Lady Gaga wows Milan crowd with Joanne tour

(ANSA) - Milan, January 19 - Lady Gaga held the crowd spellbound at Milan's Mediolanum Forum in Assago during her performance on Thursday night at the sole Italian date of her Joanne world tour.
    After having cancelled her European dates in September due to her fibromyalgia, she made a comeback in Milan stronger than ever, opening with "Diamond Heart" and "A-Yo", tracks from her rock-infused recent album.
    Gaga's show unfolded in a series of seven chapters, each with its own unique look, choreography and special effects.
    She performed her now 10-year-old hit "Poker Face" along with "Perfect Illusion" as a transition towards the electronic sounds of "Just Dance", "Love Game" and "Telephone", with an improv a cappella version of "Donatella" played for her friend Donatella Versace.
    The stage and sets are ambitious, with a modular stage made up of levels that rise and fall, bridges uniting the two island-stages in the parterre.
    The show is joined together by highly symbolic clips designed especially for the tour. At the end of the third segment, dedicated to pride, Gaga gave a monologue on equality and then launched into "Edge of Glory", dedicating it to her family and in particular to her cousins Antonino, Giuseppe and Maria Germanotta.
    "Today I'm here with my whole family," she said, seated at the piano.
    "I met my Italian cousins for the first time; they came up from Sicily. I think about how my grandparents left such a beautiful place, of the sacrifices they made. Being here makes me feel like I've made them proud," she said.
    The sixth act focuses on wounds that leave deep marks, with "Joanne", her latest album's title track dedicated to the early death of her aunt, who Gaga is named after.
    "Every family has its challenges," she said while holding her guitar.
    "Losing Joanne was one of the most difficult for mine. Pain makes us all the same," she said, in the most moving moment of the evening, launching into an emotional rendition of the song prior to a finale with "Bad Romance", "The Cure" and an encore with the ballad "Million Reasons".