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Concert reviews Music

Festival d’ete Day 2

1. The crowd went gaga

The 90,000 odd fans that fill out the Plaines d’Abraham for Festival d’ete’s headlining shows have become a bit legendary over the years. Last year, Bruno Mars was cheesed after his performance. Had he known he was playing for such a crowd he would have changed his set completely, he would have done more media, etc, etc. Apparently his people told Gaga’s people how impressive it was, and she’s the one who approached the festival this year, more or less basing her tour around this one show (or so the buzz around Quebec City goes).

They didn’t let her down. Out of the 19th floor of the Hilton Hotel, we could see the crowds queuing up outside the festival gates, hours before they were let in. Every time we peeked out, the massive swell was getting bigger and bigger. Then the gates opened, and all of a sudden a few hundred hardcore fans broke out into a sprint for the stage.

Festival-goers are equipped with flashing clip-on buttons that twinkle once it’s dark out. Later, there were blinking red lights as far as the eye could see.

2. The openers were awe-stricken

Tegan & Sara were natural openers for Gaga, especially given their latest, slickest pop album. In the last year and a half, they’ve become rock stars in their own right. And even though they’ve been touring Canada for close to two decades now, even they were not prepared for the swell of human beings in their sights last night. They proved to be multitasks when they busted out their iPhones near the end of the set, simultaneously singing, playing instruments and making their own videos.

3. There was an epic Born This Way performance

Gaga emerged shortly after her scheduled 9:30 pm start time, and was the first person I’ve seen command that main stage as if she knew exactly what to expect. Often speaking in French, she showed a genuine interest in the crowd, and a real love for its Canadianness and Quebecois-ness. The love-in reached its height during a dramatic, slow-burning, just-Gaga-and-her-piano performance of Born This Way, during which, she paused partway through to show her gratitude.

Gaga: “Canada was the very first place to believe in me. I had my disco stick…” she said. “And it was you beautiful kids that told everybody about Lady Gaga.”

Crowd: “GAGA! GAGA! GAGA! GAGA! GAGA! GAGA!”

Gaga: “JE VOUS ADORE!!!!!!”

Crowd: *Shrieks*

Gaga: *resumes singing* “Noooo maaaaat-teeeeer gay, straight or bi…”

I very rarely cry at concerts – and I’m sure the Palm Bays didn’t exactly hinder my emotional surge – but mine weren’t the only wet cheeks in the media section.

4. There was an onstage outfit change

There weren’t really any set-changes – Gaga, her band and her wildly clad dancers performed in front of rounded, white dwellings that resembled some kind of space-pod homes. But the singer, expectedly, had her share of elaborate costume and wig changes. The final one happened onstage. Gaga, her back to the audience, was stripped out of a very high-cut, bondagey leather bodysuit into a completely OTT, harajuku-inspired, rainbow-bright, translucent plastic ensemble – complete with candy-coloured dread-lock pigtail wig. The kicker: she continued to perform throughout the clothing swap.

5. NO FOMO

One of the suggestion-box aspects of this festival is that everything basically happens between 6 pm and midnight. And really, almost all of the stuff worth catching has a start time between 8 and 11 pm. Because there’s so much talent here, it means you have to miss out on tons of awesome. For example, if you went to Tegan & Sara and Lady Gaga, you missed out on Polaris long-listers Thus Owls and St. Vincent, among others. Usually this kind of thing is a recipe for stress and FOMO. Not last night. From the top (title track ARTPOP) to bottom (encoring with Gypsy), there’s no where I’d rather have been than Lady Gaga’s biggest show. Ever.

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