Lady Gaga opens The Chromatica Ball, here’s everything you should know about it

"And just to be clear, I called it the Chromatica Ball. Not the Chromatica Tour. I'll see you on the dance floor."

Music . Written by Elliott Salmon.

An image of Lady Gaga performing at the opening night of The Chromatica Ball. She is standing in the middle of two guitar players.
Image: via twitter @HausOfSaraleo

Lady Gaga is back on tour… I cannot believe I just typed that. Two years after the acclaimed release of her new album, the queen of pop has returned to the stage with The Chromatica Ball.

The Ball opened in the Merkur Spiel-Arena in Dusseldorf last night and judging by the tweets that flooded my timeline, it was an enormous success. 

The show itself is split into four acts beginning with a prelude and closing with a finale… similar to a theatre show making it even more iconic. 

Fans of Gaga’s gorgeous lewks can also expect plenty of costume changes to go with her amazing set of tunes that she has in store for the night.

Within the four acts, Gaga sings songs from The Fame Monster, Born This Way, Chromatica (of course!) and A Star is Born albums but fans were shocked to learn that there would be no ARTPOP songs on the setlist.

The official opening night setlist went as followed:

PRELUDE: Bad Romance, Just Dance, and Poker Face

ACT I: Chromatica I + Alice, Replay, and Monster

ACT II: Chromatica II + 911, Sour Candy, Telephone, and LoveGame

ACT III: Chromatica III + Babylon, Free Woman, and Born This Way (Acoustic/Album Version)

ACT IV: Shallow, Always Remember Us This Way, The Edge of Glory (Acoustic Version), and Enigma

FINALE: Stupid Love, Rain on Me, and Hold My Hand

As for the stage set-up itself? Just wait until you see and hear the amount of thought and detail that has gone into this ball… our queen never misses.

The Chromatica Ball is said to have been inspired by Brutalist architecture, representing the grief and pain that Lady Gaga has experienced.

“The stage was inspired by brutalist architecture, materials, textures, crudity, transparency. A real savage and hard look at yourself, and what you’ve been through.”

She took to Instagram last night as the doors were opening in the arena saying “I really want to thank you for sticking it out with me and loving me through all the different iterations of my artistry as well as me as a person.”

Gaga also added “I feel more clear today than I have in a long time and more pain-free than I have in ages. And being free of pain on stage is a real healing experience because I’m able to dance and sing and enjoy the audience, enjoy the show, and really tell a story.”

The Chromatica Ball is only getting started. Gaga is on tour until the 17th of September playing several dates across Europe and the United States.

You may be wondering if I will be at one of those dates given that I have written this piece and am known for being a Lady Gaga stan and the answer to that is… YES

It felt impossible until I realised that my family’s trip to London had been rescheduled for the same weekend as the Tottenham Hotspur dates at the end of this month.

Some may say it was a Sine From Above… see what I did there? But I am endlessly grateful and so unbelievably excited to see my queen live for the first time. 

Chromatica is an album that is so special to me. I listened to it throughout the pandemic and it kept me company during the many lockdown periods. 

I knew a few of Lady Gaga’s songs before then but after Chromatica, I jumped right into her discography and have been in love with her ever since.

Welcome back to the stage Lady Gaga. I can’t wait to see you soon.

If you would like to know more information about The Chromatica Ball, including the tour dates, be sure to check out Lady Gaga’s website.

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