Lady Gaga denied permit to perform on Doritos stage at SXSW

Bad news for the Little Monsters hoping to catch Lady Gaga at South by Southwest: Don Pitts, the manager of the City of Austin Music & Entertainment division (the office that issues permits for all official an unofficial SXSW events), confirmed that Mother Monster's application to play the Doritos Stage at SXSW was denied.

According to Austin 360, Doritos has built a giant vending machine in the parking lot of Carmelo's Italian Restaurant in Downtown Austin for the last two years. The 2013 lineup included L.L. Cool J, Ice Cube and Public Enemy. The vending machine was set to return this year but the city believed that Lady Gaga was too big of an artist for the city to sustain the crowds she might draw to the event.

"Our conclusion was based primarily on public safety concerns," Pitts told them. "As part of the review process the applicant provides a talent list to the city team (AFD, APD, ATCEMS and Office of Special Events) to review and we can adjust public resources as needed. We look at the size and capacity of the location covered by the permit being sought and how it fits with the anticipated attendance, based on event capacity and promotion. At the end of the day, it's a parking lot."

They have alerted Gaga's camp saying they support the show relocating to an established venue with the necessary permanent infrastructure.

As Austin 360 notes, Lady Gaga has been rumored as a possible keynote speaker with the music conference is less than two weeks away and no other keynote speaker has been announced. Although she doesn't have as many years in the business as former keynote speaker Bruce Springsteen, the article notes that Gaga does make up for it with a rabid fan base and a tireless career campaigning for gay rights. She also is coming off her recently 2013 release, ARTPOP and might be looking for the exposure SXSW could give her.

We will update you as more information becomes available concerning a relocation of Gaga's performance and whether she will be the conference's keynote speaker. What do you think? Let us know in the comments section below!

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Lady Gaga, SXSW