By Garrett Martin
Lady Gaga isn’t subtle. She is genuine, though, and that makes her new Vegas residency show, Enigma (running now through November at the Park Theater at Park MGM), an emotionally powerful spectacle.
This is a woman who enters her show by floating above the audience in a sequined jumpsuit while playing a keytar and singing “Just Dance.” Whose show has a plot about an alien artificial intelligence that represents all the parts of Lady Gaga that she doesn’t understand making a simulation to guide her on an interstellar journey of self-discovery. Whose show features several animated anime-style vignettes, like cut scenes in a videogame. Who wears a high roller’s suite worth of flashy outfits and wigs over the show’s two hours, and at one point enters the stage riding what looks like a giant mech straight out of Gundam or Metal Gear. Enigma is one of the most proudly over-the-top concert extravaganzas I’ve ever seen, fully embracing the outrageous persona Lady Gaga was originally known for, and yet by the end of the show it’s also a touchingly earnest and heartfelt performance by a woman who loves and supports her fans with utter sincerity.
Musically, Enigma is a greatest-hits show. If, like me, you are only a casual listener of Lady Gaga, familiar with her radio hits and little else, you’ll still recognize almost every song in the set list. Gaga and her five-piece band play through the songs in roughly chronological order, starting with her early hits from The Fame—”Just Dance,” “Poker Face” and “LoveGame”—and gradually moving to songs from Born This Way and ArtPop. It culminates with “Bad Romance,” followed by what is clearly the crowd’s favorite song, “Born This Way.” After a short break Gaga returns for an official encore of “Shallow” from A Star is Born; if you’re lucky, like the audience at the show a week after the one I was at, you might get to see Bradley Cooper show up to sing that one with his co-star.
