It was a little more than a year ago that Lady Gaga had to cancel a big chunk of her "Born This Way Ball" tour because of a hip injury. One of those shows, just two weeks after her announcement, was supposed to be at Mohegan Sun. That made the Mother's Day eve performance at the casino sort of a make up show.
"Most of the people on this stage were on the 'Born This Way Ball tour and we wished so much we could have been here with you," Gaga said fairly early on in the show. It was one of her many gushes of love for the crowd, which would later also include cuddling stuffed animals, putting on a leather jacket tossed onstage, and pogo-ing with a tween fan.
Being Mother's Day it only made sense to bring Momma Caito. Not that mom owns neo-glam gear and spiked stiletto heels, but she'd probably enjoy it nonetheless. No way would she be the only parent at the show either.
It just so happened that the guests of honor included Lady Gaga's own family. "My family is here tonight, because my sister is graduating from college. You filthy old bitch," she said from a keyboard perched among ice crystals on an elevated catwalk. The singer went on to extol her family and all their support before melting in to a piano ballad rendition of "Born This Way."
The first chunk of the show was dedicated to songs from ARTPOP, including 'Venus,' 'G.U.Y.,' and 'Fashion.' The songs came across strong live, with some tight live band collaboration with pre-produced tracks.
Of course Momma Caito loved the performance. "This is great!" she'd exclaim multiple times through the night, while clapping along with the crowd slightly behind the beat of "Bad Romance," or throwing her hands in the air for "Poker Face." "I think this is one of the best concerts I've ever been to!"
And it was pretty good. Gaga strutted around her multi-level stage flanked alternately by dancers with stegosaurus bronie costumes and sea cucumbers that bloomed in proximity to her seashell bikini.
It was the sort of garish stuff we'd expect out of a top notch pop performer. From the fairly innocuous leather crop top and green hair to the octopus tentacles, she would saunter and dance belt out her songs. That's right octopus tentacles. I mean, tentacles? Then there was the closing look of a 90's rave kid burned out on molly, preceded by an on-stage [and completely utilitarian] stripping session.
Speaking of drugs, there were plenty of periodic breaks full of psychedelic light shows and throbbing beats. I mean, the tour is branded "artRave." But this is Connecticut, and the crowd was pretty mixed between young and old, so there's wasn't a ton of dancing. Except, of course, for Mohegan Sun Dancing Guy. For this one he traded in the resort collection shirt for a garb of shimmering blue sequins.
[A little background on Mohegan Sun Dancing Guy: For nearly two years I've been attending and reviewing concerts at the casino, and have seen this guy nearly every time. MSDG is in his 50's, and no matter what the band dances incoherently around the arena to a slick groove that only he seems to hear. Green Day. Maroon 5. Eric Clapton. P!nk. Lady Gaga. The same dance. He usually wears some kind of Jimmy Buffet-esque hawaiian shirt.]
I digress.
The singer took a few breaks to interact with fans (apparently throwing stuffed unicorns on stage is something to do at a Lady Gaga concert?) and even read a teenager's letter to the audience. Momma Caito had to leave before the encore [g'night mom, love you, happy mother's day!] and missed Gaga's biggest expression of fan love of the night.
During the encore of "Gypsy," she brought a young girl up on stage to sing and dance along to close out the show. The two held hands and pranced off into the sunset, a very cute end to a very elaborate rave.