The Sheffield Scenester

With “buy one, get one free” deals available online, reduced ticket prices, and an alleged selling point being that Britney was intending on actually singing on the Femme Fatale tour – having lip-synced her way through most of the last Circus tour – the lines of people waiting outside the arena before the show were justified in being unsure as to whether or not they would get their monies worth. Even the most dedicated of fans seemed hard-pressed to conger up some excitement before the doors opened. Never the less, they all rushed into the venue to take their spot as close to the stage as they could possibly get, then patiently awaited the appearance of opening act, Destinee and Paris.

Perhaps setting the tone for the show, teenage sisters Destinee and Paris sang along to backing tracks and worked their way through a series of dance routines. Very little in the way of a stage production and not much at all to keep the audiences’ attention. There was an impressive rendition of the Gnarls Barkley song, ‘Crazy’, which Destinee played on piano. However, that was the only note-worthy track in what was quite an unforgettable set.

With the audience having paid close to £60 per ticket, it was clear that many others had decided that the price was unacceptably high and so there was still a lot of standing room. The back and top sections of the seated areas were also curtained off. As a regular concert-goer and as someone who does like to make sure they can justify the ticket price, I think it’s a positive thing that people vote with their feet and choose not to pay what appear to be ever-increasing ticket prices. Perhaps reduced attendances will have promoters thinking twice because it is clear that the inflation doesn’t go unnoticed when people are looking for ways to make the most of their money.

A thirty minute countdown on the screens either side of the stage did just enough to generate excitement from the audience as it finally ticked down to signal the start of the show. With Britney entering the area through sliding doors high above the stage, there was a sense that maybe we were about to witness a spectacle of a pop show. In truth, that never quite happened.

Opening with ‘Hold it Against Me’, ‘Up n Down’ and ‘3’, the set instantly seemed disjointed, with the emphasis being on the dance routines and cages which were used as stage props during this first section. With Britney held inside the cages by dancers dressed as police officers, it looked interesting, but none of it made sense. The video screens across the back of the stage only served to increase the confusion; images of a crazed stalker who was seemingly tracking Britney’s every move with a series of spy cameras. That didn’t really make sense either and so any drama the images might have been intending to create inadvertently caused people to shrug their shoulders and impatiently await the next song. The videos continued at various points throughout the show, with Britney eventually taking the life of this supposed bad guy. By the final sequence, the crowd seemed bored of the entire concept.

Back to the songs and ‘Piece of Me’ was noticeably energetic and one of the highlights of the show, although that was more to do with the tempo of the music than anything else. It’s difficult to say whether or not Britney sang the songs well because it was difficult to tell whether she was singing at all. By the same token, there’s no praise to be given to the musicianship of the band, owing to the fact that there wasn’t one! Aside from two keyboard players who offered various electronic musical parts with the aid of laptops, everything was provided by backing track. Given that there had been reports confirming that Britney would sing, the fact that it was hard to tell if this was the case only led me to assume that she has practiced her lip-syncing since she was caught out last time around.

‘How I Roll’ was performed with Britney and several dancers strutting their stuff atop a big pink car, followed by a male member of the audience being treated to a lap dance by Britney and company as the car left the stage. Once again, it just seemed like something was missing. There was no real connection with the audience and it was difficult to really escape in the visuals of the show. The most elaborate of the visuals should have been the Egyptian-themed costumes and props during ‘Gimme More’ but, once again, the routines were focused towards the back of the stage and it lost all impact.

‘Don’t Let Me Be the Last to Know’ was performed by Britney alone as she was suspended above the stage on a swing. This was the one moment I believe she did actually sing unaided, owing to the fact that she appeared to savour the moment and the applause at the end, with a big smile across her face and a visible sigh of relief. Credit where it is due, it’s not all that long ago since Britney suffered a very public breakdown, with many people writing her off and claiming that she wouldn’t perform again. The Circus tour certainly backfired to a degree and it’s clear that Britney doubted herself and her abilities. Her strength to about-turn and give a confident performance with enthusiastic dance routines is, in my opinion, to be admired. Not only that, there is no denying Britney’s contribution to music and her continuing relevance today. A nod towards those who have perhaps followed in Britney’s footsteps came in the shape of a cover version of Rihanna’s ‘S&M’. Again, I think it is only fair to credit Britney with spawning a new generation of extremely successful female pop and RnB acts who have shaped the face of popular culture over the last ten years.

A slow-paced interpretation of ‘...Baby One More Time’ will have surely caught most of the audience off guard as all elements of the music in the original version were swapped for down-tempo acoustic parts. This was the only real hit featured in the set from that earlier period of Britney’s career, with ‘Oops! I Did it Again’ a noticeable absentee, the intention perhaps to move away from the earliest hits and stay as current as possible by playing to the strengths of more recent tracks such as ‘I’m a Slave 4 U’ and ‘Womanizer’.

An encore of ‘Toxic’ and ‘Till the World Ends’, with Britney suspended high on a platform and sporting huge angel wings, was an enjoyable end to the show.

Overall, for every effort Britney made, it seemed like the dancers were lacking creativity; for every opportunity she could have taken to sing, Britney was backed by a track and offered a safety net with a multitude of vocal effects; for all the props, none were used to their full potential; for all the effort put into the video production, it bordered on pointless. Taking these things into account, it was hard to justify the ticket price and see where that money went, especially when you consider that Katy Perry recently completed a sold-out UK tour with first-class production, full of all sorts of theatrics and fun for half the price. As such, it wasn’t hard to see why Britney struggled to sell tickets and prove herself to be competition in a game she essentially started several years ago. Perhaps the powers that be behind the Femme Fatale tour need to take a look at the bigger picture because it’s obvious to casual observers where things are going wrong on the performance front for the once untouchable Britney Spears.

Words & Photos by Paul Handley