notes

• A^ The concert is a part of the White Party.

External links

• Official tour website