Well, Dallas folks, it's the end. We've finally made it to the end of the road. Shame on all of you that went to her damn concert. Fans, she sucks live, doesn't she? That pic was taken at her concert last night. Their caption- "Britney goes "Crazy." My caption- "Britney is/was/has been Crazy." Anyway, here's the article in the Overnight section reviewing her concert, along with another picture.
_____If flash and fanfare were the only benchmarks, then the performance by blond teen-pop princess Britney Spears on Wednesday at Smirnoff Music Centre was absolutely A-OK, right-on, perfect.
_____Flash and fanfare were plenty enough for the full house of young girls and their parents (mostly mothers, though some dads paid their dues). Fireworks! Dancers! Costumes! This felt like Las Vegas, Broadway, and Mickey Mouse all rolled into one. It may not have been spontaneous and it may not have had much authenticity, but it was definitely a show-biz blowout.
_____Outrageous openings are an essential for those teen shows, and Ms. Spears did not disappoint: She "landed" onstage in a large shiny metal ball that rose from behind the stage and dropped her off front and center. Large glassine balls suspended on string floated in the background.
_____And then the it was off to the races for Ms. Spears, wearing a silver vinyl Mad-Max-on-Mars getup over jeans and a midriff top and her troupe of dancers. They stepped lively and precise in a military Janet Jackson kind-of-way (right down to Ms. Spears on her knees, banging her fists on the ground) through "(You Drive Me) Crazy" from her '99 debut, …Baby One More Time.
_____Off came the silver vinyl, on went the pink cowboy hat, and suddenly Ms. Spears was up on a platform, swinging teasingly around the same kind of shiny silver pole favored by exotic dancers. Her shimmies and squats were just suggestive enough to make plenty of those teenage girls in the crowd gape at each other, their eyes wide. It's an odd kind of lesson Ms. Spears seemed to be teaching during this rendition of "What U See (Is What U Get)" one of the many songs she performed from her current multimillion-selling album, Oops!…I Did It Again.
_____Suggestive was followed quickly by sweet, as the set was transformed into a girl's bedroom with oversized stuffed animals and Ms. Spears jumping playfully on the bed as she sang her new single "Lucky." What girl wouldn't go home and re-create that moment?
_____Each number had some kind of shtick - a salsa her, massive squirt guns and beach balls there - as if the simple singing of a song was not sufficient. Ms. Spears insists she sings during these athletic performances, and perhaps she is humming along to that backing track. But the backing track seemed to be the thing the audience was hearing. The difference was quite marked on those rare occasions when she spoke into the microphone between numbers. How could that heaving, raspy voice suddenly transform itself into the lush vocals that resonated during each song?
_____The few skeptics in the house got their payday during what appeared to be the show's only spontaneous moment, during a cover of Sonny and Cher's "The Beat Goes On," in the classic nightmare scenario for the artist who relies on DAT tapes during a performance. Her lush vocals, as well as the entire musical track, suddenly cut out. She continued to gesture convincingly, but the only thing that could be heard was the low-decibel grind generated by the bassist, keyboardist, and drummer onstage.
_____Did this appear to bother the audience? Nope. Hey, she was wearing a dress with a multi-colored "train" that extended across the entire front of the stage. When the lights went out, the fanfare carried on.
