Lady Gaga announces 2013 North American “Born This Way” tour

By Kat

While she’s still on tour in Europe, Lady Gaga has announced dates for a North American leg of her “Born This Way Ball” tour. Her first date will be in Vancouver on January 11, 2013, and the tour wraps up in Miami on March 16th. While no onsale dates or ticket prices were announced, the following dates (source: Rolling Stone):

1.11 – Vancouver, BC – Rogers Arena
1.14 – Tacoma, WA – Tacoma Dome
1.17 – San Jose, CA – HP Pavilion
1.20 – Los Angeles, CA – Staples Center
1.23 – Phoenix, AZ – US Airways Center
1.25 – Las Vegas, NV – MGM Grand Garden Arena
1.29 – Dallas, TX – American Airlines Center
1.31 – Houston, TX – Toyota Center
2.2 – St. Louis, MO – Scottrade Center
2.4 – Kansas City, MO – Sprint Center
2.6 – St. Paul, MN – Xcel Energy Center
2.8 – Toronto, ON – Air Canada Centre
2.11 – Montreal, QC – Bell Centre
2.13 – Chicago, IL – United Center
2.16 – Detroit, MI – Palace of Auburn Hills
2.19 – Philadelphia, PA – Wells Fargo Center
2.22 – New York, NY – Madison Square Garden
2.25 – Washington, D.C. – Verizon Center
2.27 – Boston, MA – TD Garden
3.2 – Atlantic City, NJ – Boardwalk Hall
3.6 – Brooklyn, NY – Barclays Center
3.10 – Nashville, TN – Bridgestone Arena
3.11 – Atlanta, GA – Philips Arena
3.13 – Tampa, FL – Tampa Bay Times Forum
3.15 – Ft. Lauderdale, FL – BankAtlantic Center
3.16 – Miami, FL – American Airlines Arena

Whether you’re looking for tickets to Lady Gaga’s current European dates or putting her North American tour on your radar, be sure to check with ShowTimeTickets.com for the best Lady Gaga tickets – We Are Never Sold Out!

Lady Gaga creates “Born This Way” Foundation to empower youth, prevent bullying

Always-weird, often-wonderful singer Lady Gaga recently announced the creation of a new project aimed at empowering youth. Her new group, the Born This Way Foundation, is the result of a period of reflection after the suicide of a young fan of hers, whose final tweet thanked her. On Twitter, she revealed she spent several days “reflecting, crying, and yelling. I have so much anger. It is hard to feel love when cruelty takes someone’s life.”

Now, she’s putting that energy to good use: with the help of the John D. & Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, the California Endowment and Harvard University, her new project will attempt to reduce youth depression, bullying, and suicide. The Foundation launches in 2012; stay tuned for more information.

Lady Gaga’s New Album Leaks Early (Listen to Tracks Below!)

Lady Gaga’s “little monsters” were in for a treat earlier this week when her latest studio album, Born This Way, leaked days before its May 23 release date. After music lovers worldwide were teased with a string of rapid-fire singles after the video for “Judas” was released, including “Edge of Glory,” “Marry the Night,” and “Hair,” fans and critics alike were finally able to listen to the Born This Way LP in its entirety.

"Born This Way" album art
Yes, this is the actual album cover.

I’ve gotta be honest: I wasn’t wild about the first single off the album (also called “Born This Way”). I thought it had a great social message (equality, the importance of being yourself, etc), but didn’t quite live up to tracks like “Bad Romance” and “Telephone” off her fantastice Fame: Monster album. A lot of critics agreed, saying that the song felt cluttered and was derivative of Madonna (specifically “Express Yourself”). While the Lady formerly known as Stefani Germanotta has never been shy about paying homage to her inspirations (it’s almost impossible to listen to Gaga’s “Alejandro” and not make comparisons to Ace of Base’s nineties hit “All That She Wants”), “Born This Way” seemed to step over the invisible line separating inspiration from imitation.

After listening to the full Born This Way album, though, I was relieved. The album is long, totally unique in its computerized homages to monster balladry of the 70s and 80s, and a refreshing diversion from the rest of the Billboard Top 40. Plus it has (multiple!) sax solos by Clarence Clemons of Bruce Springsteen’s E Street Band. Sure, it’s not everybody’s idea of a good time, but for those already gaga over Gaga, as well as those who like huge, bleepy, crypto-religious disco anthems, it’s an hour of good, slightly unclean fun. Take a listen to some of the tracks and decide for yourself:

Lady Gaga – “Hair”

Lady Gaga – “The Edge of Glory”

Have you heard the album yet? What’s your take? Let us know in the comments below.