The moment every Little Monster has been waiting for since they first heard the opening soaring vocals of "Perfect Illusion" is here: The start of Lady Gaga's Joanne World Tour. Last night was the tour's premiere show on its first North American leg, and fans and critics are already raving. From now until December, Gaga will be tweaking the intricacies of her cowboy hat-topped performances and making sure fans are treated to the best experience possible. Here's 10 things we know so far:
Gaga isn't ignoring any of her discography while she promotes her latest album. Longtime Gaga fans will be treated hits dating back to The Fame, including "Poker Face" and "Paparazzi," along with standout tracks from The Fame Monster and ARTPOP.
Expect era-appropriate costumes for her songs. If you've dreamt of Gaga performing "Bad Romance" in a pink cowboy hat, first of all, what's wrong with you? Second, she'll be making the appropriate changes to her appearance when reliving her different eras of music.
Her latest release, "The Cure," works its way into the show right before the finale. One of the bops of the summer, "The Cure" found crossover success.
In fact, the whole set list is fire. The "Diamond Heart" opener we've been dreaming about since the Super Bowl? Check. "John Wayne?" Obviously. "Born This Way?" How could she not? "Dancin' in Circles?" Yeah, duh.
Her set breaks, as usual, are a visual feat. According to USA Today, the videos that concertgoers are treated to during costume changes and breaks are as stunning as ever. One video features Gaga "wearing rhino horns with Pharrell," while another "showed her growing talons and inhaling a drug that made her relive intoxicating moments onstage."
As always, Gaga's stage presence is unparalleled. Not only does she sing every song live, Gaga also plays multiple instruments and dances her heart out every show. We've come to fully appreciate her for it and expect nothing less.
She's nabbing those frequent flyer miles. Gaga will spend the next five weeks performing across the continent before she heads south for a show in Rio de Janeiro. After that it's another five weeks in Europe before she heads back home to close out the tour with another North American leg.
If you don't have your ticket for a North American tour date, you may be out of luck. According to Gaga's Facebook page, NA shows for the tour are sold out.
Mother Monster is as engaging with her audience as ever. Before settling into her final performance of the show, Gaga walked around the stage looking across the crowd, insisting everyone put their hands up so she can see them all.
If you didn't have the set list, you wouldn't know when the last song was coming (spoilers ahead). The last three songs Gaga performed in Vancouver could have all served encores. "The Cure," being her newest single and carrying a loving message would have worked. Once she started "Bad Romance" after that it seemed like the obvious finale. But if we really thought about it, Gaga's impassioned "Million Reasons" was always the true grand finale of this tour, and that's exactly how it should be.