Lady Gaga suffered major technical issues that threatened to ruin her headlining set on Friday night at Coachella.
The 39-year-old pop superstar was just getting started with her week-two performance at the popular music festival when her microphone suddenly malfunctioned.
It couldn’t have come at a worse time, as she was suspended far above the stage in a structure designed to look like an dress, forcing her to wait to get a replacement mic.
After an expressionistic Act I opening with Bloody Mary that went off without a hitch, Gaga showed off her new material with her recent single Abracadabra, which was featured on her latest LP Mayhem.
But the energy suddenly plummeted as the singer’s headset microphone, which blended in with her chic black bob, began to crackle ominously.
As Gaga — born Stefani Germanotta — began to tweak the microphone, she managed to get it working again, but the crackling increased and her voice began cutting out for long sections.
Lady Gaga, 39, suffered major technical issues that threatened to ruin her headlining set on Friday night at Coachella
The pop star was just getting started with her week-two performance at the music festival when her microphone suddenly malfunctioned while she was stuck on top of an enormous dress-like structure
She proved she was a pro by continuing to sing and perform her choreography, even if only the backing vocals were making it through to audience members.
After disappearing into the tall skirt structure, Gaga emerged again at the bottom as the skirt opened like curtains to reveal her.
Now she had ditched the headset microphone and was instead performing with a much clunkier handheld microphone that kept her from fully performing her dance routines, though she still did as much as she was able to.
Read More Lady Gaga brings fan to tears after ‘satanic’ Coachella performance left audience unsettled 
Compounding the poor timing of the technical difficulties were the fact that they happened not just at the start of her set, but during highly anticipated tunes.
Gaga was forced to continue using her handheld microphone into the next song, Judas, which reached number 10 on the Billboard H๏τ 100 singles chart in 2011, when it was released as part of her Born This Way album.
The hitmaker hadn’t performed the song live since 2019, and her week-one Coachella performance marked the first live version of it in six years.
The microphone issue still wasn’t fixed as she moved into the following song, 2011’s Scheiße, which was also featured on Born This Way.
Luckily, she had several dance breaks built in that freed her up to use both arms without worrying about the clunky microphone.
The energy suddenly plummeted as the singer’s headset microphone began to crackle ominously before dropping out on and off for long periods. Luckily, she had a handheld microphone handy
She proved she was a pro by continuing to sing and perform her choreography, even if only the backing vocals were making it through to audience members
However, the microphone issues still weren’t fixed, and they continued to mar Judas and Scheiße. Both rare songs were revived last week for the first time since 2019
Gaga’s sound issues appeared to have been cleared up by the time she got around to the fifth song of the night, Mayhem’s Garden Of Eden, which had its live debut on the first weekend of Coachella
Gaga’s sound issues appeared to have been cleared up by the time she got around to the fifth song of the night, Mayhem’s Garden Of Eden, which had its live debut on the first weekend of Coachella.
Fans quickly jumped to social media to share their thoughts over the mishap, with one penning on Reddit: ‘oh someone’s getting fired!!! her mic is not properly working!!!’
Read More Lady Gaga’s ‘unsettling’ Coachella performance with ‘satanic rituals’ has fans saying the same thing 
Another questioned, ‘Did you hear someone say I got a new headset? Lol,’ and one answered, ‘I heard “MUTE THE MAIN HEADSET!”‘
‘Handled it like the pro that she is but omg my jaw hit the floor when it cut out,’ a fan applauded the songstress.
One commented, ‘SHOWS THAT HER MIC IS ON!!!’ and another typed out, ‘She’s got a hand held now but it really ruined the intro.’
‘i felt SO sad for gaga if this was gonna happen, it would be better in middle of the show, not in the beginning,’ a social media user added.
The week before, Lady Gaga brought a fan to tears during her first go at her headlining set.
Serena Foster was able to hand the singer a black bouquet of fake flowers when Gaga came up to the crowd control rail during the concert
The headline slot had already left fans feeling ‘unsettled’ as Gaga took to the stage for a jaw-dropping performance at the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival in Indio, California, with some fans likening the visuals to a ‘satanic ritual’.
Fans quickly jumped to social media to share their thoughts over the mishap, with one penning on Reddit: ‘oh someone’s getting fired!!! her mic is not properly working!!!’
Another questioned, ‘Did you hear someone say I got a new headset? Lol,’ and one answered, ‘I heard “MUTE THE MAIN HEADSET!”‘
‘Handled it like the pro that she is but omg my jaw hit the floor when it cut out,’ a fan applauded the songstress
Lady Gaga brought a fan to tears with a touching message after the two shared a priceless moment during the pop star’s week-one Coachella set
In an emotional TikTok video taken after she left the festival, Serena explained that she actually brought two bouquets and initially planned to ‘give her both, but I just handed her one, so now I have matching flowers.’
She began to cry as she recalled that ‘It’s been my dream since I was 14 years old to give Gaga something that she would take from me. I know that’s crazy, but it’s always been a dream, and literally tonight, Gaga, you took my flowers from my hand and I’ve had dreams of that since I was like 14, 15 years old.’
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Overcome with emotion, Serena said: ‘So thank you tonight for taking my flowers and looking me in the eye and you even whispered: “Thank you.” And I just love you so much and you put on such an amazing show in the desert.’
As the post went viral on TikTok, Serena’s heartfelt message managed to catch the attention of none other than Gaga herself – who left a moving comment.
‘Now we are connected forever,’ Gaga wrote: ‘and I said to [fiancé] Michael [Polansky]–can you believe a fan handed me a bouquet of black flowers–as if you knew the whole show before we even did it.’
Gaga, whose opera-themed Coachella set was filled with goth imagery, gushed: ‘It was perfect! I love you! Thank you for this beautiful gift.’
Serena ecstatically replied: ‘Not me actually crying the happiest tears of my LIFE. I love you Gaga and YES, intuition told me to bring them to the show tonight – that the black flowers would make an impact. You are so welcome’.
It’s the second time the pop star has headlined the annual music event, with her first being in 2017, but this time around she pulled out all the stops.
The Paparazzi hitmaker ensured it would be a performance fans would never forget, opening her set with track Bloody Mary, in which she donned a showstopping red dress and stood in front of a gothic-style backdrop complete with gargoyles and angels – with some fans likening the visuals to a ‘satanic ritual’.
Serena Foster was able to hand the singer a black bouquet of fake flowers when Gaga came up to the crowd control rail during the concert
In an emotional TikTok video taken after she left the festival, Serena explained that she actually brought two bouquets and initially planned to ‘give her both’
As the post went viral on TikTok, Serena’s heartfelt message managed to catch the attention of none other than Gaga herself – who left a moving comment
It’s the second time the pop star has headlined the annual music event, with her first being in 2017, but this time around she pulled out all the stops
The set, which was split into four acts and described as an ‘opera house in the desert’ by the singer, then saw Gaga launch into songs including Abracadabra, Judas and Scheiße.
At one point, the stage turned into a giant chess board for the song Poker Face, with Gaga and her dancers performing a choreographed dance battle between two groups, with the star emerging victorious.
Amid the stunning visuals, striking sets, numerous costume changes and of course her killer vocals, it left fans all saying the same thing – that it was ‘the best Coachella performance of all time’.
Taking to X, formerly known as Twitter, in the wake of her show, music lovers were quick to share their praise and admiration for Lady Gaga’s set.
They penned: ‘oh lady gaga easily one of the best headliners in coachella history
‘I have no words. All I can say is this Lady Gaga set might be the greatest coachella set of all time.’
‘Lady Gaga absolutely devoured her opening to Coachella with Bloody Mary, Abracadabra, Judas & Scheiße this was more amazing then anything We could imagined’
‘lady gaga… you might have just taken that #1 spot for best coachella performance of all time.’
‘Satanic rituals, fighting doppelgangers, chess queen dance battles, zombies, unsettling crutch walks… It’s a Lady Gaga opera at Coachella. Our girl is back.’
‘lady gaga best coachella performance in HISTORY in my opinion so everyone else go home, coachella is cancelled.’
‘Lady Gaga’s Coachella set genuinely left me speechless. The creativity, the vocals, the storytelling, the visuals… Insane. One of the greatest performances of her career, and that’s saying a lot.’
The Paparazzi hitmaker ensured it would be a performance fans would never forget, opening with Bloody Mary, in which she donned a red dress and sang in front of a gothic backdrop
The set, which was split into four acts and described as an ‘opera house in the desert’ by the singer, then saw Gaga launch into songs including Abracadabra, Judas and Scheiße
Amid the stunning visuals, striking sets, numerous costume changes and her killer vocals, it left fans all saying the same thing – that it was ‘the best Coachella performance of all time’
Taking to X, formerly known as Twitter, in the wake of her show, music lovers were quick to share their praise and admiration for Lady Gaga’s set
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Ahead of her Coachella performance, Lady Gaga expressed her excitement as she geared up to take to the stage.
She told the New York Times last month: ‘I’m getting ready for Coachella, and I’m so, so excited, but I’ve definitely lost sleep a whole bunch of nights, and it’s because I want to do a great job.
‘If there’s a time and a date where you can make the public smile, from 11 p.m. to 1 in the morning on this day, I want to make it happen.’
In March, the Bad Romance songstress announced 2025 tour dates across the UK, North America and Europe, playing on iconic stages such as London’s O2 Arena and Madison Square Garden in New York.
Tickets for the long-awaited tour go on sale Thursday, April 17.
Ahead of her Coachella performance, Lady Gaga expressed her excitement as she geared up to take to the stage (pictured in August 2023)
And it was recently announced that the Poker Face hitmaker is bringing her Mayhem Ball Tour to Australia at the end of the year to support her latest album, Mayhem.
Gaga will play Melbourne’s Marvel Stadium on December 5, Brisbane’s Suncorp Stadium on December 9 and Sydney’s Accor Stadium on December 12.
The tour marks eleven years since she performed in Australia on her ArtRave: The Artpop Ball tour in 2014.
It will also be Lady Gaga’s first-ever leg of stadium shows Down Under.
