In the Desert of Eden in 2017.
Photo: Christopher Polk/Getty Images
Lady Gaga is causing Mayhem at Coachella. This year, Gaga is headlining the opening night for the desert festival. It is technically the pop star’s second time headlining — she was also on in 2017, when she subbed in last minute for Beyoncé. This time, though, she was announced early and has more than enough time to prep for the set. “I’m getting ready for Coachella, and I’m so, so excited, but I’ve definitely lost sleep a whole bunch of nights, and it’s because I want to do a great job,” Gaga told the New York Times on March 8. “If there’s a time and a date where you can make the public smile, from 11 p.m. to 1 in the morning on this day, I want to make it happen.” Are you ready to be made happy? Here’s a list of everything that Gaga did while performing in the desert.
Her set opened with a prerecorded message voiced by two different versions of herself, one dressed in red and one dressed in white. “Her and I will find a way to live as twins, but I will know if in the end mistress of mayhem wins,” the Gagas said while facing each other.
Including the following songs:
Act I – Of Velvet and Vice
1. “Bloody Mary”
2. “Abracadabra”
3. “Judas”
4. “Scheiße”
5. “Garden of Eden”
6. “Poker Face”
Act II – And She Fell Into a Gothic Dream
7. “Perfect Celebrity”
8. “Disease”
9. “Paparazzi”
10. “Alejandro”
11. “The Beast”
Act III – The Beautiful Nightmare That Knows Her Name
12. “Killah”
13. “Zombieboy”
14. “Die With a Smile”
15. “How Bad Do U Want Me”
16. “Abracadabra (Gesaffelstein Remix)” – Interlude
Act IV: To Make Her Is to Lose Her
17. “Shadow Of a Man”
18. “Kill for Love”
19. “Born This Way”
20. “Shallow”
21. “Vanish Into You”
Finale: Eternal Aria of the Monster Heart
22. “Bad Romance”
Gaga started the performance dressed in red and with a black bob; she ended it as a blonde wearing a white ensemble with feathers. But there were multiple wardrobe and wig changes in between those looks. Below, a sampling of just a few of these different ‘fits:
For her first live performance of “Garden of Eden,” she strutted down the catwalk while strumming an electric guitar, which she eventually set aside so she could execute a dance break.
The stage turned into a chess board during “Poker Face,” which soundtracked a choreographed dance battle between two groups: one led by Gaga and one led by a veiled figure dressed in white. Gaga ultimately won, which triggered an “off with her head” chant aimed at her opponent.
While performing “Perfect Celebrity” and “Disease,” with dancers in skeletal masks at her side.
Singing her way across the stage with a giant piece of white fabric billowing behind her.
“I love you so much, I wanted to make a romantic gesture to you,” she said before performing “Alejandro.” She went on to explain that she’d decided to build the crowd “an opera house in the desert” for “all the love and all the joy and all the strength you’ve given me my whole life.” She added that she sometimes feels like she has been in a dream since she was 20 years old, and didn’t know if she wanted to wake up, “because what if you weren’t there?”
Making it so that she sang “11:59” during “The Beast” at that exact time in California.
For “Killah,” the opening song of her third act.
For her first live performance of “Zombieboy.”
Gaga pointed her fiancé and Mayhem collaborator Michael Polansky out in the audience. “Babe, I love you,” she said before blowing a kiss, prompting some people in the audience to start chanting, “Michael, Michael!”
Which was a full-circle moment, given that she filmed the song for A Star Is Born at Coachella. “We filmed a movie here, a movie that changed my life, helped me say something different I hadn’t said before,” she reflected. “So excited to sing this for you tonight. Couldn’t wait.”
Gaga acknowledged that she might not “get to high-five each and every one of you” before she got off stage to go brush hands with the emotional audience. “But I can sure as fuck sing to you,” she added. “And I hope maybe one day I’ll just vanish right into you.”
She was resurrected in feathery form to perform “Bad Romance” as the encore and final song in her headlining set.
