{"id":479782,"date":"2025-10-07T06:25:27","date_gmt":"2025-10-07T06:25:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/479782\/"},"modified":"2025-10-07T06:25:27","modified_gmt":"2025-10-07T06:25:27","slug":"im-seeing-lady-gaga-in-manchester-this-week-and-my-costume-is-the-ultimate-love-letter-to-her","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/479782\/","title":{"rendered":"‘I\u2019m seeing Lady Gaga in Manchester this week – and my costume is the ultimate love letter to her’"},"content":{"rendered":"

‘With Lady Gaga, I know that I\u2019m not going to be judged’\"LadyLady Gaga fan John Samson is one of the 50,000 fans seeing the singer in Manchester this week and he’s gone all out on his outfit(Image: Paton Yates Photography (@patonyatesphotography)\/John Samson (@chef_johnsamson))<\/p>\n

For the next two nights in Manchester, Lady Gaga<\/a> will captivate and transform close to 50,000 fans to the Mayhem Ball.<\/p>\n

The renowned singer will perform at Co-op Live<\/a> on Tuesday and Wednesday (October 7 and 8) as part of the only UK dates on the tour outside of London<\/a>. It comes following the release of her sixth album, Mayhem, which features the hits Abracadabra and Die With A Smile.<\/p>\n

Amongst the rafters of \u2018Little Monsters\u2019 in attendance will be private chef and content creator John Samson. Originally from South Africa and now living in Oxford, John will be attending night two of the Manchester shows and it will mark only the second time in 14 years he has seen his idol. As expected, he\u2019s planning to make up for lost time.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve only seen her once, because she has only performed in South Africa once and that was in 2011!,\u201d John tells the M.E.N. \u201cI lived in Thailand for a bit, and she never came there either until after I left. So it\u2019s been 14 years of waiting to see her again!\u201d<\/p>\n

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\"LadyLady Gaga will play Co-op Live in Manchester on October 7 and 8(Image: Kevin Mazur\/Getty Images for Live Nation)<\/p>\n

John, who has worked as a private chef for three years now, says he has been a life-long fan of the singer, and stumbled across her music randomly and just became \u2018wowed right away\u2019.<\/p>\n

\u201cI remember actually auditioning for a theatre role and Paparazzi was the song we had to dance to in the audition,\u201d he recalls. \u201cIt had just come out at the time and I learned the choreography for it and I was just like \u2018who is this singer?\u2019. I just fell in love with her ever since then.\u201d<\/p>\n

When it comes to Manchester as the location for his next chance to see the singer live in action, he admits it was just purely by chance – becoming the only show he could manage to secure tickets for.<\/p>\n

\u201cI remember one random ticket just popping up on my screen and I just couldn\u2019t believe it,\u201d he explains. \u201cI was like, \u2018is this actually happening?\u2019. I actually went out of the room afterwards and screamed out into the universe to say thank you. That\u2019s how crazy it was to me.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"JohnJohn Samson has worked as a private chef for the last three years(Image: Paton Yates Photography (@patonyatesphotography)\/John Samson (@chef_johnsamson))<\/p>\n

John said he has come up with his own outfit for the event and even booked out a professional photoshoot to showcase it. He says that the design pays homage not only to the singer\u2019s latest work, but also to how she uplifts her fans and makes them feel like they can be their authentic selves.<\/p>\n

Explaining his outfit, John says: \u201cIt\u2019s quite a nice ensemble. A lot of it is made up of items from Shein, but it\u2019s really cool. It\u2019s got some straps across the chest, and it\u2019s pretty open. It\u2019s then like a skirt at the bottom.<\/p>\n

\u201cTo go with it, I\u2019ve gone with a feather neckpiece and some boots. It\u2019s actually quite simple, really, but I think it\u2019s really effective. It looks great. It kind of plays into the Mayhem of things, I think.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s dark, it links to the Wednesday theme because she was just in that show<\/a>, and also has a bit of BDSM about it. I was just trying to hone in on what \u2018Mayhem\u2019 was to me. It\u2019s mysterious, high fashion and I think it\u2019s also appropriately Gaga.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt first, I didn\u2019t think I was going to wear a costume or anything but then I was like, wait, this is Lady Gaga I\u2019m going to see. She would be so disappointed in me if I didn\u2019t, even though she has no clue who I am!\u201d<\/p>\n

\"PrivatePrivate chef John Samson has said Lady Gaga gives him the chance to fully embrace himself(Image: Paton Yates Photography (@patonyatesphotography)\/John Samson (@chef_johnsamson))<\/p>\n

It’s not just chef John who’ll be dressing up for the Manchester shows, either. A number of other fans have teased their own looks on social media, some which have been created from scratch weeks in advance. Recent research found that 31% of people cited the singer as a fashion icon and inspiration, with 29% also saying she has influenced how people dress at concerts more than any other artist.<\/p>\n

A number of other fans have teased their own looks on social media, some which have been created from scratch weeks in advanced. A survey from viagogo also found that 29% of people see outfits at gigs are a way to reflect their personality, whilst another 21% said it made them feel connected to a wider fan community.<\/p>\n

For the Lady Gaga shows in London and Manchester, viagogo has teamed up with fashion rental app By Rotation, curated by celebrity stylist Rhea Francois, on the world’s first Born To Rotate concept store<\/a>. It give fans the chance to rent out Gaga-worthy outfits from top brands at a discount price, including dresses and shirts, as well as bags and shoes, that take inspiration from the singer’s career.<\/p>\n

Speaking about why he loves Gaga so much, John says he has many reasons. But, ultimately, it\u2019s how she makes him feel that he can be himself especially in a time when people can be so easily judged or discriminated for how they look.<\/p>\n

\"LadyLady Gaga is bringing the Mayhem Ball to Manchester this week(Image: Kevin Mazur\/WireImage for Live Nation)<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve been to many other concerts before and most of the time, I just felt like I wasn\u2019t comfortable with dressing how I fully wanted to,\u201d he explains. \u201cI felt like I might be judged, or something might happen.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut with Lady Gaga, I know that I\u2019m not going to be judged. I think people will actually embrace and enjoy what I\u2019m wearing. I just feel comfortable doing it and that\u2019s why I want to do it.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a safe space. I\u2019m going to be with people who are just like me, and who are into the same things I am. We\u2019re all there to see Lady Gaga. I\u2019m just going to be in my element and I\u2019m not going to let anyone stop me.\u201d<\/p>\n

John says he hasn’t managed to completely avoid spoilers for The Mayhem Ball but believes the real aspect of the show will only fully come to life in front of him. Asked what fans seeing Gaga for the first time can expect from one of her shows, he says it\u2019s all about the sheer talent and the production value up on stage.<\/p>\n

\"'I\u2019m‘I\u2019m just going to be in my element and I\u2019m not going to let anyone stop me'(Image: Paton Yates Photography (@patonyatesphotography)\/John Samson (@chef_johnsamson))<\/p>\n

\u201cHonestly, if I could see one person live for the rest of my life, it would be her,\u201d he says. \u201cShe just gives everything – she gives drama, she gives vocals, she\u2019s just amazing. She\u2019s 40 years old and she\u2019s doing a show like this. It\u2019s full-on, she\u2019s really stepped things up.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have seen some videos of the Mayhem Ball online, but one of my friends went to see her in London and she said the videos don\u2019t demonstrate what it\u2019s like in real life. They said the energy is just different to what you see online.\u201d<\/p>\n

John, who says he has been posting Lady Gaga dance videos online once a day in the bid she will one day come across his channel so he can cook for her (\u201cit\u2019s not happened yet, but I\u2019m manifesting it will one day!\u201d), says that seeing Gaga live has often given people in attendance a sense of purpose and belonging.<\/p>\n

\u201cLady Gaga is all about being yourself and she promotes the ability to express yourself however you wish,\u201d he says. \u201cShe makes you feel that you really can be whoever you want to be.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s no judgement, she\u2019s taught her community and the people that follow her that you were born this way, so she wants us to embrace it, be ourselves, and express ourselves however we want. And that\u2019s exactly what I\u2019ll be doing in Manchester. I can\u2019t wait!\u201d<\/p>\n

Join our Manc Life WhatsApp group HERE<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"‘With Lady Gaga, I know that I\u2019m not going to be judged’Lady Gaga fan John Samson is one…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":479783,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8813],"tags":[748,1936,393,2584,4884,4423,2465,711,455,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-479782","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-manchester","8":"tag-britain","9":"tag-co-op-live","10":"tag-england","11":"tag-fashion","12":"tag-great-britain","13":"tag-lady-gaga","14":"tag-manchester","15":"tag-pop-music","16":"tag-real-life","17":"tag-uk","18":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115331460622048170","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/479782","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=479782"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/479782\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/479783"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=479782"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=479782"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=479782"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}