A review of Sunday's Britney Spears show at the St. Pete Times Forum by The Scenestress; cross-posted from The 941.
The ritual is about to commence. We have gathered, donned in our ceremonial garb of revealing tops with denim and high heels. We have imbibed holy spirits and taken our seats in the temple. As the lights dim, the high priestess takes the stage dressed in knee-high stiletto boots and a bright red ringmaster’s jacket.
It’s Britney, bitch. And the crowd goes wild.
Ms. Spears kicked off her set Sunday night with her hit “Circus” and the performance definitely lived up to its title. Aside from the artist herself, there are a slew of backup dancers and acrobats as well as a giant cage, flashing lights and a video screen projecting sexy images of the lady of the hour. Brit tackled hit after hit (“Piece of Me,” “Radar,” “Boys”) while looking fierce in various combinations of sparkly pants and bras and high, high heels.
Every three songs or so, we were treated to a new distraction to give Ms. Spears a breather and time for a costume change. These breaks included a martial arts-style dance performance, a music video of Brit set to Marilyn Manson’s “Sweet Dreams” (super hot), and another break showcasing each of her backup dancers breakin’ it down. These were some of the best parts of the show, and that’s saying a lot considering the stuff that Brit was about to bust into.
When she returned to the stage to perform a couple In the Zone-era tunes (“Breathe on Me” and “Touch of My Hand”), things got super steamy. Britney writhed on a settee in a bustier until two boys in bondage gear joined her and pulled her into the air for more acrobatics. The performance of the song alone was worth the price of admission. But there were more hits to come. To read more, click here.
This article appears in Mar 4-10, 2009.