HEADLINER | BRITNEY SPEARS
OPENING ACT | NICKI MINAJ
VENUE | THE PALACE OF AUBURN HILLS, AUBURN HILLS, MICH.
GRADE | A
For anyone who has followed Britney Spears’ career from the Catholic school girl days, this is a very exciting time. The Princess of Pop is once again smiling.
In 2009 during The Circus Tour, Spears seemed to have a case of “time to make the donuts,” just going with the motions of the show, not really enjoying a second of it. The tour was her return to music after years of bad headlines.
But if there is anything a Britney fan has learned, it’s the importance of baby steps.
The Femme Fatale Tour, promoting her seventh album of the same name, seems to be her best work since her “Toxic” days.
It opens with a secret agent on the hunt for Britney, who returns throughout the show. Shortly after the camera pans to her to seductively whisper, “I’m not that innocent,” the crowd erupted into cheers as Britney slowly walked onstage for her first number, “Hold It Against Me.”
The show follows a story line of Britney on the run through the set list featuring most of the “Femme Fatale” album.
During “Big Fat Bass,” she jumps from one giant speaker to another with Will.i.am on the screen. For “How I Roll,” she danced on top of a pink Mini Cooper with a stripper pole in the trunk. And for “(Drop Dead) Beautiful,” R-rated images of naked men flashed across the screen while she paraded the stage.
The show was energetic from the start, and Spears showed no sign of slowing down. Wearing a sparkling pink bra and jean shorts for most of the show, the pop star, pushing 30-years-old, gave the audience motivation for a new diet plan.
And the show featured some live vocals unlike the lipsynced Circus Tour.
The most exciting parts of the show were her numbers for older hits, like performing “Don’t Let Me Be The Last To Know” in a swing or “I’m A Slave 4 U,” which featured the original choreography from the 2001 music video.
Britney is back, and anyone who doesn’t think so hasn’t yet seen the Femme Fatale Tour.
Opener Nicki Minaj did well to get the crowd ready for Britney. Her montage of original songs and some of her biggest verses (Kanye West’s “Monster,” Trey Songz’s “Bottom’s Up”) got the crowd on their feet.
She danced all over the stage in a blonde wig with Jigsaw, the well-known character from the “Saw” movies on the screen, which was never really explained.
The crowd was especially loud when she yelled into the microphone, “Where are all my girls? … Where are all my gay boys?” There weren’t very many straight boys in the Palace from the looks of it.