Everybody Loves Enigma: Why?

[Marilyn MonHoe 8,203]

Oof the taste of this thread is overwhelming

[Ladle Ghoulash 11,109]

I think the structure of the show is BRILLIANT. Without getting TOO analytical, I think Gaga’s PTSD caused her to find being “Gaga” traumatizing. The use of Enigma’s transportation of Gaga into a “simulation of the future” gives real life Gaga an opportunity to create new physical memories that ties her music from the past into her perception of herself in the present. It’s a bit hard to explain, but as someone who also suffers from trauma relating to both sexual assault and the use of performance to conceal emotional truths, being able to re-enter parts of the body and mind that get blocked off as a result of trauma is a key part of healing, so i think one of my favorite things about the show is that Gaga creates such a wonderful piece of performance art in which she can rediscover the healing power of performance in restructuring her own narrative. Hope this makes sense.

[MonsterMom 12,647]

36 minutes ago, zebulonpyke said:

I think the structure of the show is BRILLIANT. Without getting TOO analytical, I think Gaga’s PTSD caused her to find being “Gaga” traumatizing. The use of Enigma’s transportation of Gaga into a “simulation of the future” gives real life Gaga an opportunity to create new physical memories that ties her music from the past into her perception of herself in the present. It’s a bit hard to explain, but as someone who also suffers from trauma relating to both sexual assault and the use of performance to conceal emotional truths, being able to re-enter parts of the body and mind that get blocked off as a result of trauma is a key part of healing, so i think one of my favorite things about the show is that Gaga creates such a wonderful piece of performance art in which she can rediscover the healing power of performance in restructuring her own narrative. Hope this makes sense.

That really makes so much sense knowing how Gaga relates and works through performance art. I hope you are right! Looking at the smile on her face and how much she seems to enjoy both shows you might be on to something!❤️

[pachinko 9,459]

Because it's a good show. 

[Didymus 32,702]

Because they have low standards

[Miel 15,009]

I think, beyond that it is a fairly palatable show that's just enough "Gaga" for a larger audience to swallow, the show itself really highlights Gaga's performanceship and incredible charisma (along with her incredible band and dancers). Jazz and Piano does the same thing, but in a different setting, and amped up by like a thousand.

It's a kooky, goofy show that infuses just enough of the "classic", weird "Gaga" that people remember, with the newer, more sophisticated, "musical talent diva" Gaga that a newer, wider audience currently loves. It's definitely almost like a less in-your-face, less bold version of the Born This Way Ball, thematically and maybe even visually. It combines all the caricaturized characteristics of her first three or four eras/phases and churns it into a simple, fun time.

Plus, it's pretty large-scale and wild for a Vegas residency, after seeing the whole set-up in person. The robot itself blew the normies' socks off.

[Miel 15,009]

10 hours ago, Didymus said:

Because they have low standards

Didy no wait I-

[Didymus 32,702]

7 minutes ago, Miel said:

It's definitely almost like a less in-your-face, less bold version of the Born This Way Ball, thematically and maybe even visually.

Finally someone who gets this

Agreed with everything else too. I may not like it myself but I can't deny that it's a perfectly effective show for the general public and the not so demanding portion of her fans

[Nino 12]

10 hours ago, Didymus said:

Because they have low standards

If the combined talents of Gaga, her band, and her dancers only meets a low standard  to you I don't even want to know what a GENIUS you must be to simultaneously understand all their disciplines so much better.  Take your mastermind and cure cancer or something legendary king 

[Miel 15,009]

3 minutes ago, Didymus said:

Finally someone who gets this

Agreed with everything else too. I may not like it myself but I can't deny that it's a perfectly effective show for the general public and the not so demanding portion of her fans

I am very honest with how I was slightly disappointed with the show when it first premiered, but in a larger perspective it makes sense. She made a successful, palatable, accessible show by taking the "Gaga" brand, and creating a fun, simple, and easy show with it. 

Her and her team are enjoying it, and so are the people watching it.

Like, I wish it was more visceral and cerebral and grittier, but either there's time for it in the future, or it's all in the past, and we're just gonna have to live with it. While I do enjoy the show and think she is as charming as she is talented, I do wish there were levels of kookiness and overall obnoxiousness as "giant alien gives birth to self via giant vagina and plans militaristic protest assault against giant evil government supercomputer as a metaphor for individuality and equity".

That said, Jazz and Piano is still one of the best shows she has ever done, (unpopular opinion?) with it fighting for top spot.

[Didymus 32,702]

6 minutes ago, Nino said:

If the combined talents of Gaga, her band, and her dancers only meets a low standard  to you I don't even want to know what a GENIUS you must be to simultaneously understand all their disciplines so much better.  Take your mastermind and cure cancer or something legendary king 

It's not about understanding their disciplines, though. It's just about comparing it to other shows out there right now and in the past and concluding that Enigma isn't anywhere near the best and, honestly, not worthy of a lot of appreciation

It's a fine pop show that serves its purpose but it's nothing much more than that.

High standards come from experience and observation and, above all, destroying the Gaga bubble most LMs live in. It's easy to pretend a low standard is a high one when you never take a look at what other artists are doing

[Didymus 32,702]

7 minutes ago, Miel said:

That said, Jazz and Piano is still one of the best shows she has ever done, (unpopular opinion?) with it fighting for top spot.

Is that an unpopular opinion? Shame. I ****ing love that show.

[Nino 12]

16 minutes ago, Miel said:

That said, Jazz and Piano is still one of the best shows she has ever done, (unpopular opinion?) with it fighting for top spot.

J&P and the JWT are easily her best shows imo.

One thing that made Enigma grow on me a LOT(I hated almost everything about it on the premiere) is that I feel designing such a quintessentially "Gaga" show gives her a clean slate to work with in the future. For the first 10 years of her career she tried to up the ante on every tour. It mostly worked imo seeing the shows live, but on paper the JWT had 6 stages, 3 of which unfolded into screens, the other being a neon rainbow laser piano stage, and the main one having 5 moving platforms and enough pyro to renact the firebombing of Tokyo  I went to the tour twice and while I love Gaga as a performer, she was NOT the main attraction of the show, the show was the main attraction of the show. She couldn't move much on the main stage during numbers like Scheisse that used it's gimmick, and a fair number of the songs were used just to have her travel across the arena to flex how many stages she had  

Enigma has just enough flash to feel like it's Gaga and other than the cringey canned speeches about the simulation, it never gets in the way of her just being herself on stage. Previously she had backed herself into a corner where she needed to have the biggest spectacles of any pop girl ever. Following this up will be a lot easier and allow for more creativity. 

[Miel 15,009]

2 minutes ago, Didymus said:

Is that an unpopular opinion? Shame. I ****ing love that show.

Maybe it isn't ksdaasljdlajslf but I stand by it. The setlist is absolutely incredible, her showmanship is beyond, and you can feel her heart and the talent from everybody on stage, like, every single second.

Biased, but if she swapped/added in more acoustic songs of her own, I'd lose it. Her addition of Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood was a welcome surprise.

[Nino 12]

6 minutes ago, Didymus said:

It's not about understanding their disciplines, though. It's just about comparing it to other shows out there right now and in the past and concluding that Enigma isn't anywhere near the best and, honestly, not worthy of a lot of appreciation

It's a fine pop show that serves its purpose but it's nothing much more than that.

High standards come from experience and observation and, above all, destroying the Gaga bubble most LMs live in. It's easy to pretend a low standard is a high one when you never take a look at what other artists are doing

I fully disagree   I go to most major pop tours and most people treat their band and dancers like disposable props for interludes. Gaga shows are a whole ass performance from everybody involved. 

The haus of gaga with a spotlight and a bluetooth speaker would be better than the reputation stadium tour imo. Esp in today's touring climate where Drake having an inflatable car at his shows is more recognized than his actual musicianship and leads to top boxscore numbers.