Lady Gaga Talks Intimate South by Southwest Show

Lady Gaga will perform at this year’s South by Southwest for the first time, appearing at the Doritos #BoldStage at Stubb’s on Thursday, March 13. Keeping in line with Doritos’ “bold” theme, fans wishing to attend must complete a “series of bold challenges issued online,” the company said in a statement. The show will be Gaga’s first at the Texas festival and will benefit the singer’s Born This Way Foundation.

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“The ARTPOP performance at SXSW will be a completely one-off set and experience,” Gaga tells Rolling Stone. “I’ve been dreaming of this moment. It’s all about the music and the connection with the crowd, and I want the audience in Austin to see me live in a way I never have before. I love theatrics, but I started out singing at a piano with a Bud Light in a bikini. Performing at Stubb’s is a real blast from my past, I can’t wait to celebrate with the audience how far music can go when we believe and stick together. It’s moments like these that I live for.”

Gaga announced how fans can win tickets to the show in a YouTube video, imploring her Little Monsters to “share a picture or video that expresses their individuality through a bold action,” using the hashtags #BoldBravery and #BoldStage and uploading it to Instagram, Twitter or Vine. Select winners will receive an all-expenses-paid trip to the singer’s show. Other “bold” missions will be provided by Doritos on-site that will allow fans entry into the show. Gaga’s performance will be streamed online at Fuse.tv and rebroadcast on Fuse on Saturday, March 29 at 10 p.m. EST. 

“There are personal brave moments when you face one person, and brave moments that help change the world, when you face many,” Gaga tells Rolling Stone. “Both are equally as important. My bravest acts have been the conceptual choices I’ve made when writing music. Whether I’m fighting for equal rights with Born This Way or fighting for creativity and art with ARTPOP, I’m always aware of the many I will face in opposition. With ARTPOP, I hope to inspire the audience at SXSW to cherish their individual talents. This simple act keeps music and art alive in a very commercial world.”

In an interview with Harpers Bazaar last month, Gaga revealed she had been suffering from depression following the release of last year’s ARTPOP. “I became very depressed at the end of 2013,” she said. “I was exhausted fighting people off. I couldn’t even feel my own heartbeat. I was angry, cynical and had this deep sadness like an anchor dragging everywhere I go. I just didn’t feel like fighting anymore. I didn’t feel like standing up for myself one more time—to one more person who lied to me.”