Lady Gaga performed her Mayhem Ball concert on Tuesday night at the Kia Forum in Inglewood, delivering a 29-song setlist spanning her career from The Fame to Mayhem. The show, night two of her SoCal residency, featured elaborate theatrics, surprise songs, and dedications to her LGBTQIA+ fans. It highlighted her evolution as a pop star through intricate staging and nostalgic elements.
Lady Gaga's Mayhem Ball kicked off two weeks ago in Las Vegas, moved to San Francisco, and arrived in Los Angeles for a residency at the Kia Forum in Inglewood. The Tuesday performance marked the second night of this brief SoCal run, three months after her Coachella headline. Spanning 29 songs, the setlist drew from every studio album except Chromatica, which had its own tour in 2022. The tour plans 63 shows across North America, Europe, Japan, and Australia, extending into early 2026, with at least three performances per U.S. city.
Divided into five acts—'Of Velvet and Vice,' 'And She Fell Into a Gothic Dream,' 'The Beautiful Nightmare That Knows Her Name,' 'Every Chessboard Has Two Queens,' and 'Eternal Aria of the Monster Heart'—the concert blended high production with personal touches. Gaga introduced a surprise song in the encore after 'How Bad Do U Want Me,' performing rarities like 'ARTPOP,' 'Sexxx Dreams,' 'G.U.Y.,' a cover of Ozzy Osbourne's 'Crazy Train,' 'MANiCURE,' 'Swine,' and 'Mary Jane Holland' on Tuesday. Some tracks, absent from live sets for a decade, thrilled longtime fans.
Fan favorites such as 'Alejandro,' 'Applause,' 'Kill For Love,' and 'Aura' were shortened to spotlight Mayhem tracks including 'Garden of Eden,' 'Disease,' 'Zombieboy,' and 'Shadow of a Man.' Remixes of 'Abracadabra' by Gesaffelstein and Cirkut bridged acts, while Gaga interpolated 'Off With Her Head' and Giorgio Moroder's 'Tears' into 'Poker Face' and 'Million Reasons.' Nostalgic wardrobe nods included armor and crutches from the 'Paparazzi' video, a spiky crown from 'Bad Romance,' and a giant red Tudor gown echoing Thierry Mugler's 1985 Lady Macbeth design. The 'Poker Face' segment featured a chessboard catwalk referencing Alexander McQueen.
Thematically, the show explored Gaga reckoning with her past eras, with old hits like 'Die With a Smile' and a gothic 'Shallow' in a gondola alongside newer material. She added 'LoveGame,' 'Just Dance,' and 'Summerboy' to the setlist. During 'Born This Way,' Gaga dedicated the song to the 'most important community of my career,' the LGBTQIA+ audience, unfurling a white dress into a rainbow under lights. In 'Vanish Into You,' she carried black roses and a trans pride flag, affirming her role as a voice for the voiceless. The two-hour spectacle ended with Gaga removing her makeup backstage before a final bow, balancing grandeur and vulnerability.
