BRITNEY SPEARS with NICKI MINAJ at Air Canada Centre, Saturday (August 13). Rating: NNN
A common criticism leveled at Britney Spears is that the pop singer barely seems present in her own music anymore.
After that over-publicized meltdown period from a few years back ended with a judge granting her father conservatorship over her life and business affairs, she is seemingly on autopilot, content to show up, smile and hit her marks.
Toronto fans couldn’t be happier with this highly professional Britney. They roared wildly and continuously throughout the first of two concerts at the ACC, which was being filmed for a live tour DVD.
After a glossy film set up a narrative that cast Brit as secret agent that is stalked by an omnipresent lollipop-sucking maniac, she glided into the arena atop a moving contraption and launched into recent single Hold It Against Me. That song’s heavy dubstep beats set a thunderous tone as she cycled through her catalogue of hits, many of which were tweaked to sound in line with her hard-edged newer material.
On Femme Fatale, Spears becomes vessel for her producers’ playful pop whims, but the digital wizardry that made that album so fun is lost on stage. She looked relaxed, smiled as she sang along to backing tracks and performed well enough, but it all felt very mechanical.
Opener Nicki Minaj, on the other hand, has an unmistakable conviction in her eyes.
The candy-coloured rapper performed with a frenzied theatricality that suits her unhinged rhymes. Her set ended with an appearance by Toronto’s favourite cameo artist Drake, who joined his Young Money cohort on Moment 4 Life. He goofily flirted with her back-up dancers, gave her a signature hug and then stuck around to receive a lap dance during the finale.
