Tel Aviv gears up for Gaga
Police urge drivers to avoid roads leading to Yarkon Park as over 20,000 expected to see pop diva perform
The city of Tel Aviv was gearing up for Lady Gaga Saturday evening, with police closing off roads that lead to Yarkon Park where over 20,000 fans are expected to see her perform.
Ahead of the 20:30pm show, police were asking drivers not to exit at Rokach Boulevard and to avoid the Ayalon Highway heading north altogether, urging them to use Roads 6 and 4.
Show-goers were also urged to park at Reading, Sportek and the parking lots of Tel Aviv University and then use public transportation to access the park.
“I am so excited for tonights performance, so many feelings. I can feel the energy of the crowd already. Love and Happiness #artRAVETelAviv,” the singer tweeted ahead of the performance.
The Grammy-winning pop diva arrived from Dubai on Friday, making her way to the exclusive Ritz Carlton Hotel in Herzliya.
The singer promptly posted a few choice pictures to her instagram account, telling Israelis to “get ready to #PutYourHandsUp.”
Details of the pop diva’s flight route, as well as a sneak peek at the spectacular stage and entourage that are accompanying her on her latest world tour, were released on Tuesday.
Gaga, a bonafide international superstar whose current tour of the globe is dubbed “ArtRave: The ArtPop Ball,” arrived in Israel on a private plane that was doing what no commercial airliner can do — fly directly from the UAE into Israel. Accompanying her on the flight was a team of more than 100 staff, stagehands and performers who will all help launch her Saturday night show, promised by producer Udi Appleboim to be one of the biggest and most spectacle-packed performances the Jewish state has ever seen.
Lady Gaga booked the presidential suite at the Ritz Carlton Herzliya for her stay in Israel, just as her buddy Justin Timberlake did during his time here earlier this year.
More than 23,000 tickets were sold for the show, which producers worried might have to be canceled in light of Operation Protective Edge — Lana Del Rey, Neil Young and the Backstreet Boys were among the major musical acts who had their Tel Aviv shows nixed this summer as fighting with Hamas in Gaza continued, with thousands of rockets fired into Israel. Security authorities ruled out large gatherings because of the rocket threat during the 50-day conflict.
But as the ceasefire with Hamas held, Gaga indicated her show was definitely on, with the singer releasing a short video clip last week in which she said “Shalom” to her Israeli fans and talked about how excited she was to perform here.
