My heart was racing as I found my seat among the thousands- this was the moment I’d been anticipating for six weeks. I looked around. Montreal’s Bell Center was packed- every seat was taken and the floor was cramped with people. I had never seen so many people in one place in my entire life. The lights went down, and everyone froze. I knew that they were all as excited as I was, if not more so. Huge spotlights erupted on the stage, and in a flash she was there.

The woman whose face I had seen countless times on covers of magazines, whose voice I had listened to with envy a million times, whose style I had admired, whose musical abilities I had worshipped, was standing before me. Though I had imagined this moment a million times, I could have never expected the eruption which occurred in my heart. This was Lady Gaga, and I was going to hear her sing. Are you ready, Canada? 20,000 concert-goers screamed. I was one of them. I clutched the metal bar in front of me, the cold sending a slight zing through my fingers. I was ready.

The music pounded, the lights flashed, the crowd cheered. My throat grew hoarse in a matter of minutes, but I didn’t care. The arena smelled strongly of sweat and cheap perfume, but none of that mattered to me because Lady Gaga was singing. The sets changed, the songs changed, and the costumes changed, but my excitement never faded. Everything was so surreal. It was like any concert I had ever been to before: it had a piano ballad or two, crazy dancing, loud music, and seizure-inducing lights. The difference between this and any other concert was that whatever another singer did, Lady Gaga did it 10 times better.

The most amazing thing to me was that she was real. I knew, of course, that she existed beyond magazine covers and radio shows. I knew that she was a human being with a life of her own. However, it is an eye-opening experience when you see someone who you revere so deeply in person. Lady Gaga didn’t just sing and dance; she chatted. She talked to the audience in a down to earth and, dare I say normal, type of way. It was like she was just a girl I met at the mall and we were just talking, like two normal people would.
I suppose this made me realize that she isn’t just a superstar. I mean, in my opinion, she is one of the most talented and influential singers of all time, but she is also more than that. She is a person, like you, like me, with feelings and beliefs. She brushes her teeth in the morning, and goes to sleep at night. Yes, she is a regular person with an amazing voice and a message to deliver to the world. Perhaps this is the most amazing thing about Lady Gaga: throughout the night, she talked to us about being unique, independent, different. Lady Gaga believes that we should be whoever we want to be- not matter what anyone else thinks. This is a belief which I share with her.

As the concert unfolded, a growing sense of amazement and respect overwhelmed me. When the lights flickered on at the end of the show, I wasn’t sad that it was over. I had enjoyed every minute of it. I left with a sense of happiness and self-confidence, some of which I didn’t have upon arrival. As I walked out of the center among thousands and thousands of crazily-dressed fans who were chanting and singing and dancing, I had a huge smile on my face. I knew, the moment I had exited the building, that I would never forget going to Lady Gaga’s concert in Montreal, and her message would stick with me for the rest of my life.