The Monster Ball: Houston (First Show)

Before I start my review, I want to dedicate it to my friend Meesh. She loved Lady Gaga, and passed away at the end of last year. Every time I hear the song Telephone, it makes me think of her. It definitely did last night.

Semi Precious Weapons was the opening act, and all I'm going to say about them is that I felt like I was watching someone who had auditioned for the role of Hedwig 76 times, never got the part, and decided to start his own band where he could play a watered down version of Hedwig on stage every night.

Gaga's Setlist

Dance in the Dark

Glitter and Grease

Just Dance

Beautiful, Dirty Rich

Vanity

The Fame

LoveGame

Boys Boys Boys

Money Honey

Telephone

Speechless

You and I

So Happy I Could Die

Monster

Teeth

Alejandro

Poker Face

Paparazzi

Bad Romance

We had general admission tickets so were down on the floor damn close to the stage. You can't deny that Lady Gaga puts on a good show. Vocally she sounded great. I think she does a fantastic job of using backing tracks to enhance her performance, and not use them instead of singing. She loves being on stage, and she loves performing for her fans. She also really loves herself. There were WAY too many moments where she would just stand completely still on the stage and let the crowd go crazy for her. At one point after Monster she said she a lot like Tinkerbell, and needed everyone to cheer for her so she could continue.

I didn't quite get the narrative of the show. Gaga and her friends are on their way to The Monster Ball, and their car breaks down. They spend the rest of the evening trying to get to The Monster Ball. Call me crazy, but I'm pretty sure I walked past a bus advertising The Monster Ball, my ticket says The Monster Ball, all the banners in the venue said The Monster Ball. I thought we were AT The Monster Ball. So apparently The Monster Ball is just the destination, and the show is all about the journey.

Essentially, we watched Lady Gaga perform her own version of The Wizard of Oz. We traveled down The Glitter Way, got picked up by a tornado, and walked through a spooky forest. I was a little disappointed that we didn't get some kind of cover from The Wizard of Oz. I mean, if you're going to use the iconic twister imagery, belt us out a cover of Somewhere Over the Rainbow.

The show was everything you would expect. It was over the top, there were lots of costume changes, and plenty of Gaga insanity. Each costume change was more bizarre than the last. She had one dress that had all these crazy moving parts. Each costume started out pretty elaborately, and then over the course of the number different parts would be removed until we she left on stage wearing a bikini. I'd also like to take a second to point out one major failure. Hello, we're in Houston! If ever there were a time to bust out a special unannounced guest, it's in Beyonce's home town! If she had shown up for Telephone, the roof would have been blasted off the Toyota Center!

Speechless was dedicated to all the drunk assholes in her life. She said the biggest drunk asshole in her life was her father, but told the children in the audience that they shouldn't call their fathers asshole, and shouldn't make their parents' lives harder. Speechless isn't my favorite song, and it was a show killer. Not only did it bring the energy of the show to a grinding halt, but she'd sing a verse and then stop to tell a story about her parents, sing another verse, tell a story, sing another verse and then stop to announce she just broke a nail.

My favorite, "what the fuck?" moment of the show came when she performed Paparazzi. It turns out that there really is a Fame Monster. A big giant tentacle monster graced the stage and tried to eat Lady Gaga. Gaga exclaimed, "Oh no, it's taking off my clothes" and with one sweep of a tentacle, her dress was gone. She then proceeded to wriggle around on the ground with one of the tentacles. Of course she survived the battle with the Fame Monster by having the audience kill it by taking pictures of it.

The highlight of the show was Bad Romance. It was the final number of the evening. Gaga and her friends had finally made it to The Monster Ball, and went out with a bang. The entire Toyota Center had their paws up and they were dancing and singing along. The moments in the show where Gaga was able to get over her persona and perform were great. Bad Romance was definitely one of those moments.

One thing became clear to my during the show, I love Lady Gaga's music. I can't stand her as a person. What she says and the image she projects are completely contradictory, and that was more than obvious last night.

She told us over and over again how The Monster Ball would set us free, and we should be who we are and not worry what other people think. Moments later she would be just another half naked pop star with electrical tape over her tits, gyrating on the floor. Gaga as savior to all the weird, awkward, gay, lonely, homely, etc. children of the world just doesn't work for me. Maybe it's because there are so many other artists who have done it better. There are other ways of expressing the "be who you are" message than just screaming (and I do mean SCREAMING) it at your fans. Sadly, Lady Gaga doesn't have the subtlety to do it any other way. I felt like I was being beaten over the head with it, and while everyone around me seemed to be eating it up like candy, it just made me roll my eyes.

I have a hard time with artists who come out on stage and tell us that it doesn't matter how much money you have, and that it's not about the money. Bullshit. Those tickets weren't cheap, so it's a little about the money.

She took every chance she had to tell the world how much she loved her gay fans. It comes across as desperate and really contrived. The desperation that comes with Gaga and her need to be loved and have fame is such a turn off. I felt like she was trying to convince the gays that she loved them so they would love her back. It doesn't have to be so much work. Desperation is never cute on anyone.

She's done wonderful things for the LGBT community. Every night, Virgin Mobile donates money to a charity to help homeless gay teens. It's great to see a pop star champion the cause, and be so supportive of LGBT rights and equality. I would have loved to see her take it a step further and invite local charities or political groups to set up at her shows so people could get more involved. Standing up in front of an arena of people and yelling, "Put your hands in the air for LGBT equality" is great, but you're preaching to the choir, and hand waving doesn't really affect much change.

I don't want people to think that I thought the show was bad. She was a great performer. I felt like I got my money's worth. I had a really great time. I just felt like I was watching two different shows. One was a Lady Gaga pop concert, and the other was a revival at the "Lady Gaga Church of the Island of Misfit Toys." Had there been more of the former, and less of the later, I would have loved the show instead of just liking it.

(all the pictures were taken by my wonderful husband, Matt)

Unholy Magic and City of Ghosts by Stacia Kane

If you missed it, check out my review for Unholy Ghosts.

Unholy Magic

When I started the book I was immediately pulled back into the world of the books. Seriously, by the end of the first chapter I was already back in The Downside with Chess. The way that Kane slowly doles out information about Chess and Terrible is brilliant. She gives you glimpses of the characters and their pasts, but it only makes them seem more of a mystery. You want to know more, but you're happy you got even the little bit that was shown to you.

In Unholy Magic, everything starts to fall apart around Chess. It was only a matter of time before Chess would have to deal with not only both Lex and Terrible, but also working for their bosses and The Church. There are so many things in her life that are at odds with each other, and it seems like they are start to clash with each other in this book.

Kane's writing is so vivid. While Chess is investigating a famous actor's debunking case, she has to spend the night. The withdrawal scene that Kane has created makes you feel like you're there with Chess and feeling her pain. The books are well plotted, and while the material is dark, it never feels so dark that it overwhelms you. It would be easy for the material to become to angst ridden and brooding, but it never does.

City of Ghosts

The opening chapter of City of Ghosts sets the pace for the entire book. There is so much that goes on in this book that I felt like I had run a marathon by the time I finished. After an execution goes wrong, The Church asks Chess to take on a new assignment, but before they'll tell her what it is she must be magically bound to secrecy. The money is too good to pass up, so she accepts the challenge.

As part of her new assignment, Chess must work with a partner. Of course this presents a challenge as she has to try really hard to keep her Church and Downside lives separate. It doesn't help that her partner is the Grand Elder's daughter, and a complete bitch. It's interesting to see her have to work with a partner, and to see how she not only has to deal with someone from The Church, but another woman as well. While Chess is dealing with working with a partner, she's also dealing with being more alone that she's been in a while. It's hard to say much without giving things away. I'll just say that she doesn't get nearly as much help from Lex and Terrible as she has before.

Kane has done an excellent job of building on the previous two books. Plot elements from the first two books come together and explode in City of Ghosts. When I was reading it, I kept thinking of Scream 3, and how Randy came back from the dead (through video) to tell us what the rules were for a successful trilogy. The Downside Books really have nothing to do with Scream 3, but if there are rules for a successful trilogy Kane has followed them all.

Had this been the final Downside book, Kane gives it a satisfying ending. I really felt like she was able to wrap everything up in a way that really fit the story, but also leaves enough open that you're ready for the next book. Thankfully it's not the end of The Downside.

I can't say enough about how wonderful this whole series. The plotting over the three book arc is top-notch. Once I finished City of Ghosts I felt like the three books together told a bigger story. That doesn't happen often with books in a series.

A Devil in the Details by K. A. Stewart

I found out about A Devil in the Details by K. A. Stewart from a coworker. We were doing our daily surf of urban fantasy blogs and she came across it. We both agreed that the book sounded like it had potential. A few days later, Stacia Kane was tweeting about how much she had enjoyed the book, and I decided I would check it out.

Jesse James Dawson is a Champion. When people make deals with demons, Jesse steps in to save their souls by putting his own up as collateral in a fight to the death. When other Champions go missing it's up to Jesse to find out what has happened to them while trying avoid the same fate.

Stewart does a lot to separate her book from others in the genre. The protagonist is male, and he has a family. It's rare to see the main character not only have a home life, but have a stable one as well. Jesse really loves his family, and tries to do everything he can to keep them out of his demon hunting life.

I really appreciated how light the book was. It was filled with a natural humor. It never felt forced. I love the fact that Jesse works in a store similar to Hot Topic to pay his bills between Champion gigs. Jesse isn't tortured and angsty either. Yes, he wishes he could save the entire world but he doesn't spend the whole book brooding over it.

All of the world building is subtle. The world in the book isn't very different from ours at all, so Stewart is able to easily set it all up. Stewart successfully set up a series that has lots of potential for growth as we learn more about the secondary characters of Jesse's family and the other Champions. It will be interesting to see how she plays with the world in future books.

I only had a few minor issues with the book. About halfway through it, I didn't feel like a lot had happened. I was starting to wonder where the story was going, but it quickly started to pick back up. The resolution was wrapped up a little too quickly, but it answered enough questions and still left enough open for the second book.

Stewart really succeeds in creating something that's different from other urban fantasy books. That's no easy task. Not once did her concept feel derivative. The book doesn't take itself too seriously, and will keep you thoroughly entertained while it tells a great story.

Thomas Sniegoski

I'm seriously behind on my book reviews, so I promise to try and catch up this weekend. I'm going to know three of them out right now. I've read three books by Thomas Sniegoski this month, and I'm finding myself loving each new one ever more than the one I just finished.

As I started reading the books, I was afraid they would remind me too much of The Prophecy movies that Christopher Walken starred in (which I absolutely loved). That wasn't a problem at all. I completely forgot about the films and got lost in Sniegoski's world.

The Fallen

First up I read The Fallen. The Fallen is the first in his young adult series, and the first two books have been reprinted and compiled in a book called The Fallen 1. The second half, The Fallen 2, comes out at the end of July. The first book tells the story of Aaron, a foster kid who being to think he's going crazy as he turns 18. He's hearing strange voices, and suddenly understand and speak languages he doesn't know, and it being followed by a strange man. As it turns out, Aaron is a Nephilim. Aaron doesn't have much time to adjust to his half angel parentage because he finds himself in the middle of a war that has been raging in Heaven for centuries.

Sniegoski does a great job of telling his story with an authentic teen voice. And while the story deals with Heaven and angels, it doesn't ever come across as too religious or preachy. Aaron could easily have come across as a whiny teen, and he doesn't. He's dealing with these big, crazy, life altering issues and he handles it all well. The story moves along quickly, and Sniegoski is able to not only give you a wonderful sense of the characters, but also build his world at the same time. It really helps that the reader is discover the world of angels along with Aaron. His companion Gabriel, his dog that he can speak with, adds humor to keep the story not too serious. I really felt Aaron's sorrow at the end of book 1, and couldn't wait to start book 2.

Leviathan

The second book (also included in The Fallen 1) is called Leviatian. It picks up right after the first book ends. I don't want to say too much about the plot because I don't want to spoil the first book. Leviatian is bizarre. Aaron and Gabriel find themselves in a strange town where every person the encounter seems off. They can't quite figure out what it is, but something clearly isn't right. The more Aaron investigates, the more strange things seem.

The book could have easily been confusing. It takes a bit of a break from the story set up in the first book, but does a lot to further the story and give you more insight into the characters. It was definitely a chance for Sniegoski to build more onto the world he started creating. I'm not even sure how to describe the second book. Bizarre is a really good word for it. The tension that builds as you read it is great. I was really tired as I was getting near the end of the book, but couldn't allow myself to go to sleep until I had finished the last 40 pages. Finding out how everything ended just couldn't wait until the morning!

A Kiss Before the Apocalypse

A Kiss Before the Apocalypse is the first book in Sniegoski's Remy Chandler (Remy being the human version of his Angelic name, Chandler after the writer Raymond Chandler) series. Remy is a private eye who just happens to be an angel that his left Heaven. He lives his life as a human, and ignores the angel half of his being. These books take place in the same world as The Fallen but don't overlap. Sniegoski is just as adept at building his world in this book as he is in the young adult books. If I hadn't read the other books, I would have still been able to get an accurate picture of this world in my head.

As Remy is working on a case, he notices that people aren't dying the way they're supposed to. Their souls are trapped in their bodies. Pretty quickly, he learns that this is a global problem. Remy gets hired by a group of angels to find The Angel of Death. He's disappeared, and without him to claim souls, nothing on the planet can die. It doesn't take long for Remy to get in over his head, and he has to call on help of other angels, and immerse himself in a world that he's been trying to escape.

I really enjoy Remy's struggle with the human and angelic pieces of himself. It never comes across as too angsty. There book is full of plenty of action, battles, and twists to keep you turning pages as fast as you can. Like the young adult books, the religion never becomes overwhelming. Remy is fighting in the same battle that Aaron is, but in a completely different way.

The epilogue to the book is one of the most touching, and beautiful things I've read in a while. I was going to give the book a 4 star rating on goodreads, but the epilogue pushed it way into 5 star territory. The Remy Chandler series is great for fans of Jim Butcher. I'm definitely looking forward to more books in both series.