Lady Gaga delights fans in Rio de Janeiro with a large free concert

When the singer entered the giant stage on the famous beach on the famous beach on Saturday evening (local time) to the first tones of her song “Bloody Mary” in a scarlet dress and thus gave the start for her free mega concert in Rio de Janeiro, she was enthusiastically welcomed by the cheering crowd. Subsequently, Lady Gaga followed up with “Abracadabra”, one of the main titles of her current album “Mayhem”.

Throughout the week, the fans of the 39-year-old US singer called “Little Monsters” were flocked to the Brazilian metropolis famous for her carnival. 22-year-old Alisha Duarte has been waiting for her idol since the early hours of the morning. Lady Gaga is “worth” the effort, said the young woman. The 23-year-old Walter Segundo had traveled for the free concert from São Luís, almost 3000 kilometers away. “Lady Gaga means everything to me, I’ve been a fan of her since 2008,” he told the AFP news agency.

The concert visitor Alan Jones from the southern state of Santa Catarina even inspired the Lady Gaga song “Born This Way” for a tattoo. “This song started to accept myself as I am,” said the young man.

Lady Gaga has not performed in Brazil since 2012. It was originally supposed to appear at the Rock in Rio Festival in 2017, but had to cancel at the time for health reasons. According to local authorities, 1.6 million fans were expected on Saturday. According to its own information, the city administration expects revenue of the equivalent of more than 90 million euros. The Brazilian authorities had taken massive security measures for the concert. More than 5000 civil servants were deployed, and drones and facial recognition cameras were also used.

The city administration of Rio de Janeiro wants to continue the tradition of a huge free concert in May. In this way, she primarily wants to boost tourism during the low season.

In May last year, Madonna had given a free concert on Copacabana at the end of her world tour. According to the local authorities, more than 1.6 million people came to the greatest appearance in the 40-year career of the pop diva. The event therefore washed up almost 60 million euros in the local economy.

Rio de Janeiros Mayor Eduardo Paes has already indicated that he also wants to win the Irish rock band U2 for a free concert. At first, however, he did not name a specific date.