The Circus tour at the Staples Center, Los Angeles, CA

The reigning queen of pop, Ms. Britney Spears, was in California Friday night to give the good people of Los Angeles a taste of her much anticipated Circus tour. Complete with opening act, The Pussycat Dolls, Spears pulled out all the stops for this tour, including acrobatic performers, and contortionists in her two-hour show.
After a short opening set by The Pussycat Dolls, packed with hit singles like “Buttons” and the most recent “Stick Witchu”, and a brief intermission, the 3-ring freak show began. Contortionists wriggled around on stage, jugglers defied gravity, and one girl twirled 12 hoola-hoops around her body at one time. The spectacle took up about 20 minutes, and then finally the opening beat of the tour’s title track dropped and the Staples Center went crazy.

“Circus” was, of course, Spears’ opener. The energy was incredible. Backup dancers, circus performers and Ms. Spears herself danced around the three ring platforms of the stage, hitting each beat with a fierce intensity that would make anyone question whether she ever took a day off from performing in her life. This girl knows how to put on a show, and even after ten years in the business, it’s clear she loves her job. (How else could someone dance around in 5-inch heels night after night?)

Spears played fan favorites like “Everytime,” “If You Seek Amy,” “Boys” and “Baby One More Time”–the later of which had the whole house screaming and singing along. With a dozen costume changes and short intermissions of circus acts, like a woman doing a balancing act on a flimsy, impossibly long pole (think tight rope being help up by two dudes) Circus was an incredibly fun freak show in and of itself. The only criticism I can give is that the only songs from the Circus album that she sang were here three singles, and “Womanizer” didn’t even come until the encore. Being that this was the Circus tour, I would have like to hear more from the Circus album. Otherwise the show was immaculate. Of course lip-synching was obvious, but watching Spears strut around on stage to favorites like “Me Against The Music” and writhe around during songs like “Touch of My Hand” were priceless to say the least.

Bottom line, Spears has proved that she is back with a vengeance, craziness and all. The fun factor was a 10 and the wow factor…a 7, but the show was amazing and worth every penny. If you’re at all moved to dance by any Britney material I would highly recommend the show. Closer seats would have been a plus, but it was amazing nonetheless.