Saturday, October 29, 2011

Britney’s Final Finale?

Britney spears returned to the O2 with another tour – Femme Fatale – this time for only two nights – rather than the 8 nights of her mini residence in 2009 with the Circus tour…

From Britney 2011 (Thursday)
Destinee & Paris provided the opening act and their upbeat pop soon warmed up the audience on both nights under the dome.
From Britney 2011 (Friday)
The main support act was one of the Jonas Brothers – who along with his brothers had caused so much disruption by attracting an enormous crowd of teenage girls round the hotel I’d chosen last year for my stay in Sao Paulo.

Joe Jonas brought a rock element to the nights, complete with live drums and synths. I’m not entirely sure Joe on his own would have drawn the crowds he would along with his brothers – but together they’d probably have been the headliners rather then the support act… 
Britney’s show started, right on queue from the 30 minute countdown that started as Joe left the stage – unlike Jay-Z’s countdown there wasn’t a deva like last minute jump back in time…

Anyone who’d read the reviews or attended the Circus tour, who was still expecting a truly live show was in for a disappointment.. That isn’t Britney – her music is finely tuned in a studio – she didn’t learn her trade in the small venues many others do, leaping straight to the top, bypassing that experience…. What she does is produce a show to go with her albums and use her back catalogue to great effect.

In comparison to the Circus tour, this time round there appeared to be a little less budget – not even enough for a runway, really required at the O2 to bring the entertainment to the middle of what is an enormous venue. There were also fewer costume changes, and the on stage vehicle was based on a mini rather than something more elaborate…
While Britney appeared to be enjoying herself, she appeared to be less energetic than I recall her being under her Circus top two years ago. On the couple of occasions she did appear to sing live, for some of the less produced ballads it was rather faltering and not entirely up to the level you’d expect of someone headlining the O2. There are many fresh acts capable of selling many more tickets to the O2 than Britney currently is, and I wonder if this might be her last major tour for some time…

Having said that, at the end of the both nights the audience were still cheering for more - there may not have been too much, if any, live music in the traditional sense - but there had been two night of entertainment that Britney's London fans, and from further a field had totally enjoyed. The critics may not have thought much of it - but they aren't the primary audience - and by cutting back on the number of nights, there was plenty of demand from Britney's loyal fans to fill the venue with a audience willing to over look the lack of a real band or even backing singers…

No comments: