Lady Gaga has announced the first run of dates for her Born This Way Ball world tour. The itinerary will kick off with a run of shows in Southeast Asia and Australia before heading off to Europe, Latin America and North America by the end of 2013. (Gaga is not expected to play arenas in the United States until next year.) The first gig of the tour will take place at the Olympic Stadium in Seoul, South Korea on April 27th.

Gaga teased the look of her tour yesterday by sharing an image of the stage setup with her fans on Twitter. The stage includes a castle along with an enclosed runway through the audience, which resembles the stage plan for U2's Elevation and Vertigo tours. According to Gaga, the enclosed area will be called the Monster Pit and will be reserved for fans with general admission tickets who "waited all night" and are "dressed to Ball."

Gaga's previous tour, the Monster Ball, ran from 2010 into 2011 and grossed $188 million over the course of 167 shows.

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