So over the weekend some fabulous people and I ventured over to long island to witness the insanity that is the Monsterball. For those of you who don’t what that is, it’s the name Lady Gaga has for her concerts. I almost have no words for it, except that that bitch can put on a show.

 We had general admission tickets that are first come first serve so that basically means that we had to get there early as hell (aprox. 8:30am) if we wanted to get as close as we could (which we totally did but more on that later). The weather gods were not smiling on us and it was freezing and raining until at least 1:30. The picture above sums up the experience of waiting in that my smile is born solely out of delirium from being soaked in freezing wet rain. However, once the rain stopped and we went and put our outfits and makeup on, the excitement of what we were about to witness started setting in and I was psyched. Not to mention the fact that we were being asked by a million people to take pictures with us because we had recreated the zombie look from Gaga’s Born This Way video and looked awesome.

When we got into the arena (which was a total shitshow because the security totally fucked up the general admissions lines) we ran to the side of the stage and managed to get into the second row of people lined up feet away from where she would be performing, let me just repeat FEET away from the stage. Lady Starlight, a DJ and one of Gaga’s close friends came on and did an awesome set consisting of metal and chugging Jack Daniels which I loved every minute of, which was followed by the opening act Semi Precious Weapons. I cannot recommend them more highly, they are amazing, please go check them out.

(photo credit: Bryana Arlington)

 Finally Gaga came out and in all her glory and put on the show of a lifetime. She danced and sang (actually sang, not lip-synching which she made a point of mentioning) for a solid hour and 45 minutes. While I was in amazement every time she danced and performed, I have to say my favorite moments were when it was just her sitting behind the piano during songs like You and I and a stripped down version of Born This Way. Also the amount of interaction she had with her fans is amazing and heartwarming, it’s one of the things that really sets her apart from her other musical counterparts. All I can say about the show is that sitting in the freezing rain for 4 hours, standing in line and during the show for a straight 5 hours which resulted in a numb foot for a full 24 hours afterwards, and leaving Long Island with a considerably lighter wallet, the show was completely and absolutely worth it.

    With my summer break only being a month away today it made me think of some great music for the hot weather. Immediately my mind went to Swedish sensation Robyn. She first came on the scene in the 90s with her hit pop song “Show Me Love,” but then seemed to disappear from the American music scene. This year, however, she has shot back onto the radar armed with with an arsenal of pulsing dance songs.
    Her most popular song is probably “Dancing On My Own” which she performed at this year’s VMA awards with an accompaniment by Deadmau5 and it’s also one of my favorites. Robyn always knows how to put meaningful lyrics onto great great dance beats and this song is a great example of that.

    Another thing that Robyn is known for is releasing stripped down versions of her songs. Indestructible, normally a techno song with synth beats, gets stripped down and played with what sounds like a full orchestra. Both songs are strong but have a completely different feel to them. Another song she does this with is Hang With Me which originally has a dance around your room beat to it gets completely stripped down to ballad by only being accompanied by a piano and strings.
    Robyn is a versatile artist who is great for a party, a rave, or summer drive in your car with the windows down. I definitely recommend her, go and check her out.

One word that seems to synonymous with women in the music industry today is “diva.” Sometimes it is a good thing, like the Beyonce song “Diva” and sometimes it’s a bad thing. The good version of diva is described as a strong, powerful, and independent woman who knows what she wants and doesn’t let anything stop her. The bad version is described as a woman is demanding, controlling, spoiled and make everyone else do things for her. How is it that one word can have two such different meanings?

Arguably, the first definition was a response to the second definition, trying to take back the negative connotation of the word and spin it into a positive one. But I don’t know if this has necessarily worked, I certainly wouldn’t want to be called a diva. Within the past few years the word has been thrown into situations where it is trying to attain a positive image. For example, the VH1 concert with the same namesake that features strong women in the music industry, as well as the emblazoning of the word on the shirts pants of young girls.

I think that what people have to be careful about is that if you’re going to use the word, make it clear which definition you are referring to. You don’t want to tell your 8 year old bratty niece that she’s being a diva and have her think that being spoiled and entitled is a good thing and you don’t want to tell your best friend who just got her first real job that she’s a diva and think that you’re insulting her. So just be careful out there, you don’t want to be the wrong kind of diva.

So last week Katy Perry came out with what feels like her seventeenth single from her hit album Teenage Dream, entitled E.T. and if I’m being totally honest, I didn’t really like it. I also didn’t really hate it so it’s not all bad. You can watch it here.
    It starts out pretty promising with a cool post apocalyptic opening that leads into Kanye West’s awesome addition to the track (because lets be honest, the only reason Kanye is allowed to be such a dick is because he is an amazing rapper). This is when things start going awry. We see a big ball of fabric that’s spinning around in orbit, the camera closes in on the form and it reveals an actual alien singing the words to the song. I HATE the look of stereotypical aliens, the big eyes, small mouth, no nose, big head thing, so when it started singing I only hated it more. Thankfully, the alien is only on screen for a few seconds before it morphs into a creepy looking Katy Perry. The look was interesting and certainly extra-terrestrial looking but something about it made me feel uncomfortable. I think this was due to the fact that I presumed Perry wasn’t very comfortable with this look either, its a huge cry from her latex dresses and cutesy blue wigs.
    After a few jump cuts to wild animals in various activities, we see a much more ethereal looking Katy and I have to say she looks beautiful in this look, it oddly kind of suited her. Here she wakes up her lover or something who has been asleep for a number of years? I don’t know what really going on here haha, but they turn to look at the sun (after some really clumsy product placement) where Katy reveals that she has deer legs. Make of that what you will I guess.
    Overall, I thought the video was overly ambitious. I think it’s great that Katy wanted to try something different and more power to her, but I just wasn’t convinced that she’s as weird as she wants people to think she is after seeing this video.

I LOVE the new Britney Spears CD, Femme Fatale.

Now listen, I am not a typical Britney fan. My general feeling about her is that she’s 10 pounds of crazy in a 2 pound bag and her songs were okay, nothing that really attracted me or resonated with me. Having said that, for the past week I have been OBSESSED with Britney’s latest record. There’s no groundbreaking musical arrangements or innovations in lyric writing going on but there is something so god damn catchy about almost everyone of the songs on the record.
    My favorite song would have to be How I Roll, which if you didn’t know it was Britney Spears you would think it was from some up and coming indie band (I can’t believe my hands just typed this). The second single from the album, ‘Til the World Ends, is a fist pump inducing dance track that is great for any type of dance party. All the tracks together sound like they could be played at an awesome house party, there’s something very young and wild about the whole album which is ironic since Spears is a mother approaching her 30s.
    Now we all know Britney has been through a lot in the past couple of years (the image of a bald Britney ferociously wielding an umbrella with forever be etched into my mind) but I really have to say that Femme Fatale is a cohesive, fun,  pop monster of an album. It’s nice to see someone rise from their own ashes and get back to doing what they’re really good at and I think Spears has done just that with Femme Fatale.

Now for a complete 180 from my post last week, I thought I’d pay homage to some of the best voices on television right now, the vocal powerhouses of the hit show, Glee. Caution: You are about to witness the depths of my Glee obsession.

First up is resident drama nerd, Rachel Berry (played by actress Lea Michele). When she’s not annoying the hell out of me with her futile attempts to get dumb as a stick Finn to love her; Rachel is singing the crap out of just about any song she chooses to grace the Glee club with. The daughter of two gay dads, Rachel is the quintessential Broadway singer with the musical repertoire to prove it. Fashion mishaps aside, Rachel is one of the strongest singers on the show, if not the strongest. Some of her notable songs include “Firework” (I kind of like her version better than Katy Perry’s), “Don’t Rain on My Parade” (girl is like a baby Barbara), and “Hit Me Baby One More Time” (it’s nice to hear that song sung by someone with really strong vocals).

Next up is mean girl Santana Lopez. A background character from the beginning of the series, Santana has recently emerged as one of the stronger female voices on the show. Not to mention that Naya Rivera is acting the hell out of this character, if you saw this week’s episode, “Sexy,” then you know what I’m talking about. Her songs have gone from superficial to heartfelt just like her character. Notable songs include “Landslide” (swoon), “River Deep Mountain High” (one of the first songs where you really get to hear her voice) and “Valerie” (I definitely like this version better than Amy Winehouse’s).

Last but not least is Mercedes Jones, a diva in every sense in the word. Unfortunately, Mercedes’ character (played by Amber Riley) doesn’t always get the most rich story lines (remember when she thought she was going out with Kurt?  That was ridiculous) she has been able to showcase her out of this world vocals on more than one occasion. Some of her notable songs include “And I Am Telling You” (I literally cried when I watched her sing this), “Take Me or Leave Me” (a duet of one of my favorite songs with Rachel) and “Bust Your Windows” (total HBIC action).