Lady Gaga in Concert, DC Aug 2022

To celebrate our 38th wedding anniversary, Doug and I attended the Lady Gaga concert in Nationals Park in Washington, DC.

Some 40,000 fans overflowed the ballpark on a sweltering August night. The Chromatica concert began late, at 9:00, and lasted a full 2 hours. The orchestration of video, sound and choreography was impeccable. What a performer! She is a master of the dramatic arts as well as an amazing musician, singer, and dancer. The troupe surrounding her was equally precise. And there were pyrotechnics that flashed with intense heat.

Our seats were very high up, but decently close to center so we had a good view. We were in the second row and the two women immediately in front of us stayed seated, which was lucky for us. All around us people were on their feet the whole two hours, and knew every lyric to every song. I joked to Doug that we were probably in the bottom 5 percent of the crowd, lyric-wise. We still had a fabulous time. So good to get out of our comfort zone, which is what it takes to brave ticket-buying, parking, long lines, overwhelming crowds, and the intensely humid heat of August in DC.

Lady Gaga Speaks to the Moment

When she launched into “Born This Way” Lady Gaga yelled, “This might not be the national anthem, but it’s our national anthem! They better not try to mess with gay marriage in this country!”

And before “Edge of Glory” she shouted out in support of reproductive rights. “I would like to dedicate this song to every woman in America. To every woman who now has to worry about her body if she gets pregnant.” I resonated with her words, and was moved by hearing the song live. I believe that the curtailing of reproductive rights is another form of sexual abuse, and our best hope for raising awareness about sexual abuse is through the arts.

About an hour and a half into the concert, an entourage escorted Lady Gaga from the main stage to a smaller one in the center of the arena. That square stage was empty except for a tricked-out piano. After a flurry of perfectly timed troupe moves, Lady Gaga appeared alone at the piano keys, where she played a few more mellow numbers, beginning with “Shallow” which I especially adore.

Doug’s favorite tunes were the ones we Bodypumped to years ago — Bad Romance, Edge of Glory, Born This Way.

BTW the other Lady Gaga number that really touches me is “Til It Happens To You” (which she did not do).

What’s your favorite Lady Gaga song? Tell me in the comments.