Get the latest gossip

Lady Gaga at Coachella review – a thrilling all-timer of a performance


The pop superstar made an electrifying return to the desert for a career-spanning two-hour show, one of the best the desert has ever seen

For the purpose of Mayhem, the new album that returns to her original principles of pounding volume, dirty synths, high theatrics and irresistible hooks, Gaga conjures an entire fantasy of witches and queens, a typically twisted, self-referential fairytale of literal dark and light told in five acts. Photograph: Kevin Mazur/Getty Images for CoachellaGagachella was notably not a full career retrospective – no tracks from Artpop, Joanne or Chromatica, with just A Star Is Born’s Shallow as the lone representative of Gaga’s decade-long pivot away from gritty, sticky music that makes you want to move. Her performances often have the feeling of life-or-death stakes; even a track as sinuously groovy as Killah gets the embodiment of a demonic fever, accompanied by French producer Gesaffelstein entombed in black, the oil-slicked phantom of Gaga’s twisted opera.

Get the Android app

Or read this on The Guardian

Read more on:

Photo of Lady Gaga

Lady Gaga

Photo of Coachella

Coachella

Related news:

News photo

On the phone to Zara? Louis Tomlinson parties away at Coachella - as his new flame McDermott shares glam snaps nearby in LA after pair confirmed romance

News photo

Maura Higgins sends temperatures soaring in a sexy bikini and chaps at Coachella - as she moves on from Danny Jones 'drunken kiss' scandal

News photo

Charli XCX stuns huge Coachella crowd with 'iconic' set and surprise A-list duets but fans have one major complaint