All A-Gaga

Well, we did it, so I guess that means we’re not, what, “virgins” anymore. (Does anybody really use that word?) Once you’ve done it, you really can’t go back to the place you were before. Things aren’t the same. You feel … different. Changed. You want to tell everyone, maybe even people you don’t know. And yet you can’t seem to find the words that express your … hmmm, your experience? Your feelings? I don’t k now.

But I do know one thing: I will never be the same. Because, dear reader, we went to see Lady Gaga! Tuesday, 1 March 2011, Van Andel Arena, Grand Rapids, Michigan.

What to say? It’s not like any concert I’ve been to, and I’ve been to many. It’s not like a Broadway musical, which I’ve also seen. It’s more of a combination—Quite an astonishing combination! Costumes and dancers and monsters, oh, my!

And what a well-behaved crowd! I’m pretty sure every sexual orientation was represented,

probably even some I’m unfamiliar with! Women dressed as men, men dressed as women—someone even dressed like a unicorn! Young people, old people. All sorts were mingling in a sort of fantastical soup of self-expression. And all this in really cold weather! Both Sophia and I had hoped to dress up, but felt that the chilly weather and uncertainty of how long we’d have to wait to get into the arena precluded wearing anything other

than pants.

But that clearly didn’t stop some people. Witness the delightful young man in the Beanie Baby jeans (right). He was just great! And after the concert we ran across a couple of other young men who were happy to pose with Sophia (left).

I have never been to any concert, at venue, that seemed so drug free. That was

great. Although, frankly, I can’t imagine why you’d want any alteration in this experience, since it was already so mind-blowing that I wouldn’t have wanted to miss a single second.

From the minute she appeared to the closing curtain, the show ran like a well-oiled machine. Even the costume and set changes were accomplished in an astonishingly short time span.  She is really amazing!