Gaga brings gaudy glitz and glam, but critics ho-hum on St. Paul show

Minnesota News | February 7, 2013

Critical reviews for Lady Gaga’s Wednesday night show at the Xcel Energy Center are in: Meh, she’s kind of two years ago.

There’s no doubt Gaga was the biggest thing going in pop music in 2010, and her May 2011 “Born This Way” album was a smash.

But she hasn’t had new music since. And her latest show suffered for it, critics said. For all the spectacle she brought to the Xcel show on Wednesday night (over-the-top costumes that included elaborate masks and headdresses and complicated sets, including a couch made of meat), they found “Mother Monster’s” show wanting.

“While still goofy and gaudy and glamorous, Gaga’s current outing also showed plenty of wear and tear around the corners,” Pioneer Press reviewer Ross Raihala said. “It was a very different, and not necessarily better, version of what she was selling us back in 2010.”

In his review, the Star Tribune’s Jon Bream, said: “The most garish, gaudiest pop supernova of this century was almost invisible during her second arena tour. Hard to believe.” Bream said the 26-year-old global pop star didn’t assert herself in her singing, and she disappeared between songs, leaving no action on stage.

Still, fans love her. They lined up as early as 5 a.m. to get a good spot on the floor for the evening show, WCCO reported. And the Pioneer Press has a slideshow of some of the costumes Gaga’s “little monsters” wore to the show.

Lady Gaga is traveling with her “Brave Bus” designed to promote awareness about bullying. Fox 9 interviewed Florin Gruen, a fan who was welcomed aboard after she made a video for the singer that described her experience being transgender.

Here’s a vid of her making an appearance at the bus, posted to YouTube: