Britney!

I'm like the ringleader, I call the shots.
I'm like a firecracker, I make it hot.

---Britney Spears, Circus

OK, I am going to admit it here too since I've already admitted it on Twitter....I went to the Britney Spears concert at the Verizon Center in Washington, DC, on Tuesday! I got tickets for Mackenzie for her 16th birthday back in December (since when do they sell tickets SO far in advance for concerts? I mean, you better have a long-range calendar to plan your attendance at these concerts...but I digress.)

I bought two tickets. At the time, I was unsure if I was going to give both to her or have us go together. In the end, I decided I would go with her, and I am happy that I did. It was a GREAT concert! From the music, the stage show, the opening act (Pussycat Dolls), I was really impressed...or was it that I just had not been to a concert in a million years? Hard to tell....

Most folks attending this concert fell into three categories:

1. Packs of teenage girls, most dressed up in shirts they made for themselves just for the concert with "Britney" written all over it and some titles of songs, etc. or dresssed like her, which was sometimes scary.
2. Mothers and daughters (clearly, we fell into this category)
3. Gay men...lots of them having a great time!

There was the occasional boyfriend that a girl dragged along or even a few packs of 30 or 40-something women dressed up for the evening out. However, most fell into the categories above.

She entered the stage, no surprise, in a circus ringleader outfit singing the title song to her new album, "Circus" and then proceeded to change clothes about eight times. There was a round video screen surrounding the main ring of her stage that moved up and down depending on if they wanted you to see what was going on or not (like set changes). Of course, there were three rings, all with bullseyes on each.

She started with Circus and next was Piece of Me, which she did from an animal cage with dancers rolling her around to each of the three rings. From there, she went into several songs from the new album, most of which I had heard at least once. Regardless, even when you didn't know the songs, it was entertaining. She even had circus performers performing before her show began and between songs when she was changing clothes.

The best part of the show was the end, when she sang all of the older music and 18,000 people were singing with her....Toxic, Hit Me Baby, Slave 4 You, etc. She ended with an amazing version of Womanizer, clad in a police outfit complete with black short shorts and knee-high black lace up boots.

If you get a chance to see her concert, GO! Don't be all prissy about it, "I don't know about Britney Spears....she lip syncs......blah, blah, blah." Just do it!

Why does this post read like a concert review and Nike commercial all rolled up into one?

And Mackenzie, is this two in a row NOT about cancer?!