AKA - Lady Gaga....
I'll be the first to admit this is an unusual post. Gregg and I went to the Lady Gaga concert here on Thursday night. He is not so mildly obsessed with the woman and I have to admit that some of her music is pretty catchy. Two hours and thirty minutes of music and thought provoking conversation with the crowd later I can easily say it was the best concert I have ever attended. This quote from the concert review really sums it up: "In a town where people rarely dress up, they dressed up for the nearly sold-out Rose Garden stop. They also dressed down. They dressed right. They dressed left. They dressed barely at all. They were young, wrapped in crime scene tape. They were old, carrying along oxygen. They painted their faces. They bathed in glitter. They came straight from work still dressed for the office."
To personalize it a bit, Gregg and I sat in front of a couple in their 60's and a few rows away from a guy in his 40's who was still in his suit and tie, there with his wife and kids. In addition to the amazing crowd - her message was one that I think gets lost in the hype about her wardrobe and music.
Gaga talked eloquently about loving her "little monsters" (what she calls her fans) and creating music for all people who feel left out, a little weird or not in the "main stream"... "Don't leave here loving me more," she said. "Leave here loving yourself more."
I will be the first to admit that her images and actions in some of her performances are provocative and some would say disrespectful of pretty major institutions in our society (namely the Catholic Church)... but setting that aside for a moment I think her message is one that resonates universally, and that if consistently applied would make the world a much better place. Food for thought from perhaps an unexpected messenger.
