Lady GaGa TO Headline Tour

After opening stints for pals like New Kids on the Block and the Pussycat Dolls and a No. 1 single of her own (“Just Dance”), Lady GaGa is ready to show what she can do as a headliner.

“I am so mental and sleepless and excited for this tour,” the Los Angeles-based singer tells Billboard.com about the 23-date Fame Ball Tour, which kicks off March 12 at the San Diego House of Blues and wraps April 11 at the Palm Springs Convention Center.

“This is so different than anything you’ve seen from me in the past year. What’s fantastic about (the show) was I was able to plan it while I was on another tour that was on a much smaller scale, opening for the Dolls. This is going to be, like, the ultimate creative orgasm for me ’cause I’m ready to move on. I’m not restricted to a certain structure for my show anymore. No limitations. I’m free.”

GaGa says she’s still “looking at sketches that are sprawled out all over my kitchen table” for staging ideas, and she’s particularly happy that “I get the ability to design things and use props and stage design technology that I’ve been unable to use before. And I get to orchestrate my music in a different way.”

GaGa is also preparing three versions of the show, tailored to the different sizes of venues she’s playing. “I want to have a clear schedule of the dimensions for each venue so that we can properly execute all the technology and visuals,” she says. “I need to mentally prepare days in advance if things are going to be taken out; otherwise, I won’t have a good show.” But, she quickly adds, “Every show’s gonna be an A show by the time I’m done screaming at everyone — ‘Hang it! Hang everything! Find a place to hang it!’ That’s gonna be my motto.”

The repertoire will of course draw heavily from her 2008 debut album “The Fame,” which is approaching gold certification in the U.S. (and is double platinum in Canada and Australia). “Fashion,” an older song that appears on the soundtrack to “Confessions of a Shopaholic,” is also in consideration, and GaGa hints that “there might be something new” from her most recent spate of songwriting.

“I’m writing now while I’ve got two records (‘Just Dance’ and ‘Poker Face’) in the Top 10,” she says. “It’s good for my creativity…and I also think it’s not smart to wait until the world is hovered with breath that is baited and you feel the pressure. I’d rather just write…while I’m only a couple singles deep into my album and still feeling creative.”

Visit FusionRadio For More News