There were no meat dresses, no Jeff Koons sculptures, no arrivals in giant eggs. Though Gaga did make a very New York entrance, arriving at the side entrance of the venue in a rose-adorned checkered cab (in a see-through bodysuit with strategically placed roses, nonetheless) to a crowd of fans singing "Happy Birthday." And there was definitely no vomiting. At least not on stage.

Instead it was a throwback to what so many of us could only imagine it was like to see Gaga before she was Mother Monster. When she was still Stefani Germanotta working on her act downtown at those Lower East Side piano bars where she used to play in her early days.

Earlier this week, Gaga had said she wanted the show to be a tribute to the venue that has hosted Hillary Clinton's 53rd birthday party with a performance from Cher, Fiona Apple's infamous 2000 "breakdown" and a 2009 Franz Ferdinand show, in which Gaga broke her nose in the mosh pit. But more importantly she wanted these seven concerts to be a tribute o the city where she was born and raised.