The Chromatica Ball was the seventh headlining concert tour by American singer Lady Gaga in support of her sixth studio album, Chromatica (2020). Comprising 20 shows, it began on July 17, 2022, in Düsseldorf and concluded on September 17, 2022, in Miami Gardens. Initially conceived as a six-date-long, limited tour, new dates were added after it was delayed by two years due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
It is Gaga's first all-stadium concert tour and features a stage inspired by brutalist architecture. In line with the promoted album's themes, the show's narrative depicts a journey around trauma and healing. It is divided into distinct segments, each separated by a video introduction and a costume change. Gaga opted for a "darker, edgier" appearance for the tour in contrast to the pink cyberpunk look from Chromatica earlier promotional imagery; her wardrobe included outfits by designers she frequently worked with in the past, such as Alexander McQueen, Gareth Pugh, and her sister, Natali Germanotta.
The tour received critical acclaim, with various outlets rating it with the highest score in their respective reviews. Critics praised the visuals, the choreography, Gaga's vocal skills, and many of them singled out the piano segment as the concert's strongest part. On numerous American dates, Gaga interpolated political statements to her piano performances, addressing topics such as gun violence and abortion rights. According to Billboard Boxscore, The Chromatica Ball ultimately grossed $112.4 million from 834,000 tickets sold, breaking multiple personal attendance records and venue records. Gaga's September 2022 show at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles was recorded for a concert film, which was released on May 25, 2024, on HBO and Max.
Background and development The tour was originally announced via Gaga's social media on March 5, 2020, as a six-date-long, limited concert series for the summer of that year, in support of her sixth studio album, Chromatica (2020). The announcement was accompanied by a dual-sided graphic, one side an extreme closeup of Gaga's face, sporting the 'Chromatica symbol' on her cheek, mostly covered with a long, straightened, pink wig. The other side of the graphic featured the tour's limited itinerary surrounded by imagery from the music video and promotional campaign for "Stupid Love", the lead single from Chromatica. When announced, the tour was set to be the singer's first all-stadium tour, with every date scheduled for a multi-purpose stadium, such as MetLife Stadium. Due to safety concerns over the COVID-19 pandemic, it was first postponed to summer 2021, before its second postponement to summer 2022.
New dates with additional venues in Europe and North America were scheduled and officially announced on March 7, 2022, making the once limited tour a 15-date engagement advertised as "The Chromatica Ball Summer Stadium Tour". On April 14, 2022, two dates in Tokorozawa were announced, marking Gaga's first concerts in Japan in eight years. To commemorate the event, a Japanese tour edition of Chromatica with extra content was released on August 31, 2022, and a pop-up shop selling merchandise items opened on the same day. Three additional North American shows in Hershey, Houston, and Miami Gardens were added later on May 16, bringing the tour's total number of shows to 20.
During the prior tour, the Joanne World Tour (2017–2018), Gaga was forced to cancel the majority of the European leg of the concert series, due to severe pain caused by fibromyalgia. Shortly before The Chromatica Ball began, Gaga said there had been a period when she thought she might never perform again, but added that she was feeling more pain-free than she had in years. Rolling Stone Hannah Ewens noted that the concert series was "carefully and successfully designed with Gaga's illness in mind", with fewer dates than any of her previous world tours, and the more complex choreography reserved for the latter section of the show.
Production Conception and stage setup
The show is structured as a journey through trauma and healing, reflecting the themes of the promoted Chromatica album. On the day of the tour's first date, Gaga shared a video on Instagram explaining that the stage drew inspiration from brutalist architecture and raw materials, aiming to create a "savage and hard" visual exploration of one's personal struggles. She described the production as an abstract story combining her passions—art, fashion, dance, music, technology, and poetry. Separately, she noted that the show portrays the different stages and facets of grief she has experienced throughout her life.
The "imposing" stage set prompted media comparisons to a nightclub or S&M club in Germany. For The Telegraph Neil McCormick, the black and white brutalist architecture invoked a "nightmarish Soviet dystopia as imagined by Fritz Lang", an opinion shared by Billboard Joe Lynch, who found shades of Lang's 1927 expressionist film, Metropolis in the design. McCormick felt that "this initially bleak aesthetic" provided a striking contrast to the colorful costume changes and special effects. The main stage was accompanied by two catwalks, and five five-story high screens. A secondary, smaller stage housed Gaga's piano. Bedecked in tree branches, the instrument received comparisons to H. R. Giger's work. In addition to flamethrowers which provided pyrotechnic effects, the audience received LED wristbands which were glowing in time with the beat and changed color for each song.
Costume design Christian Allaire of Vogue observed that Gaga omitted the pink cyberpunk look from the "Stupid Love" music video, embracing her signature "Mother Monster" image, which "favors a darker, edgier aesthetic". She called The Chromatica Ball "a glorious return to freaky-deaky dressing", and compared her outfits to those from The Monster Ball Tour (2009–2011) and the Born This Way Ball (2012–2013) concert tours, which were "ominously sci-fi (but high-fashion)." Serving as fashion director, Nicola Formichetti worked alongside stylists Sandra Amador and Tom Erebout to curate the tour's wardrobe. Throughout the show, Gaga wears outfits by Gareth Pugh, Alexander McQueen, Christian Lacroix, Aziz Rebar, Vex Latex, Dead Lotus Couture, and her sister Natali Germanotta's fashion brand, Topo Studio NY.
Gaga's hard-structured sarcophagus costume in the opening sequence was inspired by David Bowie's 1979 Saturday Night Live performance. The sculptural outfit opened to reveal reflective surfaces inside, creating a dramatic visual effect. A later part of the show sees Gaga showcasing various golden looks. First she puts on a metallic gold moiré outfit by Alexander McQueen: her suit includes a cropped jacket with shoulder pads and a large lapel, and wide-legged trousers; removing the jacket, she shows off a sleeveless button-down collared shirt. Matching gold boots complete the monochrome look. Gaga then puts on a claw-like gold headpiece by Philip Treacy, along with a gold gown designed by her sister. For Daniel Rodgers of Dazed, the outfit hearkened back to Andrew Lloyd Webber's Joseph and The Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat. Another McQueen outfit for a heavily choreographed part of the show was a crystal-embellished latex bodysuit and leather biker jacket, along with leather biker boots worn over black fishnet stockings.
Gaga also wore a blood-red gown with peak-shoulders, along with black leather boots and fingerless gloves. Removing the garment revealed a nude latex bodysuit splattered in red, blood-like goo, with taped X's over Gaga's nipples, along with a big, spiked necklace. This was later complimented with a sparkly red cropped puffer jacket and oversized sunglasses. A different latex outift consists of a BDSM-inspired corset with harness-like buckles and horned shoulders, along with loose-legged leather pants and a policewoman cap. Lauren O'Neill from i thought this "authoritarian" look recalled Gaga's music video for "Alejandro" (2010), while The Philadelphia Inquirer Dan Deluca found it to be "an homage to 'Justify My Love'-era Madonna". During the piano ballad section of the concert, Gaga appears in a purple-and-black bodysuit and headpiece, described by journalists as "a very glamorous bug" and "a purple praying mantis". The headpiece further received comparisons to a prop from Star Wars Mos Eisley cantina or The Fifth Element Diva Plavalaguna character. Gaga's final look consists of a black-and-white bodysuit and leather biker jacket, along with fishnet tights, knee-high boots, and a bone-shaped handpiece.
Concert synopsis
The show was approximately 130-minutes long, divided into a prelude, four acts and a finale, each one accompanied by an interlude directed by Gaga's longtime collaborator Nick Knight. It follows a loose narrative of Gaga's journey from being trapped to becoming liberated. In an intro video, Gaga appears in a liquid-metal ballgown, and then as shadow-figure with four legs, wearing bulbous heels and a tall crown. The show's prelude sees Gaga reflecting on her career by performing her three earliest tracks from The Fame (2008) and The Fame Monster (2009). It opens with dancers performing to a synthesized arrangement of Bach's "Fugue No. 24", which transactions into "Bad Romance", echoing the sequence from the song's music video. Gaga appears atop a set piece reminiscent of a giant slab of concrete singing the track, while standing still inside a leather sarcophagus-type garment with only her face visible . Layers of her outfit are slowly removed as she spins around with limited motions for "Just Dance" and "Poker Face". The first act opens with an interlude which shows a brutalist hospital. Gaga then returns on stage seemingly covered in blood, and continues with three songs which share a common lyrical theme: the singer expressing her fears and internal struggles. She is lying on an operating table elevated in the air for "Alice". During "Replay", she is carried by one of her dancers, before the full choreography commences and Gaga screamingly commands the audience, "Put your paws up!" For "Monster", Gaga performs a dance routine with zombie motifs, and gets attacked and "eaten alive" by her dancers, only to re-emerge in a latex red jacket with pointy shoulder pads and jet-black sunglasses.
After an interlude commences the second act, Gaga comes back on stage dressed in a vinyl dominatrix ensemble, while frantic red lights illuminate the stage for "911". "Sour Candy" is performed with synchronized choreography and Korean letters being displayed on the screens, followed by "Telephone", which sees the set's flamethrowers put into use. The performance of "LoveGame" involves "grinding guitars", which convert the track into an amalgamation of dance-pop and heavy metal. Another video sequence showcases celestial explosions while Gaga and her dancers change into matching gold satin for the third act. Gaga asks the audience if they ever had to battle for their lives, and performs "Babylon", voguing together with her dancers. She dedicates the song to Alexander McQueen. Gaga then puts on a face-covering hat and slowly walks through the audience in a pathway between her main stage and the smaller, second stage, while singing "Free Woman". She reminds her audience, "this is a ball, and everyone's welcome here", as she sits down to her piano which is set inside a sculpture of thorns. After proclaiming that she sees plenty of people in the audience who know exactly who they are, she performs her self-acceptance anthem "Born This Way", initially in a stripped back rendition, before switching to the song's uptempo and choreographed version.