![\"Lady](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/0404-city-gaga-4993_302404652.jpg\")
Tianni, left, Christina and Irene, along with other milling fans, attend the Lady Gaga concert in Montreal. Allen McInnis \/ Montreal Gazette<\/p>\nLady Gaga\u00a0doesn\u2019t\u00a0do anything halfway. Neither do her diehard fans and they were out in full force Thursday\u00a0for\u00a0the first of the global pop\u00a0star\u2019s\u00a0three sold-out shows at the Bell\u00a0Centre\u00a0on the tail end of her Mayhem\u00a0Ball\u00a0Tour.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cAll my friends call me Sarah Gaga,\u201d said Sarah C\u00f4t\u00e9-Doyon, 39, sporting a red dress and wide-brimmed red hat\u00a0topped\u00a0with conical adornments\u00a0in tribute to\u00a0the singer\u2019s\u00a0outfit in her Abracadabra video, off\u00a0her new album.<\/p>\n
C\u00f4t\u00e9-Doyon has been a devotee \u201cdepuis\u00a0Day One,\u201d she said. \u201cIt\u2019s\u00a0the personality, the voice.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThe fashion,\u00a0and\u00a0the gays \u2014\u00a0her\u00a0support of\u00a0gay\u00a0people,\u201d\u00a0added\u00a0friend Gabriel Derome, 33,\u00a0sporting a Metallica T-shirt, leather jacket, black tuque, headset, fishnets\u00a0and platform boots,\u00a0a nod\u00a0to\u00a0Lady\u00a0Gaga\u2019s\u00a0attire\u00a0at the end of her new show.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cHer openness,\u201d\u00a0chimed in\u00a0Maude Bergeron, 38. \u201cShe\u2019s\u00a0a performer. She sings well, dances well,\u00a0she\u2019s\u00a0so fun to watch.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
They had each seen Lady Gaga several times, but it was\u00a0going to be a\u00a0first\u00a0for\u00a0Maude C\u00f4t\u00e9-Doyon, 42.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s because of my sister, who has been crazy about her for so long,\u201d Maude said. \u201cNow, I\u2019m getting\u00a0on\u00a0board.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Derome found a\u00a0similarly\u00a0clad\u00a0admirer in Hazel Gilmore,\u00a09,\u00a0who\u00a0had\u00a0come\u00a0up for the\u00a0concert\u00a0from New York with her parents.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI love how she\u2019s so\u00a0open\u00a0and she doesn\u2019t really care about what anybody thinks,\u201d Gilmore said\u00a0of her idol. \u201cShe\u2019s very supportive, no matter who or what anybody is, and she just puts herself out there.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Tianni, left, Christina and Irene, along with other milling fans, attend the Lady Gaga concert in Montreal. Allen McInnis \/ Montreal Gazette<\/p>\n
Her mother, Stephanie Gilmore, 39,\u00a0says she, too, has\u00a0been a fan \u201csince Day One.\u201d\u00a0She cited\u00a0Gaga\u2019s\u00a0\u201cartistry, her commitment to her craft and the music\u201d as key to the appeal.\u00a0\u201cShe\u2019s\u00a0the best.\u00a0There\u2019s\u00a0no one else out there like her. She writes and sings her own songs.\u00a0She\u2019s\u00a0one of the greatest voices of our generation.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
It was\u00a0Gilmore\u2019s\u00a0third time seeing Lady Gaga on the current tour.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI cried,\u201d she said, recalling\u00a0the artist\u2019s\u00a0New York\u00a0appearance. \u201cIt was very emotional.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
![\"Lady](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/0404-city-gaga-5106_302404784.jpg\")
June, left, Chloe, Gina, Bella and Anna pose outside the Lady Gaga concert in Montreal. Allen McInnis \/ Montreal Gazette<\/p>\n
Chloe Teague, 23,\u00a0and\u00a0Bella and Gina Cullen, 25 and 21\u00a0respectively,\u00a0had flown in from London\u00a0for the concert after already seeing Lady Gaga in the U.K. They were joined by\u00a0Montrealer\u00a0Anna Martin, 25,\u00a0and new friend June Kan, 19, who is from Toronto and met the others in a group chat on X.\u00a0<\/p>\n
All\u00a0wearing homemade\u00a0Lady Gaga outfits from the show, the women said the\u00a0camaraderie was half the fun.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cShe\u2019s like our mom and we\u2019re her kids,\u201d Teague said of Lady Gaga. \u201cIt\u2019s\u00a0not just about seeing her,\u00a0it\u2019s\u00a0us being together, the dressing up and the community.\u00a0It\u2019s\u00a0so amazing. I\u00a0can\u2019t\u00a0explain it.\u00a0It\u2019s\u00a0a feeling.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI can\u2019t talk about it, I\u2019m going to cry,\u201d Kan said. \u201cI love her so much.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/0404-city-gaga-5091_302404594.jpg\")
Justin Jones wears a metallic face covering for the Lady Gaga concert in Montreal. Allen McInnis \/ Montreal Gazette<\/p>\n
Justin\u00a0MacDonald Jones,\u00a028,\u00a0cut a striking profile in his cyborg,\u00a0weblike\u00a0Lady Gaga face covering\u00a0he\u00a0ordered\u00a0online.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cHonestly,\u00a0it\u2019s\u00a0just the message of positivity she presents to the world, and the resilience she\u00a0instills\u00a0in her fans and everyone across the world. A lot of people need that.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
He was visiting from Toronto with Matthew Ariss, 51.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIt takes a strong person to get where she is,\u201d Ariss said. \u201cAnd her message is\u00a0very clear: you are who you are, and that\u2019s all that matters.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
That message was on full display when Lady Gaga took the stage a little more than an hour later for a world-class\u00a0performance. Backed by a live band and a\u00a0crew of\u00a0more than two dozen\u00a0dancers, the singer led her audience through a two-hour whirlwind of\u00a0hits from\u00a0throughout her\u00a0nearly two-decade\u00a0career.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Split\u00a0into four acts and featuring multiple costume and set changes, the theatrical mega-production\u00a0was\u00a0a spectacle through and through. Upon arrival, fans were given LED-lit wristbands by Montreal\u00a0company\u00a0Pixmob. Used by Lady Gaga on the entire tour, the lights\u00a0flashed in co-ordinated\u00a0waves of\u00a0colour\u00a0\u2014\u00a0activated according to seat section \u2014throughout the night.\u00a0<\/p>\n
![\"\u00c9tienne](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/0404-city-gaga-7032_302404786.jpg\")
\u00c9tienne Boucher dresses as the Mistress of Mayhem for the Lady Gaga concert in Montreal. Allen McInnis \/ Montreal Gazette<\/p>\n
Lady Gaga came back with a bang last year with her critically acclaimed Mayhem album, a return to form\u00a0pulsating with\u00a0a\u00a0vital energy\u00a0that carried\u00a0over into Thursday\u2019s performance.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Early career\u00a0favourites\u00a0\u2014 Poker Face,\u00a0Paparazzi,\u00a0Alejandro,\u00a0Just\u00a0Dance,\u00a0Born This Way (dedicated to \u201cthe queer community\u201d) and\u00a0a rousing Bad Romance\u00a0\u2014\u00a0abounded, as did tunes from the new album.\u00a0Abracadabra set\u00a0a triumphant\u00a0tone early on, and it never\u00a0let\u00a0up.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWelcome to the opera house. Montreal, this is your f\u2014king house,\u201d Lady Gaga shouted\u00a0a short while later,\u00a0from the end of a long catwalk\u00a0that\u00a0brought her into the middle of the crowd and which she used generously throughout the evening.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Her voice was arresting and powerful, her energy\u00a0unrelenting. Lady Gaga is\u00a0the real deal. And that, ultimately,\u00a0is\u00a0what her fans respond to.\u00a0<\/p>\n
She belted out Die\u00a0With\u00a0a Smile late in the show, alone at the piano in the middle of the arena,\u00a0as\u00a0the crowd sang along\u00a0to every word.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cYou\u00a0having\u00a0a good time tonight?\u201d she asked, at song\u2019s end. \u201cI love you so much.\u00a0\u2026\u00a0Thank you for including me in your\u00a0beautiful\u00a0community tonight. Thank you. This is wonderful.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Lady\u00a0Gaga\u2019s\u00a0legions of\u00a0adoring\u00a0fans clearly felt the same.\u00a0<\/p>\n