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Well hey there!
Long time no see! In all truth, I've no idea what's been happening for the last few months - it has been THAT hectic. But the good news is, it's half term (let's ignore the fact that I have literal piles of work I need to do) and I think I deserve a break!
Way back in November, my friend Heather and I got to talking about what the perfect birthday present for our friend Jess would be. Jess and I have practically worshipped the ground that Lady Gaga walks on since we were both young'uns. So naturally (but joking in all aspects) I suggested going to see her live would be something else entirely for Jess (and myself) and...Heather loved the idea so much that she booked the tickets straight away. Now, as you can tell, I was beyond myself with excitement - I've never been to a concert before, and for my first one to be Lady Gaga...this was big. We vowed not to tell Jess until her birthday (only 4 days before the actual thing). This happened on Friday. We wound up telling her in an excited frenzy the following Monday.
We made t-shirts with some snazzy stencils, and planned our outfits much in advance....
So, we ended up in Birmingham on the 31st of January! We went up there on the train and spent some time messing around in Claire's where I bought a (unbeknownst to us then) glow-in-the-dark tiara (because why not?). We then went to Bella Italia to have some dreamy pizza, after which we set off to the Arena excitedly! Birmingham is such a lovely city, and the city centre is beautiful and vibrant. We didn't get lost once (Jess was in charge of directions) and suddenly we were in the queue for LADY GAGA.
We glittered up while we were there, and then we were inside the building, walking down a flight of stairs into the biggest room I've ever been in. We had standing tickets, and we'd come really early to get up and close, so we sat down for a while, made some new friends, watched Gaga: Five Foot Two on the big screens, and got progressively more and more excited.
By the time the show began, we were in a sea of colourful, amazing Little Monsters and the whole arena was bursting with excitement. The countdown got the noise going, and then there she was - my musical inspiration - about 20 metres away from us.
She sang beautifully. Every song she nailed to perfection - and for two hours nonstop, she danced. She danced and danced and the energy in her music and the crowd was overwhelmingly beautiful! Whilst every song was incredible, the moments that stick in my mind are the ones that got the crowd the most involved - Scheisse, Born this way (naturally), Edge of Glory (which she did acoustically and made me cry), and Joanne. Joanne was possibly my favourite, as she asked us, the crowd, to take ourselves back to that place of pain and support each other. All three of us held hands, and we cried, and we thought about what we've each gone through individually and we sang along to the beautiful, heartbreaking words. In that moment I felt very much loved.
Music is spiritual for me - I may not have much knowledge of it but it really speaks to me in a way that nothing else does. To see someone who I connect with so much live, onstage, was a completely surreal experience. What was even greater than that was the fact that I was there with my two best friends, who have stuck with me through highs and lows for 7 years. I have so much love for them.
And now of course - the tour was called off only one date later, because Lady Gaga had finally succumbed to the severe pain caused by her fibromyalgia. The fact that she went on so long suffering yet still performing is testament to how much her fans and her music means to her, and I can't thank her enough for inspiring me. I hope to God that she recovers soon and takes a well-deserved break. We all love her and wish her the best.
Thank you for reading this slightly jumbled post! If you want to see some top quality vlogging of this day, then head on over here to see my vlog!
Love,
SS xx