SPEARS' CIRCUS ACT ALIENATES CROWD

Britney Spears, GM Place, April 8.

Waking up on Thursday morning, 27-year-old Britney Spears must have
been astonished at the headlines. The overnight reviews of Spears'
performance at GM Place focused on a technical glitch rather than the
show itself. And for good reason - three songs in she left the stage
for what audience members thought might be the first costume change
of the evening.

After 15 minutes spent, literally, in the dark, a stadium employee
came over the loudspeaker and announced that Ms. Spears and her crew
were uncomfortable with the current working conditions and that the
show would continue once the "air cleared" and B.C. Bud-loving
Vancouverites lowered their spliffs.

Once Spears re-emerged there was nothing she could do to revive the
unimpressed crowd. As she worked her way through the rest of the show
she must have felt the energy slow down. At just shy of 9:30 p.m.,
she spoke for the first time, "What's up Vancouver? How y'all feelin'
out there?" The crowd responded with a droning squeal to which Spears
responded in a canned tone right back: "I bet you are." Either
delusional about the reasoning for the lacklustre response or
pretending the crowd were into it, Spears just kept going as if the
show was a seamless production.

During the final stretch of the evening Spears broke out her biggest
numbers in hopes of closing the show on a high note. During Toxic,
Spears, in sequins and sparkles, grinded with the dancers. On Baby
One More Time, she used no tricks, just a hit song to bring the
semi-excited crowd to their feet for her closer Womanizer. Wearing a
naughty cop outfit for the finale, Spears evoked the song's video,
danced with billy clubs, surrounded by sparkly rain while cannons
doused the crowd in coloured confetti. And like the media whirlwind
that brought her in, she was out in a flash, warning the crowd as she
left, "Drive safe, don't smoke weed!"