On Sunday X and I were part of watching Lady Gaga rule at Gröna Lund.

Lady Gaga as shot by Annika Berglund ((The above pictures are gathered from this gallery at Rockfoto, all exquisitely shot by Annika Berglund.))

She did rule. But first, I want to start from before the beginning.

X and I left for Djurgården by walking through sunny à–stermalm. It was sweet. Once at Gröna Lund, I was struck with how many people were there already; a couple of hours before the gig and there were hundreds of people - of which I'd say most were under 18 years old - in front of the stage, waiting.

The sun was shining. By the time the first support act - Paola Lobos - came on, we'd waited for a while. Lucky us... Her voice was mostly in tune, which is about the nicest thing I can say about her. The two dancers were about as in-sync as Michael J. Fox's hands; the singer seemed to be thinking about her laundry and frankly I couldn't wait for her to get off the stage.

Then things turned around.

A rig consisting of a synth and a Mac with a painted-on cover in bright neon green and shocking pink screamed "HYPER CRUSH" at us, with a big-ass logo to boot below. I didn't know what to believe, when on-stage jumped a guy with Ray-Bans, a cigarette hanging out the side of his mouth while he was wearing neon clothes and a keytar. A keytar. Where should I begin?

Then in came a sprightly guy with a Mercedes necklace, making me think of Mike D; he was followed by a girl in purple and black and they kicked off their first track, "Robo Tech". When you combine a total 80s look with sexist lyrics like this, I'm all yours:

two step with a faster break so I can see your ass...

shake, shake, shake, shake, shake, shake, shake, shake, shake, shake, shake, shake,

i can see your ass...

shake, shake, shake, shake, shake, shake, shake, shake, shake, shake, shake, shake,

I can see your ass shake

robotic technotronic, robotic technotronic robotic technotronic, robotic technotronic robotic technotronic, robotic technotronic robotic technotronic, robotic technotronic

Then between two songs they announced a special item they'd brought all the way for us from L.A., from where they're spawned, a silver metal briefcase containing...a Nintendo Power Glove. Whoa. For those of you who know not what it looks like, it's this:

I basically wanted one for the first 32 years of my life, so... And to top things off they pulled out a Nintendo gun, the kind that you used to shoot 8-bit ducks with. I loved it.

But despite the retro this band wouldn't be anywhere without decent tracks, and when they also carried stage presence to boot, it kicked. They rolled, and I must say it's always refreshing to see grown-ups dressed like teenagers who are singing about sex and drugs to tweeners.

Then things changed up big-time. A huge screen was erected and displayed a picture of Lady Gaga for a while, until a film started playing, courtesy of HAUS OF GAGA. Warhol-esque, reminded me of Bruce LaBruce in some way. Idiots all around started shouting names of the possible first track because they've searched for track lists on the Internet, but the music just took over. The music.

First of all, she stood covered by her dancers who held up shields sporting mirror shards. Gaga herself popped out from the top, mouth open, her mirror mask plastered across her face, blonde hair with pink, tasteful high-lights and a dress possibly designed by Christian Siriano.

Just the way her appearance affected me, was a sure sign that things would be great. After all, I've seen her live once before, but I was really quite blown away this time.

Her dancers: wonderful. Improvisation, sporting light 80s black combat gear (including berets) and acting made just one - albeit an important - part of the evening. Gaga interacted seemingly effortlessly with them, as she was in complete control of the audience. Seeing her talking to an audience, or even playing music and dancing to one, is like listening to Beach Boys' "Pet Sounds"; you think things should be that way, and that it virtually required no effort to create but really is quite the opposite. The Fame Ball Tour is a really well-balanced show.

From films to costume changes and pillow talk with the audience, stuff still wouldn't be the same without great tracks, of which Gaga has many. I really like her debut album, and it's nice to see she's tweeting about how she's composing new music. And even though she was hung-over on Jameson's on Sunday morning, her hoarse voice performed well on tracks, ad-libbing and moving along very well.

She opened with "Paparazzi", which you will see in its entirety in my video below, for which Gaga rocked a black customised keytar as well. Supreme. Keytar. I love that word. And I also loved the backing band - the keyboard player was almost constantly smiling, the Jack White-lookalike guitar player did his bit with the band in a metal way just after said opening song, and the drummer was actually Swedish. Nationalism. Ism. Speaking of which, Gaga said "money" is a dirty word. Well, right you are. I feel her sentiments about money are similar to what I interpret her way towards sexy is; while wearing a skin-coloured bodysuit there was no way on the planet that I'd deem what she was doing sexy, not in a tits-and-ass sexist sort of "sexy" anyway.

Among some tidbits were the fact that she got kids singing about "Bloody, bloody Stockholm", money, fame, getting wasted in clubs...yet again, hearing a sea of 15-year-olds attest to their fantasy debauchery was sheer fun.

She turned "Eh, Eh (Nothing Else I Can Say)" into a backbeat track towards the end, and later brought in a see-through piano, filled with bubbles, with matching bubble-laden suit to boot; X pointed out the suit is very reminiscent of this suit that Kristeen Young wore onstage for a while. I'm sure she got some of that from Elton John's wardrobe.

Then, a supreme version of "Poker Face", of course done with just the piano to help her along. I loved the dark tones brought forth during the breaks in the track. I also love how she brings pop music to the public. She's 22 years old. I can't get that through my head; it's as if her pop sensibility spans decades. Just like Bill Hicks turned comedy and politics on their head by combining humor, love and intelligence, Gaga manages to inspire through improvisation - on the subject of which the pop landscape is desolate today - crowd participation, great melodies and pop songs, fashion tastes that lift in what she likes and lets other people bring to the table and real fun...in short, she makes every other contemporary pop artist pale in comparison, without trying to do so. I think of Morrissey:

More lock-jawed pop stars Thicker than pig shit with nothing to convey So scared to show intelligence It might smear their lovely career

Gaga is the opposite of this.

"Cuz I'll fucking love you forever, I will."

Her rendition of "Poker Face" was heart-breaking, as anybody who was there will attest - providing a heart was in place. Ten minutes long, and not a second too much. It's as if acrobatics, a marvelous recovery recovery from Jameson's hangover, heart, beautiful improvisation and a glittering night where roller-coasters and spun sugar all merged as one; where a collective love was felt. The epitome of pop music in a sense, bringing us a seldom provided taste.

I'm reminded of the scene in the documentary "The Importance Of Being Morrissey", where the man plays Diana Dors on a tiny record-player; instead of reminiscing as he did, it's as though longing for what's really great about music suddenly came true on Sunday evening at Gröna Lund. I hope she got the love vibe back.

Here's 31 minutes and 33 seconds of the combined mixture of that love. Included are bits or whole renditions of the songs "Paparazzi", "The Fame", "Just Dance", "Eh, Eh (Nothing Else I Can Say)", "Brown Eyes" and "Poker Face".