Live review

From the sublime to the ridiculous: Lady Gaga pulls out all the stops for momentous Mayhem Ball London residency

2nd October 2025

Tonight, in all its bombastic glory, is just further proof than Gaga will always be a true original.

Words: Sarah Jamieson
Photos: Samir Hussein / Getty Images for Live Nation
10th October 2025

It’s not often that shows at The O2 are fully seated affairs, but upon entering the cavernous room, you instantly get a sense of why tonight is. Lady Gaga has never exactly been one to do things by half, and on this latest run - her long-anticipated Mayhem Ball - she’s decidedly going the extra mile to transform the concert experience into full-blown theatre.

While outside in the foyers, food and drink kiosks pump out hits from across her vast discography, inside the arena, the vibe is altogether more serene, with a soundtrack of classical music providing the backdrop to a giant VT of Gaga, as she writes a near-endless scroll with a huge feathered quill. Fans gather close to the end of her runway stage for selfies, after a slew of messages from her Little Monsters are projected across the screen in the show’s build-up, while others take their seats in elaborate costumes inspired by every era of her career; giddiness hangs in the air.

Her overblown arrival, then, matches the fever pitch atmosphere perfectly. In the current world of manicured perfectionism and aesthetic micro-management, how many pop stars would emerge on stage suspended at the top of a cage draped in plush red fabric, that’s mostly reminiscent of a commanding toilet roll holder? Not many. And tonight, in all its bombastic glory, is just further proof than Gaga will always be a true original.

Much like previous tours, the Mayhem Ball comes loosely based around a storyline that ebbs and flows into tangible view; her tale of two battling Queens, split into five, gothic-tinged acts unfolds over two hours and 31 songs. Pairing grand spectacle with camp brilliance, each section comes packed with dance breaks, ridiculous props (a giant sandpit in which she writhes alongside a skeleton, sure; a larger-than-life skull that seems to appear from nowhere, but houses another troupe of dancers, you got it), and several costume changes, in what’s a slick, intoxicating performance that lands just on the right side of unhinged.

But it’s not just the bells and whistles that make Lady Gaga such a momentous star; it’s also her reverence for her fans, and, in turn, their love for each of her eras thus far. While recent album ‘MAYHEM’ predictably gets the lion’s share of tonight’s set time (and for good reason: it is full to the brim with bangers), there’s no shying away from her wider discography here. Cuts from across her iconic debut release ‘The Fame’, and its follow-ups ‘The Fame Monster’ and ‘Born This Way’ take pride of place alongside her newer material, while she seamlessly marries them with her more reflective later tracks ('Joanne''s ‘Million Reasons’; ‘Shallow’) to create a show that’s rooted in every part of her musical history.It’s her stripped back piano interlude, though, that’s most affecting tonight, with her renditions of 2009 track ‘Speechless’ and 2011’s freedom-craving anthem ‘Hair’ providing a gut-punch of emotion close to the show’s end. Luckily, she pulls us back into her world of sublime ridiculousness just as quickly, when she emerges from a gurney post-operation (courtesy of some rather creepy doctors) with an enlarged set of wiggly hands - the perfect accessory for her final, show-stopping hurrah of ‘Bad Romance’. She couldn’t be more Gaga if she tried.