Pubdate: Fri, 17 Apr 2009 Source: North Shore News (CN BC) Copyright: 2009 North Shore News Contact: http://www.nsnews.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/311 Author: A.J. Brewis Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mjcn.htm (Cannabis - Canada) 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!" - --- MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom