I am in the depths of Lady Gaga’s Mayhem Ball, where true-blooded Little Monsters from all across Asia had come to turn Singapore into Gaga’s dramatic playground. After the pain of walking in my platform black Mary Janes from the MRT station, I had made it to the Mother’s altar that is National Stadium, hoping my fishnets didn’t rub against a blister threatening to pop.
Split into five acts, with each one detailing Mother Monster’s inner struggle with fame, fortune, and herself, the Mayhem Ball is a Goth glam fever dream that directly harkens back to Gaga’s early days, when most knew her for her eccentric outfit changes, casually Mephistophelian imagery, and a fiendish energy to both dance and song that immediately cemented her as one of the biggest rock stars of our generation. While fans crowded into the stadium loudly bragging about their gothic fits (myself included), ours were nothing compared to Gaga’s first costume — a stunning blood red Tudor gown that rose to the height of the giant TV screens flanking the stage. “SINGAPORE! Where are you? Let me hear you!” Gaga roared as the stadium turned into a rave of flashing red lights for her opening number, “Bloody Mary.” Beckoned by our Mother, we roared back.
To sit down at any point of her set would have been sacrilege, and false devotees who dared to rest their feet and take a break to post concert photos were met with dark stares and a few mutters in a mix of English, Mandarin, and Malay. For attendees with seats in the center of the stadium, sitting down would have meant not being able to see the furious, feathered flurry that was Miss Gaga dancing onstage. For two hours, we fought to catch a glimpse of her strutting on stage, elbowing and shoving our fellow Little Monsters to get a good photo or video.
Recent hit tracks, like the dark anthem “Abracadabra,” turned the National Stadium into a vibrating dance party. We jumped in place as Gaga brought out “Poker Face,” which saw her engaged in an intense dance fight with a younger version of herself clad in white. After letting out an animalistic scream, Gaga aggressively finger-gunned her doppelganger to death. In “Disease,” Gaga languidly lay in a sandbox shaped like a giant square mausoleum, cuddling a bony skeleton and swaying with the dancers in her sandbox, all clad in skull masks.
“You are so very special to me, my Little Monsters in Singapore,” Gaga purred at us during a break halfway through her show. “I have so many good memories of my time here during the Born This Way Ball. You taught me how to love.” We screamed back at Mother in response, delighted that she thought of us and remembered us.
Gaga capped the night with several of her classic hits, including “Born This Way” — complete with a dazzling display of rainbow-colored fireworks — and “Bad Romance,” which saw the singer rise to life on an operating table before letting out one final roar for her audience of devotees. Bathing the stadium in flashing red lights, Gaga stood triumphantly at center stage, with one hand raised in a devilish, perfect monster claw.
As attendees slowly made their way out of the stadium, many couldn’t bring themselves to leave the moment behind. While waiting for the Stadium MRT station to decongest, fans gathered in pockets, starting their own dance parties to some of their favorite Gaga hits. Crowds hummed and sang a capella to “Killah” and “Zombieboy,” both of which were blasted on repeat on the stadium’s giant speakers. It felt less like an exit and more like an encore: a shared refusal to let the night end, and a final celebration of the artist who had, once again, turned a concert into a world of her own.
