Lady Gaga Live Stream Puts NYC's Roseland Ballroom to Bed Forever

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Lady Gaga will conclude her seven-day residency at New York City's Roseland Ballroom, which is closing permanently after her show on April 7.

Image: Joel Ryan/Associated Press

By Brian Anthony Hernandez2014-04-07 17:22:36 UTC

The Roseland Ballroom has gone out with a bang and a Gaga.

Clad in a red leotard seemingly painted on with lipstick, Lady Gaga tiptoes toward a ladder while performing "Bad Romance." The eccentric artiste climbs to the VIP balcony near her mother and rattles off the hit song's heightened bridge in New York City.

From her view on March 30, the 28-year-old pop star sees a sea of smartphones capturing her every move and melody. She hears her faithful "Little Monsters" sing along inside Roseland Ballroom, a storied venue that shuts down permanently after Gaga's seven-night residency ends April 7 with a finale performance.

Roseland can squeeze only 3,500 people under its historic roof, so Gaga collaborated with Verizon Wireless to live stream the final show Monday on GetMoreGaga.com at 9 p.m. ET.

The performance will conclude Roseland's nearly 58-year run at 239 West 52nd St. The venue, a former skating rink, opened in 1956 after its original 51st Street location, which operated since 1919, closed the same day the new building opened.

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The lights on the Roseland Ballroom sign will go dark April 7 after Gaga's live-streamed show.

Image: Brian Anthony Hernandez/Mashable

Gaga's skimpy outfits, rather tame by her standards, and her occasional profanity-laced dialogue during some parts of this night's show contrast with the behavior of Roseland's initial lineup of dance hall events and jazz performers.

"It's so f*cking hot," she blurted while removing her jacket. "My t*ts can breathe now."

Even in Roseland's current spot, "The Twist" was banned early on when reserved dancing was the norm and calm music fare was the offering in the 1950s into the 70s.

The venue eventually opened its doors to rowdier rock and pop musicians, with Madonna, Bob Dylan, Beyonce, Metallica, Radiohead, Fiona Apple and The Rolling Stones gracing the stage over the past three-and-half decades.

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Harry James performs at the Newport Jazz festival at Roseland ballroom on July 1, 1974.

In 2013, Roseland saw some shows live streamed, including two that Mashable attended: Nicki Minaj's tweet-infused concert and Vampire Weekend's Twitter-influenced show.

The venue's evolution from an intimate setting to one where its events are experienced thousands of miles away via smartphones and computers is a sign of the times. Roseland's low-occupancy limit appears to have financially taken its toll amid competition from larger and newer venues around the city.

Though Roseland shutters forever after Gaga's Monday night gig, the memories — both good and bad (a fatal shooting in 1984 and arrests related to a stabbing in 1990) — remain for the countless people who have frequented the midtown Manhattan location.

"We've grown up together haven't we?," Gaga asked her Little Monsters at Roseland. "But you're still wasted and you're still having fun."

Like her fans, Roseland's occupants grew up a bit inside its walls, but now it's time for the fun to move to another venue as this NYC staple dims its lights with a fading flicker of songs from Lady Gaga's The Fame, Born This Way and Artpop.

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