View source for The Born This Way Ball

{{TourNav/TBTWB}}
{{Infobox concert tour 
|name              = The Born This Way Ball
|type              = Word
|artist            = [[Lady Gaga]]
|image             = Born This Way Ball Poster.jpg
|album             = ''[[Born This Way (album)|Born This Way]]''
|start date        = [[27 April|April 27]], [[2012]]
|end date          = [[11 February|February 11]], [[2013]]
|number of legs    = 8
|number of shows   = 22 in North America<br>8 in South America<br>2 in Africa<br>17 in Oceania<br>16 in Asia<br>33 in Europe<br>98 total
|gross             = $183.9 million
|previous          = [[The Monster Ball Tour]]<br>(2009-2011)
|next              = [[Lady Gaga Live at Roseland Ballroom]]<br>(2014)
}}
'''The Born This Way Ball''' is the third [[Concert tour|concert tour]] by [[Lady Gaga]], in support of her third album ''[[Born This Way (album)|Born This Way]]'' ([[2011]]). The tour, lasting for 98 concerts, visited the Americas, Asia, Europe, Africa and Oceania. This marks Gaga's first tour to visit all the inhabited continents.

<div style="text-rendering: optimizelegibility;">
The tour was officially announced on [[8 February|February 8]] of [[2012]] with the first set of dates in Asia and Oceania. The tour began in Seoul on [[27 April|April 27]], 2012 and ended on [[11 February|February 11]], [[2013]] in Montreal. Lady Gaga had a hip injury since December and after her performance in Montreal, she said on Twitter that she couldn't walk anymore. At first, she only canceled her tour dates in Chicago, Detroit, and Hamilton. But on [[13 February|February 13]], 2013 she had to cancel the rest of her tour due to the fact that her hip injury was getting worse.
</div>

The tour narrated "''the tale of the Beginning, the genesis of the Kingdom of Fame.''" Gaga plays the role of an alien fugitive from G.O.A.T., a Government Owned Alien Territory in space, which was introduced for the first time in the music video for "[[Born This Way (song)|Born This Way]]" in 2011. The show is set in and around a large medieval style castle, which rotates and maneuvers throughout the show. A classical score accompanies the show's interludes, tying in with the show's dark, operatic theme.

Fourteen different outfits are worn by Lady Gaga throughout the show, mostly designed by Italian fashion houses such as [[Versace]], [[Moschino]] and [[Armani]].

==Background==
The first hint about the tour was revealed by Gaga on stage during [[The Monster Ball]] on [[19 February|February 19]], 2011. At that point, she wanted to start the tour at the end of 2011. Interviewed by Fuse, she revealed her intention for the Born This Way Ball to be more of a continuation of the Monster Ball; however, the continuation concept was not used. {{More|The Born This Way Ball/Background}}

===Development===
: <div style="font-family: ‘Times New Roman’, Times, serif; font-size: 18px;">“''The [[Haus of Gaga]] and I have worked for months conceiving a spectacular stage, The Born This Way Ball is an Electro-Metal Pop-Opera; the tale of the Beginning, the genesis of the Kingdom of Fame. How we were birthed and how we will die celebrating.''”</div>

[[Image:Born This Way Music Video 002.png|150px|left|thumb|<small>G.O.A.T. as first seen in Born This Way music video.</small>]]
Gaga plays the role of an alien fugitive from G.O.A.T., a Government Owned Alien Territory in space which was introduced for the first time in the music video for "Born This Way" in 2011. Throughout the show, she is tracked by "[[Mother G.O.A.T.]]" until the final battle. For the outfits, Gaga asked both designers with whom she collaborated before as well as new ones. {{More|The Born This Way Ball/Development}}

====Stage====
[[Image:2-6-12.png|150px|right|thumb|Sketch by Mark Fisher with Ric Lipson for for Stufish Entertainment]]
On [[6 February|February 6]], [[2012]], Gaga tweeted that the central area within the stage will be known as "The Monster Pit", which is regulated to general admission fans who were the first to arrive. On February 7 at midnight (EST), Gaga tweeted a sketch of the stage for the tour.

The stage is modeled on a medieval Gothic castle featuring viewing towers, intricate carvings and a large catwalk allowing audience interaction. The stage and set have many capabilities and functions including 30 active windows and doors, each with a custom scenic painted roll drop which will reveal different scenes within the various rooms of the Castle, two swing walls which open to reveal the 50 foot tall castle behind it, 620 feet of custom LED lights and two sets of automated castle gates that open and close to a full 180 degrees. {{More|The Born This Way Ball/Development}}

====Poster and film project====
:''Related article: [[Terry Richardson]]''
[[Image:1-29-12 Terry Richardson 001.jpg|left|150px|thumb|<small>Taken on [[29 January|Jan 29]], [[2012]]</small>]]
A promotional poster of the tour was released on February 7, 2012, which features Gaga's face hovering over dark clouds looking down from the sky, and includes touches of neon purple and turquoise coloring. She is also fused into a keytar, standing near her dancers in front of a medieval castle. In February 2012, a promotional image for the tour was released; she is wrapped in plastic outside the gates of the Electric Chapel.               

Pleased with their collaboration from 2010 to 2011, Lady Gaga and Terry Richardson teamed up again to document the making of the tour, the tour itself, and her life during it. Richardson was both seen recording footage and taking photographs, which some of the later were released on his Tumblr and Little Monsters page. {{More|The Born_This_Way_Ball/Background}}

====Skype partnership====
:''Related article: [[Skype]]''
Skype established a partnership with Gaga and officially joined the tour in Estonia on August 25, 2012. Since then, they are interviewing fans and taking footage of her performances in Europe and South and North America. The exclusive content and behind-the-scenes clips are expected through [http://www.skypeball.com/ Skype Ball].

==Show==
===Tickets + tour package===
Depending on the venue, different types of tickets are available but include type possibility: standing also known as General Admission (GA) and seated (these tickets usually have a section name or letter with a row number). Only the general admission tickets are eligible to be part of the Monster Pit.

For the tour, Live Nation created three packages with a different seating or General Admission option. Each package comes with a Lady Gaga merchandise item, a collectible laminate, and onsite VIP host. {{More|The Born This Way Ball/Tickets & Dates}}

===Monster pit===
[[Image:4-26-12 02.jpg|right|120px|thumb|Gold necklace with a skull with Gaga's features.]]
The Monster Pit refers to a limited number of place area located in the general admission (floor) of select dates of the tour.

The first person in line for the Monster Pit is awarded a key, which symbolically opens the Monster Pit for each date. They are called the "Holders of the Monster Pit key".

After each show, Gaga's team uploads a picture with the holder on [[LittleMonsters.com|Little Monsters]], who are all meant to sign them on their respective keys. On dates with venues that are too small for the Monster Pit, the first person on the General Admissions line is awarded the key. {{More|The Born_This_Way_Ball/Development}}

===Dates===
In April of 2012, Gaga revealed on Twitter that the tour would last 110 shows. However, an extra nine dates were added. This marks Gaga's first world tour in all to visit every continent, except Antarctica.

In the first few weeks, the tour was met with controversy in some religiously strict countries. This lead to the cancelation of the scheduled show on June 3, 2012 at [http://ladygaga.wikia.com/wiki/Gelora_Bung_Karno_Stadium Gelora Bung Karno Stadiumin] in Jakarta, Indonesia.

Following a hip injury in 2013, Gaga canceled the 21 final shows of the tour, with the last performance in Montreal on February 11. The show ended with 98 dates performed out of the 119 planned. {{More|The Born_This_Way_Ball/Tickets & Dates}}
===Opening acts===
Depending of the leg, different opening acts opened the show, each performing a 15 to 30 minute set. <verbatim>Table</verbatim>
{| class="table table-condensed" style="width: 620px;"
! Artists
! Dates
|-
|[[Zedd]]
|April 27 to May 31, 2012
|-
|[[Lady Starlight]]
|May 2 to February 11, 2013
|-
|Von Smith
|June 14, 2012 only
|-
|[[The Darkness]]
|August 14 to December 12, 2012
|-
|[[Madeon]]
|January 11 to February 11, 2013
|}

===Setlist===
<verbatim>Tabs</verbatim><tabber>
Act I=
:''For a complete summary of this act, see [[The Born_This_Way_Ball/Show|this page]].''
{{:The Born This Way Ball/Show/Setlist|transcludesection=a1}}
|-|
Act II=
:''For a complete summary of this act, see [[The Born_This_Way_Ball/Show|this page]].''
{{:The Born This Way Ball/Show/Setlist|transcludesection=a2}}
|-|
Act III=
:''For a complete summary of this act, see [[The Born_This_Way_Ball/Show|this page]].''
{{:The Born This Way Ball/Show/Setlist|transcludesection=a3}}
|-|
Act IV=
:''For a complete summary of this act, see [[The Born_This_Way_Ball/Show|this page]].''
{{:The Born This Way Ball/Show/Setlist|transcludesection=a4}}
|-|
Act V=
:''For a complete summary of this act, see [[The Born_This_Way_Ball/Show|this page]].''
{{:The Born This Way Ball/Show/Setlist|transcludesection=a5}}
</tabber>

===Merchandise===
{{col-begin|width=100%}}
{{col-break|width=15%}}
[[Image:Marry the Night Lunchbox.jpg|left|150px|border]] {{SmallText|1=Chibi "Marry the Night" Gaga by Da Morgue.}}
{{col-break|width=2%}}
{{col-break|width=80%}}
For the first time, the Haus of Gaga created a contest for fans to submit their own art to be featured on the official merchandise for the tour. {{More|The Born_This_Way_Ball/Merchandise}}
{{col-end}}

==Personnel==
: ''For the complete list of the personnel involved in the tour, [[The Born This Way Ball/Personnel|see this page]].''
*Promoters — Live Nation Global Touring (Worldwide), AEG Live (UK)
*Ticket Sales — Ticketek (Australia, New Zealand & Argentina), Ticketmaster (Europe, South America, North America, Central America)
*Production executive — Mo Morrison
*Art director — [[Marla Weinhoff]]
*Stage design — Mark Fisher with Ric Lipson (Stufish Entertainment)
*Production Manager — Jason Danter
*Stage Director — [[Richard Jackson|Richard 'Richy' Jackson]]

*Hair stylist for Lady Gaga — [[Frederic Aspiras]]
*Make up artist for Lady Gaga — [[Tara Savelo]]
*Assistant — Sonja Durham
*Fashion director — [[Nicola Formichetti]]
*Stylist — Brandon Maxwell
*Designers — [[Haus of Gaga]] (Perry Meek, Brandon Maxwell), [[Armani|Armani Privé]], [[Versace|Atelier Versace]], [[Moschino]], [[Christian Dada]], [[Void of Course]]
*Wardrobe assistant — Perry Meek, Tony Villanueva
*Choreographer — [[Richard Jackson]]
*Dancers' make up artist — [[Sarah Nicole Tanno]]
*Dancers — [[Asiel Hardison]], [[Ian McKenzie]], [[Mark Kanemura]], [[Jeremy Hudson]], [[Graham Breitenstein]] , [[Victor Rojas]], [[Kevin Frey]], [[David Lei Brandt]], [[Montana Efaw]], [[Sloan-Taylor Rabinor]], [[Amanda Balen]], [[Knicole Breahn Haggins|Knicole Haggins]]
*Musical director — Joe "Flip" Wilson
*Keyboards — [[Brockett Parsons]]
*Drums — [[George McCurdy|George "Spanky" McCurdy]]
*Bass — [[Lanar Brantley|Lanar “Kern” Brantley]]
*Guitars — [[Ricky Tillo]], [[Tim Stewart]], Lady Gaga (in "[[Electric Chapel (song)|Electric Chapel]]")
*Keytar — Lady Gaga (in "[[Just Dance (song)|Just Dance]]" and "[[Marry the Night (song)|Marry the Night]]")
*Piano/Keyboard — Lady Gaga (in "[[Hair (song)|Hair]]", "[[Princess Die (song)|Princess Die]]", "[[Yoü and I (song)|Yoü and I]]" and "[[The Edge of Glory (song)|The Edge of Glory]]")
*Management — [[Troy Carter]]

{{Born This Way}}

{{Tours}}
[[Category:Concert tours]]
[[Category:The Born This Way Ball Tour]]