Thank God for the drama class kids. Many of them are unbearable, of course, but sometimes they grow up to be Lady Gaga. The Mayhem Ball, which last night stormed London’s O2 for the first of four dates in the capital, is an outsized throwback to the performer’s pop roots, as well as a testament to her love of deeply serious world-building.
Framed around a battle between a flamboyant super-villain with a cane (played by Gaga herself) and a virginal naif in white (also Gaga), both of whom represent the creative chaos within her (or something), this is an absolute howler of a show. You haven’t quite lived until you’ve seen “Shallow” from A Star Is Born being sung by Gaga to her evil twin while the pair are hauled across the stage on a tiny tugboat lit by a ye olde lamp. Yet The Mayhem Ball is also so impeccably put together – with bombast, speed, costume changes, explosions and such lovely sincerity from its headliner – that it quickly becomes clear that you are watching the concert of the year.
