Britney Spears was back with a bang as she took to the stage of the MEN Arena in Manchester last night.
Back promoting her seventh album, Femme Fatale, that very sadly has been under the radar, although it is one that has a stomping selection of dance floor tracks which easily makes it one of her best records to date. Spears put on a highly entertaining show which brought together sexiness, powerhouse hits and pyrotechnics. It proved, now more than previously, that she is a musical force, pop royalty. Evidently, that after 13 years in the industry, she’s still got it.
The theme centres around Britney as a femme fatale being tracked down by this handsome looking policeman/ secret agent guy. Did anyone really give a toss? No. But it was still nice to see that. Emerging from behind two screens whilst sitting on a silver chair, Britney made her entrance. The roar of the crowd ensued. Dressed in a white and glittery leotard, her figure was not overly toned but very feminine. She blasted us all with the lead song from her album, ‘Hold It Against Me’ determined to get a party started. And she sure did.
The great and one of the most undeniable things about Spears is that her music is awesome. She has managed to churn out hits throughout her long standing career and that’s what she is loved for. Femme Fatale was produced by the formidable Max Martin and Dr Luke, the former wrote her debut ‘Baby One More Time’. Britney has worked with fantastic songwriters and who have produce her songs, many of which she included in her 20 plus strong set , which featured ‘Piece of Me’, ‘Slave 4U’, ‘Boys’ and ‘3’.
Spears costume changes were pretty good too. All very sexy and short. She rocked her two leotards, a gold glitter underwear combination for an Egyptian inspired ‘Gimme More’ and an oriental inspired kimono for ‘Toxic’. Does it matter that she is nearly 30 and is a mother of two small children? Of course it doesn’t. She’s one hot mama.
It seemed that she lipsynced most of the set although it the vocals sounded pretty live, maybe with a bit of enhancement, a definite live performance was ‘Don’t Let Me Be The Last To Know’ which she sang while suspended on a swing, whilst an acrobat was doing a routine below her. In honesty, it was hard to tell. Britney’s dance moves looked a little laboured and half arsed but even that didn’t really seem to make much of a difference. With everybody constantly trying to compare with her young and innocent 20 something self, before her public breakdown, it is easy to come with criticism. But, the fact is, that she has changed and it is something that the world must learn to accept.
The best thing about the whole show was to see how genuinely happy Britney was. She shouted out to the audience numerous times, brought her fans on stage and even gave a lucky guy a saucy lap dance. She finished with ‘Til The World Ends’ and as she left the stage, the whole arena was up in raptures. And rightly so, after all: It’s Britney, bitch!
