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Walden: Lady Gaga’s first show in Utah, nine years ago, was quite different than this Thursday’s concert will be

Concert preview • Now one of the biggest pop stars in the world, the singer was not quite a ubiquitous force back in 2008.

In this Feb. 12, 2017 file photo, Lady Gaga performs "Moth Into Flame" at the 59th annual Grammy Awards in Los Angeles.(Photo by Matt Sayles/Invision/AP, File)

Back on Nov. 15, 2008, my wife, Katie, and her BFF Michelle went to what was then the E Center of West Valley City (and what is now the Maverik Center) to see the reunited New Kids on the Block in concert. Considering this was the first time they’d seen them since Sept. 1, 1990, as 11-year-olds, at the height of NKOTB-mania, they could not have been more excited.

It turned out to be quite the memorable evening.

For one thing, their seats were near a portal where NKOTB were gathering midshow, ready to hit their secondary stage. Upon seeing the guys, the girls went apes---, started screaming and were handed a slightly used water bottle by no less than Donnie Wahlberg, of which they now share joint custody.

The other big takeaway from the evening was how impressed they both were with the opener, who was some new singer they’d never heard of but who apparently blew the crowd away with a theatrical, bombastic, pop-savvy performance out of place for an opening act.

This being back when digital music was still not quite everywhere, and when Walmarts were still open 24 hours a day, Katie insisted we make a late-night trip to the retailer to pick up the woman’s debut CD.

“You’re not talking about Natasha Bedingfield, are you?” I asked. “I thought she was the opener. And you know her. And don’t like her.”

“Natasha Bedingfield opened for New Kids,” Katie explained, “but this woman was opening for her. She was the opener for the opener.”

“What’s her name?”

Lady Gaga.”

(Evan Agostini | Invision/AP file photo) Singer Lady Gaga performs at Z100 Jingle Ball 2008 at Madison Square Garden on Friday, Dec. 12, 2008 in New York.

It’s crazy to think about now, considering that tour was probably the last time Gaga ever was — or ever will be — the opener for the opener. Seriously, think about that lineup: Lady Gaga opening for Natasha Bedingfield opening for New Kids on the Block. It’s enough to make your brain hurt.

Anyway, Gaga will be back in Utah this Thursday, playing at Salt Lake City’s Vivint Smart Home Arena in one of the final shows on the North American leg of her “Joanne” world tour.

She won’t be opening for anyone.

Yes, I recognize, everyone starts somewhere, but it’s still disconcerting to think that one of the most famous pop singers in the world, the woman who brought us “Poker Face” and “Just Dance” and “Bad Romance” and “Telephone” and “Born This Way” and “Applause” and now “Million Reasons,” the woman who performed at the highest-rated Super Bowl halftime show ever, the woman who made a meat dress a pop-culture phenomenon, the woman now such a ubiquitous star that she’s transitioning to TV (“American Horror Story”) and movies (“A Star Is Born”) in her spare time, the woman who’s won six Grammys and 13 MTV video awards, and the woman who’s the only artist to have two songs with more than 7 million downloads was once the opener for the opener for a reunited boy band that peaked in the early ’90s.

Inconceivable.

Really, the only way — the only way — she could get any bigger in anyone’s mind at this point is if she gave a couple of certain west-side women her slightly used water bottle at a concert.

Lady Gaga<br>When • Thursday, 7:30 p.m.<br>Where • Vivint Smart Home Arena, 301 W. South Temple, Salt Lake City<br>Tickets • $46-$226; Ticketmaster