SURREY — Let's ride the way-back machine to August of 2008, when Lady Gaga was a relatively unknown singer who happened to be performing at a Surrey nightclub.
It was at the Mirage, the Guildford venue rebuilt as The Taphouse, on 102A Avenue.
In a concert-preview story for the Now, I wrote about Gaga and her so-called "retro-sexual" sound.
On Youtube, I also found a video (posted by the alexandrajose account) of her singing "Just Dance" at the Mirage. Check it out.
Here's the story I filed for the Now's Aug. 15, 2008 edition:
'Just Dance' diva at Mirage club Monday
Surrey Now, Friday, Aug. 15, 2008, page 25.
By Tom Zillich
Emerging dance-pop superstar Lady GaGa will perform at a Surrey nightclub Monday (August 18), a day before her debut album is released.
Her catchy, synth-fueled "Just Dance" single is a smash hit -- tops among this week's most-downloaded songs at iTunes.
It's a "retro-sexual" sound she describes, in male-equivalent terms, as "Elton John, Freddy Mercury, Boy George and John Lennon in wig and fishnets at Studio 54," the famous New York disco.
GaGa's debut album, The Fame, is due out Tuesday on the Interscope/Universal record label.
Here on Monday night, she will perform and, reportedly, sign autographs at The Mirage nightclub in Guildford. Tickets are $25 for the general-admission show.
It's her only appearance in the Metro Vancouver area on this tour, according to her Myspace webpage.
GaGa, 22, is known for her racy live shows, which have been described as a form of shock art.
This from the website andpop.com: "During performances, Lady GaGa will strip down to a pair of personally-designed and manufactured hot pants and bikini top, light cans of hairspray on fire and strike a pose below a disco ball to the orchestral sounds of A Clockwork Orange -- bearing no resemblance to a typical pop-tart concert."
She's always done her shows that way, GaGa recently told the website.
"I like to be provocative. I want my live shows to be important because it's different."
GaGa, born Stefani Germanotta and private-schooled in New York City, learned piano by ear at age four. As a teen she performed at open-mic nights before writing songs for the likes of the Pussycat Dolls and New Kids on the Block.
In July, she performed "Just Dance" live on the results show of the TV show So You Think You Can Dance. Also this summer, in an interview with HX magazine, she declared her bisexuality.
She got her name from the old Queen song, "Radio Gaga," according to andpop.com, and she defends pop music and major record labels in a way that many other artists avoid.
"The whole myth that pop albums do not make good albums is totally neglected by the impact that they have on the world," she told the website.
tom.zillich@thenownewspaper.com