Lady Gaga Turns Capital One Arena into a Gothic Pop Spectacle
The Mayhem Ball tour blended theatrical spectacle, chart-topping hits, and emotional moments in a high-energy D.C. stop.
Little Monsters filled Capital One Arena to the rafters for D.C.’s second night of The Mayhem Ball, Lady Gaga’s blockbuster world tour in support of her sixth solo studio album, Mayhem.
An ornate gothic dance party staged among the towering remains of some Romanesque opera house, the Mayhem Ball is as gorgeously grandiose as the superstar herself. Yet, also like Gaga, the show throughout reflects the sincere, down-to-earth sensibilities of an artist dedicated to her craft, her music, and to making a human connection.
Sounds earnest, but so is Stefani Germanotta, even when she’s rolling onto stage fitted into a blood-red hoop skirt two stories tall to sing the first banger of the night, “Abracadabra.”
Although she didn’t stay caged up in that Jet Set-designed gown for too long, soon spelunking onto stage, and rocking out to “Judas” with a crew of dancers seemingly two dozen deep. They all looked fierce stomping the lighted catwalk in unison behind Gaga to the ballroom beat of her Born This Way track “Scheiße.”
From house to grunge to the synth-pop of mega-hits like “Poker Face,” the Mayhem Ball gleefully spans genres and eras of Gaga’s Grammy-winning career.
She might not have expected the whole crowd to sing along as she strummed a guitar to the fun, funky “Garden of Eden,” off the latest album. But her expectations, and the crowd’s appreciation, for the signature songs definitely hit a different high.
“You better sing every word,” she shouted before “Poker Face,” and the crowd happily obliged. “Get your paws up, D.C.!” And the crowd happily obliged. Rousing a Tuesday night concert crowd in occupied D.C. must be a tall order, but Gaga, dynamic and indefatigable, was up to the task.
In the Ball’s Act II (of four, in addition to the finale and encore), she dipped into a deliciously dark mood, performing “Perfect Celebrity” buried inside a mini-graveyard alongside a few skeletons. Following that with a powerfully-sung “Disease,” the first single off the Mayhem album, she rose from the grave to deliver “Paparazzi,” clad in angelic white, her diaphanous veil trailing behind her the full length of the catwalk.
It was just one astounding fashion moment among several. The show regularly produced eye-popping visuals, often assisted by props like the giant skull that emerges on stage for Act III. Gaga, in turn, emerged from the skull singing “Killah” and ’80s-style club bop “Zombieboy,” both off Mayhem.
Keeping the running theme of the videos off the album, the show plays out the story of Gaga battling the Mistress of Mayhem (performed by dancer Jessica Toatoa), the singer’s chaotic, destructive side, in hopes of killing her off, like a bad habit.
The story provided an engaging, theatrical throughline that’s resolved fairly simply in Act IV, where Gaga reminded us that regardless of all that pomp and pageantry, she’s a singer-songwriter first of all. Dedicating pop anthem “Born This Way,” and the whole Mayhem Ball, to her queer fans, she tore into the song and choreo, then gave us an emotional “Million Reasons.”
The lady’s soaring vocals as the night wound down sounded as fresh as she had at the beginning, especially on the Oscar-winning “Shallow,” and a tender acoustic rendition of the Born This Way track “Hair.”
“I’ve had enough, this is my prayer/That I’ll die living just as free as my hair,” she sang. “I just want to be free, I just want to be me.” In the end, having removed her makeup and costume backstage, the performer came out for the encore as just herself, thanking her cast and crew, and the audience for sharing the night with them.
Whatever battles Gaga has fought against mayhem and chaos, ultimately she brought love and harmony to CapOne. By the time she closed, singing “How Bad Do You Want Me,” thousands of us felt like one, pulsating with love directed at her, and projected back a few thousandfold. Sounds earnest, I know.
The Mayhem Ball has been on the road since summer 2025 and just dances into four more cities: Boston (3/29-30), Montreal (4/2-3 and 4/6), Saint Paul (4/9-10), and New York City (4/13). Visit ladygaga.com.
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