Now Streaming Exclusively on MAX. “Chromatica” is now Available.
After the successful push of the Eras tour with Taylor Swift, Lady Gaga followed in kind with her own pretty raucous concert film. Titled “Chromatica Ball,” Gaga, the jack of many trades, wows with two hours of some of her biggest hits, while also delivering on a very entertaining visual show filled with excellent set design and some fun costumes (including custom pieces from Gareth Pugh, Alexander McQueen, and Vex Latex). While I wouldn’t consider myself a hardcore fan of Lady Gaga per se, I do admire her talents, and think she’s a very entertaining singer and artist altogether.
“Chromatica Ball” is competently directed by Kerry Asmussen and Gaga herself and comprises two hours of Gaga’s twisted pop tunes and filmed at the Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles in 2022. Gaga really rocks the stage for two whole hours consistently demanding the audiences participation and never lagging behind her charismatic dance back up and fellow performers. The pair of directors allow Gaga to present her unique beauty while she confidently belts out a ton of her wonderful music.
The concert film is brought a decade after her Monster Ball tour with Gaga performer in front of a virtually sold out audience. The concert is presented in a five act structure chronicling a lot of Gaga’s big turns and twists in pop music, her toying with rock, and her soulful dance music. She opens the concert with three of her most iconic songs, the epic “Bad Romance,” “Just Dance,” and “Poker Face,” and with Act I belts out “Alice,” “Replay,” and the excellent “Monster.” With Act II we get a harder change of direction as she engages in a lot of dance and heavy guitar with “Flowers,” “911,” “Sour Candy,” “Telephone” and the very good “LoveGame.”
Gaga has such an infectious energy and great stage presence that even I had a tough time breaking my attention from the concert, which says a lot. Act III digs in to “The Birth of Freedom,” “Babylon” (which sounded like an interesting throwback to Madonna’s “Vogue”), “Free Woman,” and a passionate rendition of her beloved anthem “Born this Way,” which she begins with the declaration “Let’s all celebrate our pride!” For Act IV, Gaga continues with more conservative piano based performances of songs like “Tamara” and then one of my all time favorites: her song “Shallow” from “A Star is Born.” Then there’s the great “Always Remember Us This Way,” a wonderful and heartfelt rendition of “The Edge of Glory,” “Angel Down,” “Fun Tonight,” and finally “Enigma.”
For the Finale, Gaga continues her high energy farewell going out on a high note, belting out “Stupid Love,” and then the very good dance song “Rain On Me.” Finally she closes on the soulful and passionate “Hold My Hand.” Even for casual Gaga fans, “Chromatica” is a fun and beautifully composed playlist of some of Gaga’s best music of her career. It’s a surefire banger in the annals of modern concert films.