Lady Gaga's self-indulgent speeches test fans and spoil show's potential for thrills

HALLOWEEN ARRIVED early in Dublin on Saturday as Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta, aka Lady Gaga, rolled into town with her Born This Way Ball Tour.

Monsters, freaks, masked marauders and painted spooks as well as burger vendors, hat sellers and glowstick merchants converged on the Aviva Stadium for a gawk at Lady Gaga. They got what they came for, as Gaga had a lot on display. Sometimes too much.

The songs Highway Unicorn, Government Hooker and Born This Way featured early, visually complemented by simulated oral sex, masturbation and Gaga’s emergence through a zipper between the splayed legs of a blow-up doll. It was difficult to imagine what could come next.

It quickly became apparent that, beyond the ability to shock those of a sensitive or sexually conservative disposition, Gaga had little of appeal left in her arsenal. With a set constructed along the lines of a castle (with Gaga as queen), the two-hour show was little more than a series of staged set pieces, with each song getting its own makeover, costumes, dance routines and, as the evening wore on, lengthier, patience-sapping speeches from the singer.

It was this parade of queasy self-importance that at times pushed even more tolerant fans into bad temper. If you removed the speechifying (all of which was of the “I am you . . . We share the same hopes and dreams . . . We are love, unity and togetherness . . .” variety, and all of which she repeats a variant of at every show) and the amount of time it took from the end of one song to the start of the next, a rough estimate would be a show of 75-80 minutes. Not much bang for your buck, is it?

While we get the need for Gaga’s messages of equality and tolerance, there comes a point where their repetitive nature threatens to kill the show’s potential for thrills. In such an arena show, pacing is all, and here it staggers, leaving brilliant tunes such as Poker Face, Bad Romance, Born This Way, The Edge of Glory and Paparazzi in the lurch.

Which is a pity, as the likes of Lady Gaga are necessary for shaking things up. It seems, however, that Ms Germanotta has gotten into the habit of celebrating ego-gratification and self-indulgence – rather than the art of just getting on with it.