As Lady Gaga is carted on stage atop a crinoline structure that resembles both a red velvet cake and a toilet roll doll cozy she states her dictum: “Dance or die”.

Mother Monster’s ruling sets into motion an operatic 150-minute show – her first in Australia since the artRAVE in August of 2014. For the entirety of the Mayhem Ball, Gaga careens between dancing and dying in what she calls her “gothic dream” – although it often reads more Halloween. Skeletons abound – no doubt a homage to the late Gaga muse Rick Genest, otherwise known as Zombie Boy. At times it’s downright Hitchcockian, Gaga a veritable Kim Novak as she switches between blond and brunette selves with each wig change.

And while ”dance or die” sounds like an offer, there is really only one choice at a Lady Gaga concert. The phrase comes from her wall-to-wall pop incantation Abracadabra – a song rife with the sort of career-defining monosyllabic babble only she could convince us to sing along to. This single in particular, the crown jewel of her latest record, Mayhem, set into motion what has been heralded as a return to form.

She’s had to fight for it. In the 11 years since she last performed in Australia, Gaga’s course as an artist has been marred by her chronic pain, which developed after she broke her hip aged 26 on stage in Montreal during the Born this Way Ball.

The song she was singing in that moment – electroclash deep-cut Scheiße, a song she sings in almost-German conlang – is performed in the thrilling first act of Gaga’s latest memento mori, alongside beloved Born This Way tracks like Bloody Mary and Judas.

In the second act, she takes it a step further, this time with crutches. Invoking Mugler’s costuming from her stellar Paparazzi music video, she once again dons chrome armour. After shuffling her way down the stage singing the familiar chorus, she discards the crutches and raises her arms to release yards of wind-swept white chiffon. It’s a moment of perverse irony and self-aggrandisement that somehow leaves the stadium breathless.

On the stage, Gaga does not look back – but it’s difficult for her fans not to. With each waver in the performer’s physical strength came a noticeably diminished verve for making pop music (anyone remember the distended House of Gucci?). In March, Gaga revealed that she suffered psychosis around the release of her last album, 2020’s Chromatica, and had lost touch with reality. More recently she told Rolling Stone that in 2017 she made A Star Is Born while taking lithium to calm her mania.

She mentions all this as a way of declaring Mayhem her dignified turning point. For those of us who love her deeply, it’s a great relief to see her having a good time again. With the Mayhem Ball she has risen to the occasion, well above the foibles of her newer material. At the piano in Marvel Stadium, she unearthed some old material too, surprising her audience by playing an unreleased demo, Brooklyn Nights – a song she hasn’t sung since she was last in Melbourne.

During the stupidly fun Garden of Eden she pointedly sings to her fans, “I’ve been feelin’ this familiar feeling, like I’ve known you my wholе life”. Between songs she expresses her surprise earlier that day at seeing them on the streets outside the venue: “You were all grown up!” The days of being a young rebel, a self-proclaimed twit and degenerate, are behind Gaga just as they are her audience.

Some things remain unchanged. Gaga is still telling us to “put your hands up” – no less than 30 times at her Melbourne show last night. She is also resolute in her stance as a flagbearer for her queer audience – the pride colours literally projected on to her chiffon cape – and she dedicated the Mayhem Ball to the community that has stood with her since the very start. She also promised her Australian fans that she wouldn’t let another 10 years lapse without showing up: “I’ll find a way. I don’t give up easily.”

Her fans are still showing up for her; wrapped in caution tape, with cans in their hair, and cigarettes glued to sunglasses. One thing’s for certain: with Gaga we’ll be dancing till we’re dead.

• Lady Gaga’s The Mayhem Ball tour continues in Melbourne 6 December, Brisbane 9 December and Sydney 12-13 December.