Although I generally like her music, and have always been curious about her as a person, I was a bit reluctant to go to Monday’s Lady Gaga show. As a rule of thumb, I don’t do arena concerts put on by pop stars. They are typically overpriced and it’s just not my thing. But, I’ve heard that Gaga puts on a hell of a show, and my friends peer pressured me by saying it would be a “good bonding experience” (a tactic that can get me to do just about anything). So, I coughed up the $125 bucks (eek), but on my sparkly top and eccentric belt and headed to the X.

I was blown away. By Gaga’s performance, but more than that, by her fans. They are loyal, passionate and damn near obsessive with their love for her. They put in an admirable amount of effort to dress like her and spent the entire 2+ hours of her performance hanging on her every word and erupting in cheers, loudly and often. It got me wondering, what exactly is her appeal? I mean sure she has catchy songs, an eccentric personality and an affinity for the gays, but so do many who have come before.

Then Gaga discussed why she created the Monster Ball: to provide her fans a place where they could relax, be themselves and let their freak flags fly. The concept isn’t new by any means, it seems every pop star, actress and model happened to be a nerd in high school who got picked on regularly. What’s different with Gaga is the believability factor. I mean, I can very easily picture her as an awkward high school student sitting in class next to Paris Hilton (they went to the same high school, afterall) and retreating inward to work on her creativity. Let’s face it, Lady Gaga is a freak, and she makes it cool for other freaks to be themselves.

I’m not discounting her amazing creativity or talent, but I do not think either of those alone would create the cult fan base she has built. She does put on a damn good show though, and spending two hours immersed in her twisted world only increased my fascination in finding out of who exactly Lady Gaga is.

My one complaint: although she gave a lot of love to both St. Paul and Minnesota, she failed to give even one shout out to Minneapolis. I’m sorry if it’s confusing, but if you do a show in this region, you have to give love to fans from both cities.

Whatdya think? Would you be more inclined to watch a short video over reading a blog post?

We’ve found, in our work with executives at dozens of organizations, that it’s possible to build any given skill or capacity in the same systematic way we do a muscle: push past your comfort zone, and then rest. Will Durant, commenting on Aristotle, pointed out that the philosopher had it exactly right 2000 years ago: “We are what we repeatedly do.”

-Sent from my phone.

Posted via email from Natalie Wires’ Posterous

Piano has long been one of my all time favorite instruments and it cannot be denied that the girl can sing.

And, for those of you who feel covers never do the original version justice, here is Otis’ version for your listening pleasure.