The singer performs with a “vomit painter” and roasts herself on a spit during the concert at a barbecue restaurant.

Image: The singer was basted by her dancers during the act

Lady Gaga has been left covered in vomit during a performance at the South By Southwest (SXSW) festival.

The controversial singer, whose last album ARTPOP saw poor sales figures, began her appearance in Austin, Texas, by roasting herself on a spit like a pig.

Her dancers appeared to baste her with barbecue brushes while she sang the song Swine.

The set at Stubbs BBQ restaurant also featured a woman eating barbecued sausages in a provocative manner.

Soon after completing the smoked meats portion of her hour-long show, Gaga, dressed in black underwear with long blonde dreadlocks, invited her friend Millie Brown on stage to assist.

Image: Gaga tweeted this photo of her with a fake pig backstage. Pic: @ladygaga

Brown, a “vomit painter”, proceeded to drink a full bottle of neon green liquid before forcing herself to throw up on the singer as she played the drums.

The concert was held to benefit her Born This Way Foundation, and between the provocative behaviour Gaga took time to thank her fans.

“I love my fans because they always let me be myself and they don’t care what anybody says,” she told the crowd.

A little while later she set up her sombre song Dope with a self-reflective moment.

“It’s so much easier to be yourself than it is to be somebody else,” she told the crowd as she played melancholy notes on the piano.

“Because then you have to pretend to be someone else and like things that you don’t like and do stuff that you don’t want to do.”

SXSW is a week-long music, technology and film festival which has attracted many stars including Lena Dunham and Kanye West.

The event has been marred this year by the death of two people who were killed by a car involved in a police chase early on Thursday morning.