Lady Gaga Makes First Dive Bar Tour Stop in Nashville: ‘It’s All About the Music’ [Exclusive]
On Wednesday night (Oct. 5), Lady Gaga gave Nashville Little Monsters a million reasons to head to a local bar: it was there that Mother Monster kicked off her intimate Bud Light Dive Bar Tour, giving a few lucky contest winners quite the treat.
She promised new music, and that's exactly what Gaga brought to her show at the 5 Spot.
Entering the venue to chants of "Gaga! Gaga!", the 30-year-old singer-songwriter parted the crowd, guitar case in hand, strutting in a sparkly jacket and pink hat to the minimal stage. For this night, there was no exquisite light show. It was all about the music.
“I just really wanted to do something that was intimate at a place where I could really get close to the fans and be in a space that is familiar to me and familiar to them and just play the music,” she told PopCrush after her show.
“I wanted it to be all about the music, all about the message of the album, all about the spirit of everything that we have created over the past year."
Before the show, Mother Monster promised to premiere the first full-length version of "Million Reasons" and she delivered to a crowd that already knew the words.
Tennessee was the perfect place to do this song — a track she wrote alongside prominent Nashville songwriter, Hillary Lindsey. Lindsey was on hand to backup Gaga on vocals for the pop song with a side of twang. Before singing, she addressed the crowd in a sultry voice.
"My name is Lady Gaga. I'm a singer-songwriter from New York City ... If you could just do me this favor, tonight if you could just call me Joanne," Lady Gaga politely asked the audience who responded with an uproar of agreement.
For the four-song set, she also sang three other tracks from the forthcoming album, Joanne. She started things off with a very simple, but impressive performance of "Sinner's Prayer," followed by "A-Yo," an upbeat song that got the crowd dancing.
The pop superstar ended her short (but sweet) set with the album's first single, "Perfect Illusion." Moments in, fans were already jumping and singing along as Lady Gaga leaped back and forth from the stage to her adoring audience. She ended the night and song by simply saying, "Nashville, we love you. Goodnight."
It was definitely a night to remember — and the Dive Bar Tour is just getting started. Joanne drops on Oct. 21 and all four of the songs will be on the highly-anticipated record.
Watch her Nashville Dive Bar Tour performance:
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