By Scott Mervis, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

Before the Consol Energy Center went out and got a decorated knight, Sir Paul McCartney, for its grand opening, it was looking like the honors would fall to Lady Gaga, setting the stage for such awkward next-morning headlines as:

• Lady Gaga christens Pens Arena soaked in blood
• Lady Gaga hits the Pens’ new ice in latex nun outfit.
• Lady Gaga rocks new arena for all her “gay Pittsburgh Steelers [fans]“

Yes, while the Consol braintrust obviously made the right choice going with “something old, something new” in that order, both turned out to be sensational, in their own way.

Having never graced one of our stages while opening for Pussycat Dolls or New Kids on the Block, Lady Gaga — the most dazzling new pop star of the young century — made her Pittsburgh debut last night with her raucous, eye-popping Monster Ball Tour, one that travels with nearly two dozen semis full of toys.

More than a mere concert — that would be far too pedestrian — she dropped the curtain on a fan lovefest and four-act “pop-electro opera” that splattered her full erotic artistic vision across the stage. For some artists (here’s looking at you, Britney) the lavish spectacle is a cover-up for a shortage of talent.

For Lady Gaga, who could rock a cabaret with just a piano, it’s more about expressing herself as a full-frontal performance artist. Last night, to the screams of her “little monsters,” a k a the fans, she emerged from behind a scrim that magnified her silhouette as she introduced “Dance in the Dark,” doing the dancing in her typical spastic fashion.

The backdrop for Act 1 was a cityscape highlighted by a dayglo green jalopy that held her keyboard under the hood. Looking like Marilyn Monroe in a purple leopard corset she led her dancers through an electrified version of her first hit “Just Dance.”

“In the home of the Steelers, we’re going to be Suuuperrrr freak!” she screamed, before donning a bizarre red-bowed get-up for “The Fame.” Later, she said, “I don’t want your money, Pittsburgh, I want your Black and Gold soul.” She also told them that when she was “Baby Gaga,” her grandparents from Wheeling, who were in attendance, brought her to Pittsburgh to ride go-karts.

Needless to say, it was a very Pittsburgh-tailored event.

The nun suit came out for “LoveGame,” which started Act 2 in a subway car and ended up on the ramp right to her little monsters, who were treated to frequent motivational speeches. “You made me brave, little monsters,” she told them flirtatiously.

“Telephone” had her in a black leather bikini waving and posing with a Terrible Towel. It’s hard to say what kind of karma that will bring to the Steelers, but the monsters went wild.

Most of the songs were thumping club bangers, but she settled down at the piano for bawdy, bluesy “Speechless” and the new Elton-like “You and I,” showing off a voice that could pop the glasses of bubbly or scrape the paint off the jalopy.

“We sing live at this pop show,” she said to more fanatical screams.

Act 3 of this journey to the Monster Ball was a jagged forest where she appeared in what looked like a giant frilly white lampshade for “Monster,” before she was “attacked” by her ghoulish dancers and left bloody in a black corset for the bombastic “Teeth” and more joyful “Alejandro.”

Lying bloody on the stage she yelled to her gay-heavy crowd, “I’m certain that Jesus must love EVERYBODY!”

She closed out the main set in a jeweled suit for “Poker Face” and returned for the final act, where she was caught in the tentacles of an animatronic Fame Monster, which she battled with a spark-shooting bra.

No joke.

Once at the Monster Ball, she unleashed the full “Gaga ooo la la” of “Bad Romance” on a stage sparkling with the spiky silver helmets of her and her dancers.

She may not have left real blood on the stage but the dynamic Lady Gaga left everything else, putting on one of the “Greatest Spectacles on Earth” and coming off as fully fun and human in the process.

Flamboyant NYC glam band Semi Precious Weapons got the monsters prepped with a rowdy, gay-friendly five-song set that could have served as singer Justin Tranter’s audition for the New York Dolls.

“Thank you, parents,” he said, “for being cool enough to bring your kids here and expose them to real rock ‘n’ roll.” Doing his costume change right on stage, he exposed them to a little more than that.

Everything about the event was a celebratory blast, from the fashion eye candy outside to a crazy dance-off in the seats to Michael Jackson songs during the liveliest intermission you could imagine.

Check out these new, UNTAGGED images of Lady GaGa and Jo Calderone which feature in the new issue of Vogue Hommes Japan. Jo Calderone was shot by Nick Knight, and Lady GaGa was shot by Terry Richardson. We think they look fantastic and send out a great message, what do you little monsters think?

Check out this video of MTV revealing the secrets behind Lady GaGa’s costume changes last year at the VMA’s! They talk about how Lady GaGa made one of the most amazing debuts to have ever taken place at the show. You go GaGa!

Lady GaGa was bowling last night in Detroit with her friends Lady Starlight and Perez Hilton! They looked like they were having fun – and GaGa’s glasses are fierce! Check out the images below.

Source: PerezHilton.com and Lady GaGa’s Twitter

Lady Gaga was recently announced as the face of Apple’s music social networking application Ping. Check out her welcome video above.

Check out this photo taken with a fan at Jay-Z and Eminem’s show last night in Detroit, Michigan. Lady GaGa attended the show with her Streamline Records executive producer Vincent Herbert and was reported to be seen sitting watching the show with her good friend and collaborator Beyoncé. Did any of you attend the show? Did you spot Lady GaGa? Let us know!

Check out this promo video for the new season of Glee, which features a sneak peek of Lea Michele and new casting, singer Cherise, performing a cover of Lady GaGa’s “Telephone”. We reported a few weeks back that it looked like this was going to happen – and now it’s official! We’re super Gleeks, are you monster gleeks excited to see how it turns out?!

Chelsea Handler, the host of this years MTV Video Music Awards, sat down with MTV to discuss Lady GaGa. She spoke about how she is a fan of her music, and how she is not surprised that Lady GaGa has been so successful.