Mark My Words: The applause, applause, applause

On Presidents' Day this year, at the beginning of the St. Patrick's Day season, I had a mint brownie from Kneaders on the same day I bought tickets to see Lady Gaga.

On Thursday, ten months later, I had another Kneaders mint brownie, the same day I used those tickets to see Lady Gaga.

I bought four tickets that day, having no idea what I would do with them ten months later. I invited my sister and my niece, but what about the last one? But then, as it got closer, we learned that my sister-in-law and my nephews would fly in for Christmas--and my sister-in-law, Ya-ping, could come with us.

When I came home from my mission eight years ago, I was sick of being so weird, awkward, and nerdy, so I began following pop music to try to normalize myself. As my tastes became more refined, I recognized just how talented Lady Gaga is. In 2011, "Born This Way" became the first digital song I ever purchased. I like her pop stuff, but I have especially loved the more stripped-down, rock-like songs that showcase her strong vocal abilities: "Brown Eyes," "Speechless," "You and I," "Gypsy."

Then last October, she released an entire album of those songs: Joanne. I love Joanne! It's almost everything I ever wanted from a Lady Gaga album. The songs might not have the same catchy hooks as her pop stuff, but there's none of the electronic sounds that disguise her voice. It's pure Gaga. Some people have called it a country album; that's a bit of a stretch, but there definitely is a country influence (especially in "Sinner's Prayer").

And except for the song "Dancin' in Circles," this is her cleanest solo album. (Cheek to Cheek with Tony Bennett doesn't count.) True, there are three songs with an "explicit" label, and I don't listen to unedited versions of those songs, but they are only explicit because of one word in each of the songs--words that Taylor Swift and Jason Aldean get away with without ever getting an "explicit" label. The topics of those songs are not bad. In fact, that's another thing I appreciate about the album: a lot of the songs explore themes of family and friendship. It might be more of a country album topically than musically. Joanne is her middle name and the name of her aunt who died at age 19, when her father was only 15. The song "Joanne" is what she imagined her father might have said if he had the chance to say goodbye.

Anyway, this was a very long introduction to explain why I wanted to see her Joanne World Tour. It was actually going to be the first big concert I ever attended, until I was given Tim and Faith tickets in September and my sister invited me to Katy Perry the day after Thanksgiving.

Me, my niece Allie, my sister Susanne, and my sister-in-law Ya-ping.

My sister bought me a tour shirt. It was the least she could do. (Her words, not mine.)

Katy Perry's concert was more like a fun party, but her live singing wasn't as good as her recordings. Lady Gaga, on the other hand, was just as good live as she is recorded. There were sound problems inherent to Vivint Arena, but her vocals were on point. She insisted that everyone stand up (using some salty language) unless they had a good reason not to--pointing out that one of her back-up dancers broke his collarbone and was dancing again five weeks later. Every time she got to the chorus of one of her songs, she made everyone put their hands up. I felt tremendously awkward doing so, but I did. There was a main stage, and we sat to the side of that stage, but there were bridges lowered from the ceiling whereby she walked to smaller stages across the floor. At one point, people threw letters on the stage for her to read, and she read one that said, "We have been married three months," but at first she read it as "we have been worried three months."

When we were walking out of the arena, I heard someone say, "She sang every song I wanted her to." I can't say the same thing. As I pointed out, I love Joanne, but there were several from that album she didn't sing: "Sinner's Prayer," "Hey Girl," "Grigio Girls," and "Just Another Day." She sang songs from all of her albums, including some obscure ones from Born This Way, "Bloody Mary" and "[a swear word in German]." I would have rather had her sing "You and I" from that album. "Applause" was the only one she sang from ARTPOP, and that was a lot of fun. That's maybe not her greatest single, but I have a soft spot for it, because it conjures up positive memories of August 2013. My coworker asked me what the best one she sang was, and I said, "Probably 'Joanne,'" the stripped-down folksy tribute to her aunt.

The main stage.

After she had gone to the other side of the stage.

I've heard her next album is going to be more like ARTPOP--which disappoints me, because I think Joanne suits her voice perfectly. I've loved Lady Gaga in varying levels of secrecy since 2011, so I was glad I finally got to see her live.

In other news, my nephews are in town for Christmas. I have three of them--Preston, Franklin, and Nathaniel--and they haven't been in Utah during the winter since 2011/2012. They haven't been here on Christmas Day since 2009, which was before Nathaniel was even born. They have loved playing in the snow, and they were excited to see snow falling from the sky.

I have tried to make it a fun Christmas myself, so I got a live tree and put homemade cranberry/popcorn garlands on it. I have other things I want to do. I hope it snows more so I can go sledding with the boys.