Lady Gaga Crashes U2-Hosted Birthday Party for Gavin Friday

Oh hey! So remember how all of these singers and non-singers were assembling over the weekend as part of a big-deal happy birthday to the Virgin Prunes' Gavin Friday? All that revelry went down last night at Carnegie Hall, and even from the nosebleeds, one couldn't help but admire the bombshell demeanor of ScarJo or the delightfully sloppy all-over-the-placeness of Courtney Love (who, by the by, had three costume changes). Sure, even piss-drunk Shane McGowan, who got up to scream into the microphone and kick the air with unparalleled vigor and vim, brought a little something special to the night. But then, excellent things worth writing home happened, things that were only ambiguously classed under "with Special Guests" on the event programs.

The night’s first surprise came as Rufus Wainwright, ScarJo, and Friday approached the last few bars of their tune. A dark silhouette menacingly wandered on stage and introduced himself as Prince. We all believed him for a hot moment. But then he vaguely waxed narcissistic before exiting stage left and it became all too clear who the man beneath that purple suit was.

Fred Armisen’s assumed cameo portended a sign of brilliant things to come. Bono appeared onstage and offered up a party platter of superlatives to introduce Lady Gaga, who probably split the same cab with ScarJo and Armisen to Carnegie Hall, after lighting up the stage on SNL the night before.

Sure, Gaga’s ties to Irish goth rock may be tenuous at best, but she appeared luminous nonetheless. She reworked “Poker Face” into an homage about redheads, singing about how she only “plays with a half-deck” and doesn’t bother with the clubs or spades. That highlight, among others here, with obviously obligatory German commentary. Shaky bootleg video of the entire gang (unfortunately sans Gaga, the Wainwrights, or Antony) singing the night’s last tune, below.