In front of 20,000 people in London, the musician delivered a lavish show lasting over two hours, spread across five acts, 30 songs from her career, and countless costumes. With a sound blending different genres, gothic sets, grand arrangements, the expected theatrics, and operatic motifs, Gaga’s evening was outrageously ambitious, over-the-top to the point of ridiculousness, and simply excellent.
As the O2 Arena in London slowly fills with a diverse crowd (most dressed so beautifully you want to hug each one), the huge screen above the stage displays messages from fans to the “Mother Monster,” Lady Gaga herself: queer fans thanking her for the courage to live openly, pilgrims from Australia bowing, young women who dreamed for years of this moment. Sometimes Gaga (or someone near her) responds in real time, expressing gratitude for the privilege of serving the audience and promising it will be worth the effort.
The ritual, which usually fills the time before the show officially starts, is an integral part of an event that lasts over two hours, spanning five acts, 30 songs, countless costumes, dozens of dancers, and a skull the size of a tank and a half. It demonstrates the one thing Gaga does almost as well as pop (and acting, to be honest): creating a devoted, tight-knit, intimate community, despite being a product primarily aimed at the masses.
Of course, Beyoncé and Taylor Swift also have armies, sometimes even more aggressive than Gaga’s “little monsters” who follow her everywhere. But only with Gaga does it feel like a counterculture movement, pushing against the mainstream where her hits have been played for nearly 20 years. That energy, combined with a show that the word “lavish” barely begins to describe, and performed in a relatively small venue compared to what she could fill (her previous shows in England were at 80,000-seat stadiums), erupts back as soon as the opening act ends and the real performance begins. Oh, how real it is.
The current concentrated Gaga set celebrates the album Mayhem, released earlier this year and holding strong at the top of 2025’s best albums. Gaga returned home to the club dance sounds that raised her in New York, but also to the industrial sound of the ’80s and ’90s, heavily influenced by Nine Inch Nails and Depeche Mode. It’s worth noting that her connection to this genre is much more convincing than Beyoncé’s gestures toward country and techno.
The performance doubles and triples Gaga’s commitment to the format: top-notch gothic sets with clear operatic motifs, arrangements savoring the full-bodied sound of a live band alongside inevitable theatrics. The concept is Gaga’s relentless battle with her inner demons, sometimes spilling into theatrical violence (which aligns well with the Nine Inch Nails legacy), until the long-awaited liberation and recognition that she is Born This Way. It’s outrageously ambitious, overblown to the point of absurdity, and simply excellent.
Most notably, Gaga finally seems comfortable with her neurotic and sometimes unbearable persona, and now she’s here to enjoy herself. Thank God she has no shortage of material alongside most songs from the new album and captivating performances of Abra-Cadabra and Garden of Eden, she returns not only to old hits like Poker Face and Just Dance, and essentials like Bad Romance and Shallow, but also to classics somewhat neglected over the years, like Judas and even Alejandro. Even Applause from the criticized Artpop album appears, as well as a stunning piano version of Dance in The Dark. Only the previous album, Chromatica, is completely omitted from the repertoire, perhaps because its creation was painful and its release botched due to the pandemic. Beyond that, stinginess does not seem welcome in this house to put it mildly.
Since bursting onto the scene toward the end of the first decade of the 21st century, Gaga has excelled in tackling a central theme of the era: pop dealing with pop culture, celebrity, and the fine line between polished and fake, just as she was accused of and still is. In this current show, that’s the most effective and best part, at the start of the second act, opening with Gaga hugging a skeleton in a sandbox (yes, you read that right) to perform Perfect Celebrity. Almost immediately after, she also performs a relatively calm version of her beloved Paparazzi, strutting the catwalk with a spectacular white dress trailing behind her, a beautiful metaphor for the limits of power even famous and successful people face.
Thus, it’s clear why Gaga not only demonstrates her famous addiction to “raise your hands in the air” (she refuses to acknowledge that with songs like these, you really don’t need the club staff’s instructions) but also spends a lot of time at the end of the show affirming her bond with the hardcore fans, just as she did before stepping on stage. These speeches turn the chorus of Die With A Smile into an X-ray of Gaga herself: if she is fated to die now, it will be like this, surrounded by 20,000 strangers while being an open book. Luckily, “monsters don’t die,” as Gaga says at the start of the show: you can stay smiling.
