ESSI AUGUSTE VIRTANEN | Editor-in-Chief

Scottrade Center had a full house of screaming and applauding fans dressed in bold outfits and pink hats Thursday as Lady Gaga’s Joanne World Tour took the stage. 

It’s been more than a year since the release of Gaga’s fifth studio album “Joanne,” and the tour started Aug. 1 this year.

According to people.com, in mid-September, Gaga had to reschedule numerous tour dates after she revealed she suffers from fibromyalgia, a chronic illness associated with widespread musculoskeletal pain, which she discusses in her new documentary, “Gaga: Five Foot Two.”

However, when the artist was putting on a high-energy 19,000-person dance party, she showed no signs of illness.

Gaga’s set was a successful mix of the old and new. It was balanced into an almost emotional journey of life, from uphill dance songs of power to fragile piano ballads reflecting moments of hardship. One example of the latter was a piano version of “The Edge of Glory,” which she dedicated to a friend she recently lost to cancer.

Gaga said during the show she considers herself “one of the luckiest girls” in this world being able to perform onstage almost every night. But like anyone else, she has her battles and weaknesses too and she carries them as her strengths in her performances, which is beautiful to witness. 

When going to a concert of such a big pop star like Gaga, you can expect the encore to be the biggest dance hit there is, but instead Gaga finished with her biggest single from “Joanne,” “Million Reasons,” an emotionally raw piano ballad. 

Gaga said before she started the song, “When I wrote this song for my album ‘Joanne,’ I was having a rough time; sometimes life gives you like a million reasons to want to ****** just quit it, but all I need is just one good one to stick around. I see a lot of good reasons in this room.”

As Gaga placed the pink “Joanne” hat on the bench next to piano to end her concert, I saw how her encore performance reflected the same maturity as the album of her tour. The decision to end the concert in “Million Reasons” seemed the only way because that song is where she is at now as an artist. The bold party songs are always a part of her, but it is that song where her journey has led her now.

To see more about her journey, check out her documentary “Gaga: Five Foot Two” on Netflix.

Joanne World Tour will stop next at the Capital One Arena in Washington, DC, this Sunday, Nov. 19, and the tour ends on Feb. 23 in Berlin, Germany.