Being at the BTW 10th Anniversary Celebrations At UO & The Abbey WeHo

[ChicaSkas 22,923]

So what do you get when you mix...

10 years since Gaga's magnum opus "Born This Way" dropped, 30 years since The Abbey WeHo opened, and 10 days since President Biden said the fully vaccinated can go maskless? 

YOU GET A PARTY!

 

 

 

That being said, come along on a days' journey of fun and excitement as I found myself swept up in Gagamania in Los Angeles, on one of the most culturally significant days in recent history for Gaga fans and the LGBTQ community.

It all started yesterday, early on a comfortable LA morning. Roughly 100 fans began lining up at Urban Outfitters on Melrose Blvd for the launch of exclusive ten year anniversary merch. Arriving hours before opening, they snapped selfies, chatted, and played Born This Way on speakers for all to hear.   

 

The epic UO Building:

 

There were some pretty tantalizing posters in the window, as well,

and window clings of Gaga's iconic face from the 2011 promo campaign:

This simple look dates back in loving homage to the 1980's work of Yosuke Onishi , & a January 1950 issue of Vogue magazine.

(I learned this a day or so ago from a very informative post by Darian Darling, an old friend of Gaga's from the New York days!)

 

Fun fact about the posters on the wall at Melrose Urban Outfitters.... only 10 lithos were made, for the Melrose location alone. They are all set to be sent back to the corporate offices or destroyed, which is of course a crying shame. Efforts have been undertaken by myself to make sure the Haus gets these as they are very unique and commemorative of that one day. As of print time, my fingers remain crossed they find a new Haus home... 

 

Super rare litho....!

I think this is the most epic Lady Gaga pin collection I've ever seen.

And what a way to use those old clear vinyl backpacks left over from the Joanne World Tour !

 

Dedicated early risers celebrating the most epic album of our generation!

 

Now all of this was great marketing, but in truth, Urban Outfitters didn't realize how hardcore the Little Monsters are when they want merch, and the stock was cleaned out in under 10 minutes. Which meant the people in line who couldn't get in on time were left sadly out of luck or forced to go online to order merch. One silver lining --- plenty of commemorative tote bags with posters and tattoos were left for those who bought something. As you can imagine, a ton of greeting cards were sold to reach that criteria!

 

 

As the merch levels dropped, the fans dispersed throughout Melrose and to the surrounding watering holes of Starbucks and gas stations. I was just getting ready to leave, when a friend texted me and asked if I was still in LA.... long story short, I ended up driving down to Robertson....  to see this:

 

Very intriguing piece of art right here!

So once I was there, I probably hadn't been standing more than 5 minutes before I caught sight of a Haus member. So I knew something important might be afoot. Since I had technically not been invited, I felt awkward about taking advantage of being there, just showing up based on rumors alone felt inauthentic. But I sucked up some courage and willpower and just went with it, figuring, whatever happens, happens, right? At least I know some people here. I caught sight of Judas Joe Manson, the fantastic Gaga drag artist, chilling with his friends at a table. And then I spotted Shangela, whom I'd not met in about 8 years, since the "Birthday Ball" at Staples Center. Gradually, I began to chill out a bit, and I got my mom and myself a table, and let the imposter syndrome just wear off.  To my disbelief, Shangela actually remembered hanging out with me and Richy 'Squirrel' Jackson at the stage door all those years ago. 

Spoiler

 It was great to see her again! 

 

 

Everyone was very welcoming at the Abbey, the waiters and staff were all attentive and courteous.  The mask mandate was lifted by President Biden just 10 days ago, so the fully vaccinated could feel safer taking their masks off to eat and talk. I kept it on as much as possible regardless. 

 The Abbey was coincidentally celebrating it's 30th anniversary on the same day as Born This Way's decade festivities. So it was a double whammy of significance, and everyone was hyped on what might happen next. Before long, screams could be heard, and that can only mean one thing: the Queen has arrived at our doorstep. 

Video credit: Florido on Instagram

 

 

Gaga loved the painted street. She laid down on it and did the monster paw and everything. 

photo credit to Scotty.Photo on Instagram!

 

This entire image is just pure full-on pinup girl. I love it. Thank you, good sir Scotty.Photos

 

This really was a great setting, packed with so much emotion and meaning for Gaga, the album, the Abbey, and for the fans. It was a huge surprise to see her presented with a proclamation from Mayor Lindsey P. Horvath, declaring May 23rd "Born This Way Day" ever after. She accepted the key gracefully, and made sure to turn around to the crowd and hold it high with pride. 

 

She gave a short speech following the mayor's introduction, and since I was right below, I filmed it all for you guys to hear in full.

"Thank you for this key. You've been -- I'm sure this will sound cheesy to some people, but not to me -- you've been the motherf**king key to my heart for a long time." 

The crowd went crazy at that line.

 "I'll honor this and I'll treasure this, and I promise I'll always be here for this day. I will be here on this day to celebrate with you, to feel joy with you, to cry with you, to laugh with you, because you know what we are? We're poets, and we're just talking to each other," she added. "I love you, let's have a good time!" 

 

 

Everyone cheered, and Gaga and her entourage made their way inside to hang out at the bustling DJ booth and get some drinks. Of course, the hardcores followed. I tried to keep up with Lexie and Marc, whom I'd met at previous events, but even knowing them personally did not provide enough street cred with Security to get me in the bar area too, so I accepted that. After all, I did just show up fresh off the street. Which is, in truth, completely understandable. With a few exceptions, no one knows me there from Eve. Also, I later realized that both Lance Bass of N*Sync and Brendan Fraser were there. So yeah, no wonder. 

 

It is easy, if you think only as a fan, to wear the blinders of believing that you deserve to be right up there with Gaga all time like the others do. But in reality, Gaga and her closest fans have years upon years of history between them. Witnessing the interactions that these select fans like Marc and Diana have with her and the Haus, it's not even like they are fans anymore. These people are Haus family. And they should honestly be respected as such.

I had a deep conversation with Marc. He was being bullied relentlessly by toxic Twitter fans, even as we spoke, who think they know what is best for his relationship with Gaga. At first, on the surface, with my extremely limited info, I too admitted that I'd just heard a lot of odd stuff but put it down to "it's between him and her." Why? I didn't follow the saga of drama and inflated perceptions of right and wrong on Twitter. Whatever mistakes that Marc made in the eyes of Twitter, all you have to do now is take one look at his Instagram to see that all is well where it really matters -- between him and Gaga herself. 

 

He explained a lot of things to me that I can't talk about -- but he is not the villain that he was made out to be online. So in this case I respect his unique situation. We need more kindness towards him, not hate or jealously. It's too easy to do those and not live up to the tenets Gaga is all about. Tolerance and kindness. 

Think about it this way: if he really had any bad blood or had deeply offended the Haus, does anyone really honestly think he would be allowed in to celebrate this momentous day in the VIP area? Yeah, hard nope on that one.

Everyone in her inner circle shares an unbreakable bond of familial ties that is palpable to all in the room. Each person in Gaga's entourage was comfortable, relaxed and easygoing, enjoying the party atmosphere all around them.  And how refreshing it was to see Gaga having so much fun! She danced and sang along with all of her songs the DJ was playing, and everyone dancing below and around her was just losing their minds and Instagramming and FaceTiming and recording the whole thing.

 

 

DJ Dawna Montell of Instagram was playing some great mixes, one of which is 12 years old now: the Paparazzi (Dave Aude Club Mix) from mid 2009. Remixes of Sour Candy and Shallow were also played, and there is every possibility that a certain audio queen recorded those for the benefit of history to be polished up and put out on Soundcloud at a later date. Every possibility. 

 

Gaga took a turn at Dawna's deck:

Seeing Gaga relax and let loose was really comforting. This is quite likely the first time she's been out to a real party in over 15 months -- where she can dance and let loose without a mask for the first time with her fans and friends. It was a very liberating experience.

 Check out this clip from Judas Joe Manson's livestream:

 

Judas Joe Manson assured everyone via his Instagram stories this evening (5/24) that he will be uploading the lives he took again to Insta and TikTok and discussing the night into the future with everyone.

All in all, this experience was a monumental day -- steeped in meaning for the West Hollywood community, which finally felt liberated after so long under lockdown and mask requirements. What's amazing here, too, is this is just the beginning of the celebrations. Gaga's website has exclusive BTW merch now, there will be a Born This Way Reimagined CD, and so much more to come (see this article: http://www.justjared.com/2021/05/23/west-hollywood-declares-may-23-born-this-way-day-on-albums-10th-anniversary-more-surprises-coming-from-lady-gaga/ )

So all we have do is sit back and enjoy the festivities!

 "media queen" 

 

Thanks for reading this and coming on this journey with me. I'll be posting more audio and video as the days go by. Because of the awful timed 24-hour mortality of Instagram stories, I spent the entire day before writing this downloading them. Before they self destructed.  There were hundreds of videos from dozens of fans that broadcasted live footage from the Abbey WeHo location. Each vantage point was unique and offered a new insight into the experience. Without those dedicated fans, we wouldn't have the historical record we do, so my hat goes off to them for sharing their Instagrams with the world. (Even if all of them have no idea I spent today literally crawling through their pages)  If you see yourself on the record, you have them to thank. All stories were downloaded with the original handle of the uploader, so that they can receive credit. 

A useful tool in gathering these stories was the Places feature on Instagram. It grouped the geolocation data of videos, where fans marked them, that is, and can be sorted by Recent so that you can see chronologically what occured when.

Spoiler

 

All credit is to the original uploaders. All photos without credit were photographed by myself for GGD.

Please do not reproduce this article without written permission.

 

(c) ChicaSkas aka Katharine Styles-Burroughs for GagaDaily.com

 

[Benji 20,113]

Thanks for compiling this @ChicaSkas, this looked like such a wonderful event and it was so nice to see Gaga having fun.  I hope you had a great time, I’m well jealous! 

[Celloo Deng 54,584]

Wow looks like it was an amazing time! You are so lucky 

[ImMatt 1,747]

What an amazing documentation of the day and really fun to read. Looks like such a fun day...wish I was there 

[BrianNewmanFan 1]

@ChicaSkas thank you so very much for taking the (immense amount of) time to capture this epic day for all of us. Sometimes it’s good to just go with the flow and you did just that. But you respected your boundaries, which is admirable. Watching the day unfold via IG was both inspirational and saddening... that I was not there to see it all for myself. So thank you for allowing us to live these moments vicariously through you. 

[Andreu 37,216]

Thanks for sharing your experience with such details

[GucciGa 3,729]

Well let's hope Marc decides from now on to show Gaga the extraordinary grace and kindness that she has shown him throughout the years. A true friendship should be reciprocal, with complete loyalty and trust (especially when one side is a superstar who really cannot trust everybody to honour those tenets). 

 

Glad you enjoyed it. I have seen a lot of fans say how much the album means to them, that it saved their lives, that it kept them going through hard times. From listening to it all in the last few days I was reminded just how FUN and JOYOUS it is. 

[beli8 1,420]

Thank you so so much for this wonderfully detailed account! And for stalking all the Instagram accounts for credited content before it disappeared from the stories lol. Since the majority of us were not there, I think I speak for many when I say that we were there in spirit with you representing GGD along with the general fandom. This was such as important day, and a lot was going on in more than one place but you managed to make your way to the place where you needed to be the most! Can't wait to hear/see the other bits you might be sharing later on.

[chromatic puzea 10,087]

i thought this was a super delayed post about what was going on, but this was a really great account of the whole day

thank you for making this and looking up all these pics and videos, this definitely took a long time to make and it makes LMs who couldn't go have a sense of what the first born this way day was like

i really hope you enjoyed it, and once again thank ü

[BlackFluid 357]

All of the love. Thank you for sharing.

[ChicaSkas 22,923]

3 hours ago, GucciGa said:

Well let's hope Marc decides from now on to show Gaga the extraordinary grace and kindness that she has shown him throughout the years. A true friendship should be reciprocal, with complete loyalty and trust (especially when one side is a superstar who really cannot trust everybody to honour those tenets). 

 

Glad you enjoyed it. I have seen a lot of fans say how much the album means to them, that it saved their lives, that it kept them going through hard times. From listening to it all in the last few days I was reminded just how FUN and JOYOUS it is. 

Thanks for this. The haters, from what little I saw, didn't ever take the time to sit down and talk to him. Sure I could have been bamboozled,  but to witness his ease with her and everyone is pretty convincing that he's worked things out. People do change, and he's assured me he's worked things out with her --- the evidence to that is his presence with her and everyone.

You are 100 percent correct though! I hope her extraordinary grace rubs off everywhere on everyone. We all have so much to learn. Every day is a learning experience.  

Glad you liked it, thank you

[ChicaSkas 22,923]

2 hours ago, chromatic puzea said:

..... it makes LMs who couldn't go have a sense of what the first born this way day was like. 

I know, right? Can you imagine if they all celebrated Born This Way Day with such pizzazz every year? I know it wont always be like the tenth year but who knows! 

[Windowlicker 3,455]

Great write up and photos! 

[ChicaSkas 22,923]

4 hours ago, BrianNewmanFan said:

@ChicaSkas thank you so very much for taking the (immense amount of) time to capture this epic day for all of us. Sometimes it’s good to just go with the flow and you did just that. But you respected your boundaries, which is admirable. Watching the day unfold via IG was both inspirational and saddening... that I was not there to see it all for myself. So thank you for allowing us to live these moments vicariously through you. 

As a reporter for GGD this was my ultimate goal: add enough details and physical documentation through live broadcasts so that people can see what I saw, even though they couldn't be there themselves.

(All while battling crippling imposter syndrome and anxiety lmao   )

I know the opinions I inserted here might ruffle feathers but I felt it was essential to calm the waters with a dose of straight reality broken as gently as possible.  They are not evil fans. Misunderstood would be more accurate. There is absolutely zero way truly toxic people would be allowed to remain in LG's life. She is so far beyond that now. 

Once you get right in front of them and actually chat with them and get to know them for them and not their connections, you'll see they are not that different. Just extraordinarily lucky. If I offended anyone here  by actually listening to them, then I apologize,  but communicating and listening is the first step to breaking down the walls of differences. It was worth it.

And this was so historically charged an atmosphere! The 10th anniversary of Gaga's most impactful album. A blessing.

Next step for me: finding what Sour Candy remix Dawna played !

 

[RAMROD 107,964]

We need to censor Mark's face. That's unnecessary negativity in picture