Lady Gaga, at peak of pop powers, returns to Atlanta with cinematic Mayhem Ball

Atlanta was born ready for the mayhem.

On Wednesday, the first of Lady Gaga’s two-night Mayhem Ball stop at State Farm Arena, Atlanta proved just how much it missed Mother Gaga — even before she stepped on stage. After all, it was her first time performing here since 2022’s Chromatica Ball Tour came to Truist Park.

Roughly an hour before the show’s scheduled 8 p.m. start, Atlanta’s little monsters (the cherished nickname for Gaga fans) took over the venue. Lines at multiple gates at State Farm Arena were overwhelmingly long.

“This is like the line you get in for an amusement park ride,” one fan noted with glee.

Indeed, Atlanta fans — wearing everything from leather jackets and fishnet tights to a cardboard telephone worn as a makeshift hat, a nod to her 2009 hit with Beyoncé — happily waited to enter the Mayhem Ball. And Lady Gaga didn’t disappoint.

At the Atlanta stop of her critically acclaimed Mayhem Ball Tour, Gaga — whose given name is Stefani Germanotta — offered a dazzling, campy spectacle that could rival most theatrical productions. For 2½ hours, the Grammy, Oscar and Golden Globe-winning star showcased her multifaceted flair.

Even before her Atlanta show, Lady Gaga was already having a banner year. In February, she performed a rock-inspired version of her dark pop hit “Abracadabra” at the Grammys, where she won best pop vocal album for 2025’s “Mayhem.” A week later, she made a surprise appearance during Bad Bunny’s historic Super Bowl halftime show, singing an infectious salsa rendition of “Die With a Smile” that’s arguably better than the original.

Lady Gaga was a surprise performer during Bad Bunny's Super Bowl halftime show. (Matt Slocum/AP)

In simpler terms, Lady Gaga is one of pop’s best chameleonic forces. Her Atlanta Mayhem Ball, part of the tour’s second leg, stamped that fact — in glittery ink.

The concert officially started a few minutes after 9 p.m. with a red-masked dancer performing to operatic singing, marking Gaga’s grandiose arrival. With a Colosseum-like structure in the background, Lady Gaga, donning a dramatic red gown, arrived on stage atop a towering cage draped in red curtains. Minutes later, the curtains parted, revealing dancers inside, adding to the set’s apocalyptic and Catholic imagery.

Fittingly, Lady Gaga opened with “Bloody Mary,” the Mary Magdalene-inspired track from her 2011 sophomore album “Born This Way.” She quickly shifted to “Abracadabra,” a surprising song choice so early in the show that was met with screaming fans. Shortly after, she wooed the crowd with dancing and even some guitar playing “Judas,” “Garden of Eden” and other songs.

For “Pokerface,” one of her breakout hits, Gaga, still dressed in red, battled with a dancer who, dressed in all white, who seemingly symbolized an innocent version of the pop star. At the end of the song, the artist and her other dancers defeated the alter ego, with Gaga exiting the stage while dramatically dragging a cane before running the rest of the way. It was a comical yet poignant moment, a reminder of her penchant for panache and dynamic storytelling.

That first act, titled “Of Velvet and Vice,” was Gaga fully embracing her campy roots, as she did on “Mayhem,” that were once deemed too chaotic by critics. Across three more acts and a finale, she offered a career-defining tale of an artist whose offbeat origins once needlessly conflicted with her rising mainstream talent.

For “Perfect Celebrity” and “Disease,” she lay in a sandbox of skeletons, with her pristine vocals highlighting the show’s themes of fame and flamboyance. Another shiny vocal moment arrived for “Paparazzi.” For the 2008 hit, Lady Gaga, who changed into a white dress with a long veil, moved to the middle of the stage — belting each note as her white veil transformed into a rainbow. It was a triumphant scene that yet again proved her duality.

She later performed other early career fan-favorites, like “Alejandro” and “LoveGame,” with the crowd singing the lyrics back to her.

“A long time ago, I fell into a dream, and my dream was filled with little monsters,” she told the audience. “I don’t wanna wake up.”

Lady Gaga often performed with a backing track throughout the night, but her stirring live vocals shone, even without live musicians.

Lady Gaga last performed in Atlanta in 2022. During her return Wednesday, she sang roughly 30 songs on the first night of her two-night stint at State Farm Arena. (Courtesy of Nicko Guihal)

Her acoustic piano performance of “Hair” was one such moment. Followed by “Born This Way” and “Die With a Smile,” the performance beautifully continued the night’s theme of self-empowerment, with her vocals telling their own story of a pop dynamo who unabashedly leans into all of her quirks.

“Thank you so much for believing in me and coming to this show,” she told the crowd. “I believe in you.”

During “Vanish Into You,” Lady Gaga walked into the audience, greeting several of her screaming fans. When she returned to the stage, she hugged the alter ego she battled at the beginning of the show — proving that Gaga the over-the-top queer icon and Gaga the genre-defying force who can master any medium are the same.

In true Gaga fashion, she ended the show with “Bad Romance” on a red gurney with a red-and-white leotard and headpiece to match. A few minutes later, she started her encore performance of “How Bad Do U Want Me” backstage, then coming onstage to officially end the show by celebrating her crew.