Least Favorite Tour: Gaga

[faysalaaa 5,295]

Not everyone will appreciate the Fame Ball unless you were a huge fan during that time. The Intro itself with the opening makes the whole tour on the top of the list.

[Blackout19 14,945]

the joanne world tour its so underrated

[Gorehound 5,450]

I normally don't have an issue with Gaga's tours, but I was disappointed with both the ARTPOP and Joanne tour, mainly because they both deviated too far from the aesthetics of the albums and into something....less interesting?

 

I know ARTPOP was always very colourful and campy, but the tour took that to the extreme and the sense of "art" was lost and became more of a tacky and silly psychedelic circus, rather than the slightly more curated exploration into postmodern art styles that the album was. (Also not having Aura be the big opening moment of the show was unforgivable).

The same for the Joanne tour. I'm not much of a fan of the album, but I do like the stripped back, almost rustic, Americana singer-songwriter aesthetic and that humble Western dive bar style. But the tour pretty much abandoned that into a kind of confused, colourful mishmash of different tried and tested styles. If she had kept to the original Joanne aesthetic and managed to translate that stripped back dive bar vibe to the tour it might have been excellent.

 

The other tours all stuck to, or felt like a natural and relevant progression of their albums.

I know the Chromatica tour was different than the albums visuals, but I saw that dark futuristic brutalism vibe to be a necessary evolution to the album. And let's be honest it was cool af. 

Edited April 15 by Gorehound

[The Breast 5,084]

btwb cause thats the only time shes ever toured here and I was too little 

[TAIPEI 3,199]

i cant choose between artrave: ARTPOP ball or joanne world tour.

ARTPOP BALL:
messy looks and unrefined aesthetics, just dont like it.

JWT:
weird concept, just doesnt fits joanne the album's aesthetics & vibes, but still a great tour.

 

[vmpiregrn 1,145]

Didn’t realize I was in enemy territory omg Chromatica Ball was what redeemed that era most for me! I’m a sucker for brutalist and Gareth Pugh

It was a toss up between artrave and JWT and I ultimately chose JWT because artrave had great energy

Edited April 15 by vmpiregrn

[himerosxo 501]

1 hour ago, Ladle Ghoulash said:

Yeah, I understand what the format of the show means, I just disagree. If any of her shows is formatted around being digestible for the GP (both in terms of aesthetic and in terms of pacing), it would be the JWT (virtually no “Gaga” aesthetic or theatrical storytelling, streamlined to be centered solely around conventional pop choreo performances).
 

CBT doesn’t have an explicit narrative per se, but definitely has more of an emotional arc in terms of traveling from harsh emotional austerity to an emotional reopening passing through inner turmoil. I can get why you might say you think it’s less “Gaga” than TFB, MBT, TMB, BTWB, but I just don’t really think you can justifiably say it misses the mark in that regard more than the ArtRave or JWT. 

I do see what you’re saying.

I agree that Chromatica Ball has more of an emotional arc than JWT that transition from austerity to release is definitely there. But for me, having an emotional throughline doesn’t necessarily translate to a show feeling less “digestible” in its overall execution.

What I’m responding to is less the intent or underlying narrative, and more how that narrative is realized in the format of the show. Chromatica Ball presents those ideas in a way that feels more polished, linear, and accessible especially in a stadium context whereas her earlier tours tended to feel more immersive, chaotic, or even confrontational in how they pulled the audience into those worlds.

So even if CBT has more conceptual or emotional depth than something like JWT, it still reads as more universally palatable to me because of how controlled and streamlined the experience is from start to finish.

I don’t think that makes it worse across the board, it just places it differently within her touring catalogue. For me, it sits in that space where it gestures toward something more conceptual, but ultimately prioritizes cohesion and accessibility over full artistic unpredictability.

But I get why you’d read it differently.

[Juanlittlem 48,783]

Easy, Chromatica Ball. The budget was there, but the stage wasnt.

The Fame Ball was decent for a first tour. 

Monsterball and BTWBall are both iconics.

artRAVE had a great setlist, and I liked the stage.

Joanne had one of Gagas best vocals for a tour. 

Mayhem Ball is her best tour so far.

[ANVEEROY 64,396]

I kinda thought Joanne Tour is very loved!

[BELLYACHE 1,750]

5 hours ago, Ladle Ghoulash said:

Ngl ArtRave is probably her most bottom coded tour, so you’d be wrong. 

No lies detected lol

[Alxjcgn 1,982]

6 hours ago, Ladle Ghoulash said:

How is it “formatted for the general public” when the visuals in the interludes were some of her most avant garde in recent memory and the setlist was largely songs from an album the GP isn’t familiar with? 

The setlist definitely was for the fans, she obviously played the hits but she does that every tour haha. And I agree the visuals (and costumes/theatrics) were full gaga and for the fans. 

I did vote it my least favorite tour but only because of the stadium/stage layout made it extremely difficult to see anything. I still had a great time though and it was a great show!

[PartySick 171,199]

The Chromatica Ball had such potential for an incredible narrative  I'm not mad that I went three times (well, 2.5 times ) but it could have been so much more than a grey box where she put Chromatica and a few hits on shuffle.

I was really hoping she'd revisit that tribe theme and make the whole show an actual adventure on "Planet Chromatica". It's nerdy, campy, and would have been fun as hell  

But the most egregious thing was the choice of venue. Stadium concerts just aren't it and I'm glad she realized that for The Mayhem Ball.

[Ladle Ghoulash 44,975]

27 minutes ago, PartySick said:

The Chromatica Ball had such potential for an incredible narrative  I'm not mad that I went three times (well, 2.5 times ) but it could have been so much more than a grey box where she put Chromatica and a few hits on shuffle.

I was really hoping she'd revisit that tribe theme and make the whole show an actual adventure on "Planet Chromatica". It's nerdy, campy, and would have been fun as hell  

But the most egregious thing was the choice of venue. Stadium concerts just aren't it and I'm glad she realized that for The Mayhem Ball.

Ngl I was so thrilled she dumped that aesthetic 😭. But I agree abt the box stage in a stadium setting 

[Future Lovers 7,359]

ArtRave is a mess and I think objectively her worst but Chromatica was the most disappointing 

[PartySick 171,199]

2 hours ago, Ladle Ghoulash said:

Ngl I was so thrilled she dumped that aesthetic 😭. But I agree abt the box stage in a stadium setting 

Idk, I had this whole idea of her opening the show with Alice but instead of falling into a hole and being transported to wonderland, she crashed onto the planet and the whole show would be about the scrappy characters in the pink/Kindness Punk that find her and her journey to confront the black/Government tribe and tear their oppressive reign down.

Lowkey a "Lord of the Rings" meets "Lego Bionicle" rehash of the BTWB but still  

It would have been fun  

And imagine the set pieces? Especially if they utilized the stadium the right way? They could have entire elaborate sets for every act. The desert, the jungle, the hills, the city. It could have been incredible.