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Lady Gaga Brings Chaos and Theatrics as UK ‘Mayhem Ball’ Tour Opens

Lady Gaga Brings Chaos and Theatrics
Image Source: By Getty Images

Lady Gaga launched the UK leg of her Mayhem Ball tour on Monday night, delivering a two-and-a-half-hour spectacle of mayhem, magic and music at London’s O2 Arena, with further shows scheduled at Manchester’s Co-Op Live.

The tour, premiered earlier this year at Coachella, plays like a gothic opera in which Gaga’s inner angels and demons wrestle for control of her soul. Over the course of the show, she is seen dancing on a human skull, serenading a corpse, buried in a shallow grave, cavorting with zombies and even crossing the River Styx.

From ‘Just Dance’ to ‘The Dead Dance’

The setlist spans two decades, opening with her 2008 debut single Just Dance and stretching to her latest release The Dead Dance, from the hit Netflix series Wednesday.

That performance featured a surprise cameo from Wednesday stars Emma Myers and Evie Templeton, who floated around Gaga in bridal gowns before breaking into choreography from the show’s upcoming second season. Gaga later shared rehearsal footage of their collaboration on TikTok.

Mayhem: A Return to High-Concept Pop

The tour comes on the back of Gaga’s new album Mayhem, widely praised as a return to high-concept pop after years devoted to acting and jazz projects.

Like the record, the live show grapples with Gaga’s past — the toll of fame, the strain of punishing tours, and her battle with fibromyalgia, a chronic pain condition that has affected her career.

On stage, Gaga dramatizes the struggle between light and dark: an angelic blonde persona floats across the stage, while a raven-haired alter ego writhes in manic choreography.

Staging Highlights: Chessboards, Doppelgängers and Graves

Among the theatrical set pieces:

During Poker Face, Gaga battles a masked doppelgänger on a life-sized chessboard, screaming: “What are you doing here in my house? Off with her head!”

For Perfect Celebrity, a ghost of her past emerges from a shallow grave to sing of stardom’s “pressure and torture”.

In Paparazzi, Gaga snarls at photographers while hobbling on crutches, before freeing herself to walk unaided.

The gothic narrative runs throughout, from convulsive choreography to elaborate visual references, including nods to her 2010 Brit Awards lace outfit.

Musical Reinvention and Vocals

Musically, Gaga’s hits are reworked with darker textures: industrial guitars, sawtooth bass lines and gothic synths. Even her Oscar-winning ballad Shallow is reimagined with an ominous electronic pulse.

Despite constant physical movement, her vocals remain gutsy and rich, proving her stamina and versatility.

Emotional Climax at the Piano

Midway through the final act, Gaga retreats from the chaos to a gondola floating down the catwalk, finding sanctuary at her piano.

There she strips things back with heartfelt renditions of A Million Reasons and Die With a Smile. Fans were also treated to impromptu performances of Speechless and The Edge of Glory, not on the standard setlist.

“My first big arena show was in the UK,” she told the audience. “You believed in me then. Thank you for believing in me now.”

Pact With the Fans

Reflecting on her near-20-year career, Gaga promised she would return decades from now if fans would still come. “If I come back 20 years from now, will you come to the show? You gotta promise me now,” she said.

The crowd’s deafening response seemed to reassure her.

Explosive Finale

The concert closes with Gaga declaring she has defeated the “mistress of mayhem”. As the set catches fire, she is wheeled out on a hospital gurney, surrounded by dancers in red plague doctor costumes who operate on her lifeless body.

She is reborn Frankenstein-style for a thunderous Bad Romance, followed by an encore of How Bad Do U Want Me and Dance in the Dark.

Full Setlist: The Mayhem Ball

Act I: Of Velvet And Vice

  • Bloody Mary
  • Abracadabra
  • Judas
  • Aura
  • Scheiße
  • Garden of Eden
  • Poker Face

Act II: And She Fell Into A Gothic Dream

  • Perfect Celebrity
  • Disease
  • Paparazzi
  • LoveGame
  • Alejandro
  • The Beast

Act III: The Beautiful Nightmare That Knows Her Name

  • Killah
  • Zombieboy
  • The Dead Dance (with Emma Myers & Evie Templeton)
  • LoveDrug
  • Applause
  • Just Dance

Act IV: Every Chessboard Has Two Queens

  • Shadow of a Man
  • Kill for Love
  • Summerboy
  • Born This Way
  • Million Reasons
  • Shallow
  • Die With a Smile
  • Speechless (impromptu)
  • The Edge of Glory (impromptu)
  • Vanish Into You

Finale: The Eternal Aria of the Monster Heart

  • Bad Romance
  • Encore
  • How Bad Do U Want Me
  • Dance in the Dark

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