Costumes show their teeth over sets in Lady Gaga’s lean and mean return to Los Angeles.

As stock markets tank and unemployment lines grow during recessionary times, there’s nothing more surreal, or wonderful, than ducking into Lady Gaga’s “Monster Ball” concert, a show that heralds the return of Glam-Rock. Wednesday marked the first of two shows in the City of Angels; her most recent spin here since December.

“I’m going to give you the best show of your life tonight. You’re not going to be able to walk in the morning.”

That’s what Lady Gaga said Monday night (June 28), right around what could’ve conservatively been called “the midway point” of her marathon set, and she wasn’t kidding. Because by the time she finally wrapped the two-plus hour show at the Bell Centre — a show that was also the kickoff of the North American leg of her revamped (and seemingly unending) Monster Ball Tour — there wasn’t a calf muscle left unquivered. If it wasn’t the best show her “little monsters” had ever seen, it certainly was the longest.

The Lady Gaga concert opened up with three young people and a broken down car, surrounded by a cityscape and neon, trying to make their way to the Monster Ball. The Monster Ball being, of course, the most fabulous party ever, where you can finally be free, as Lady Gaga reminded her cohorts when they waffled about continuing their journey.

Actually, strike that, the concert really opened up with a curtain screen and just the silhouette of Lady Gaga holding a pose. Every time she changed position, the crowd screamed wildly. Tension (as planned) built.

I went to see Lady Gaga last night at the Susquehanna Bank Center with my girlfriend and had a great time. We got there early and the doors didn’t open till 6:30pm so I got to check out the crowd, which was a real mix of gay men, lesbians, straight men, and even a few younger kids with their families. Gaga definitely reaches a wide audience. The place was barely organized and we were herded into the packed lobby to wait for the doors to the concert seating to open. The opening act was a glam rock band called Semi Precious Weapons, they seemed good if you like glam rock. I know about as much about glam rock as I do about Sri Lanka, so I’ll leave that review up to the experts. Kid Cudi came out next, and while not the greatest rapper in the world, he had a lot of energy, and the crowd was properly warmed up and bouncing to his hip hop. Day N Nite is probably the only song of his I really know. The video borrows heavily from the indie movie Cashback and I enjoy it a lot.