It was a sea of painted faces, leather jackets and blue hair as CultureMap pulled up to the Toyota Center Thursday to experience life in the Lady Gaga tent city. Later, a plane flew overhead, apparently showing opposition to the pop superstar's ultra vocal support of gay rights.
The airplane banner — tweeted about by Gaga fans — reportedly read "NOT Born This Way" a play off of Gaga's song celebrating acceptance titled "Born This Way." Most Gaga fans were in a joyful mood however.
While the most diehard of diehard fans camped out earlier in the week to gain access to the infamous "Monster Pit" — Gaga's VIP section next to the stage — those with general admission had been lining up since dawn Thursday for a chance to secure their spot on the floor right as the doors opened for the night show.
Though the early risers were starting to look a little sleepy during the afternoon visit, the camaraderie was palpable as complete strangers held spots for each other during food runs and bathroom breaks.
Watch the video above for a look inside Gaga fandom.
Many Lady Gaga fans camped out all night — or most of the week — in Houston.
Photo by Joel Luks
Many Lady Gaga fans camped out all night — or most of the week — in Houston.
Chef Trinidad "Machete" González is competing on Next Level Chef.
A Houston chef is showcasing his skills on Season 5 of Next Level Chef. Trinidad Gonzalez, better known locally as Chef Machete is one of the professional chefs who will compete in cooking challenges for the opportunity to win $250,000 and professional mentorship from celebrity chef judges Gordon Ramsay, Nyesha Arrington, and Richard Blais.
This Fox show has a unique conceit. Chef teams work together in three kitchen stacked on top of each other, like a strange multi-story culinary incubator where the top floor's kitchen is pristine, with state-of-the-art equipment, the bottom floor's kitchen is decrepit, and the middle floor is an average commercial kitchen. Other twists bring added challenges.
Locally known for his Bay Area taqueria Gordo Niños, Machete is a self-taught chef who serves fusion style tacos and burritos. Available with fillings such as chicken, pastor, and beef, the chef's "secret menu" of over-the-top items such as deep-fried burritos or the "Surf N Turf Killa-Dilla," a quesadilla stuffed with shrimp, carne asada, french fries, guacamole, two kinds of cheese, and Mexican ketchup — add the chef's signature "Lean Sauce" for another $1. He's also a multi-time winner of taco competition that's part of the University of St. Thomas's popular Two Saints and a Taco fundraiser.
Machete survived the first episode, which aired on January 29, making him eligible to be drafted onto a team led by one of the judges. A new episode, which debuts this Thursday, February 5, will feature two Texas-based "social media" chefs, Tim Laielli and Christian Alquiza.
Laielli, who is based in Dripping Springs, has 1.4 million followers on Instagram and 910,000 subscribers on YouTube. He doesn't have an obvious signature style that viewers can expect him to lean on in the competition. If anything, his strength may be his willingness to try new recipes, often using his daughters' requests and cuisines around the world as a springboard (whether complying or completely ignoring them) into dishes like Thai curry, homemade McGriddles, and a lot of steaks.
Over in Austin proper, Alquiza posts videos under the punny account name @illsqueezeya. He's also worked for the channel First We Feast, where he hosts Hot Kitchen, a snappy instructional show focusing on indulgent, dramatic foods like super-hot chicken and a 10,000-calorie cheat meal.
Alquiza's personal videos follow more of the standard food show format, with the chef speaking to the camera and offering step-by-step instructions to follow along with. Even though his image is mostly wrapped up with First We Feast, Next Level Chef considers him a social media chef.
The two Austin chefs have even collaborated before. Things seem to have gone well on the show, since all three Texas chefs posed for a picture at Beyond The Lines Tattoo in Austin, with a text overlay revealing that the chefs got inked up together.
Looks like the chefs had a good time.
