Minions of Gaga. Now hear this...

If you were gob-stopped by the spectacle of seeing Lady Gaga in all her... gaga-ness when "The Monster Ball" tour touched down for a two-night stay at the Toyota Center last July, then Friday's return performance at the same venue should leave you absolutely catatonic.

Or feeling a sense of deja vu.

For your viewing enjoyment, pop's reigning queen is bringing almost the exact same show back to Houston for a belated encore after a mere eight month pause.

That's right. Less than three years into repainting the "sexy, singing, dancing boy toy" landscape and Gaga is already in reruns. I will, however, give Ms. "Poker Face" the benefit of the doubt on why it's the same show-different year.

Since her last visit to Houston, which featured her planned performances and a host of sighting to eat (Spanish Flowers), drink (The Dirt bar) and be merry (poolside at the St. Regis Hotel) , Gaga has been touring nearly non-stop. What little time she did take off earlier this year was, no doubt, spent putting the finishing panache and sexy tension on her new album, Born This Way (currently scheduled for release on May 23), as well as figuring how to creep out the Grammy audience by arriving on the red carpet in a "birthing" pod.

Still it would have been nice to hear a selection of new tracks from Born This Way live so close to the release date. But then again, in this age of immediate digital music gratificationand high-tech microscopic recording equipment small enough to be hidden like a suppository, it's too risky. Gaga would be a fool to showcase her unreleased work in Houston on Friday night so it could be stolen out of the Wi-Fi air and downloaded by million on Saturday morning.

(And damn you, villainous digital pirates, who have forced artists to protect new works from the masses like paranoid politicians instead of enthusiastically sharing them with the masses upon creation. You have forced me to take Gaga's side on this issue as the one that better serves truth, honesty and the greater good. Do you know how twisted that is?)

It does seem that Lady Gaga's current hit/new album title track, "Born This Way," will be making it's live Houston debut.

(That is, if you don't count the last time Madonna was in town singing "Express Yourself." Is it just me or does "Born This Way" bear more than a passing resemblance to that song? Somebody might need a copyright infringement defense lawyer soon less she gest the meat dress sued right off of her.)

Besides that setlist tweak, fans can re-immerse themselves in the gritty urban music choreography of "Just Dance," Gaga's leather dominatrix outfit and mask for "Money Honey" and a dance club finale of "Poker Face" "Paparazzi" and "Bad Romance."

Or you can just read my review of Gaga's concert last year, flip on the recording of "Born This Way" that you stole off the internet, and save that ticket money to buy her new album next month.

Awww... who we kiddin? You're stealing that off the Internet too.

"Don't be a drag. Just be a queen." - Gaga

Lady Gaga, Friday8 p.m. at Toyota Center

Tickets: $49.50 - $175