I'm not a Britney Spears fan. I generally don't listen to pop music and I really only know a few of her bigger hits ( Baby One More Time, Oops! I did it Again), yet who can resist seeing a major star perform in Las Vegas? Her show isn't going to run forever, so we decided to use our Christmas trip to snag tickets to her Las Vegas residency show, Piece of Me, at Axis theatre in Planet Hollywood.
Not being big fans or super rich, we bought tickets in the cheap seats. This is a bit of a joke, as there is no such thing as cheap seats for this show. In the cheapest section, our seats were still over a hundred each. This said, unless you have seats on the extreme sides of the theatre, all of the seats offer a good view. Here is a picture that we took from the last row in the theatre ( our seats were more left, and slightly closer to the stage). If you really want to splurge, you can get tickets in the front row that include a meet-n-greet with Britney.
On to my "non-fan" review of the show. First, it's impossible to resist the energy of the crowd. Britney has fans and those fans are VERY pumped to see her. It starts immediately, with the long line that stretches out of Planet Hollywood and into the mall. The energy is palpable as we moved closer to the Axis Theatre entrance.
It's a very mixed crowd, that includes toddlers at presumably their first concert and people in their 80's. Although, a majority of the crowd were about five-ten years younger than us, those who were kids and teens during Britney's peak. There were the uber fans.
Once in the lobby, we saw displays of outfits that Britney wore in her music videos and concert tours. They even have her dress from her childhood appearance on Star Search.
There are several merch booths in the lobby and a Britney store outside of the theatre.
We made it to our seats and the excitement for the show was increased with a countdown clock.
I go to many concerts, but this was probably the highest production value show that I've ever seen. Even if you don't care for her music, I would recommend the show just to see the beautiful stage. The coolest thing was the enormous video screens that gave a 3-D like quality to the images. There was one song where they had a snow falling effect that was gorgeous and mesmerizing. Unfortunately, the photographs that we took couldn't even begin to convey how it really looked. She switched up the scenes and her costumes every few songs and it was spectacular. In addition to the projections, the show had pyrotechnics, arial acrobatics, bubbles, confetti and lots of dancing.
Here are our pictures. Again, these cannot begin to really show the spectacle and grandeur of the visual effects.
Prior to attending the concert, I read a lot of reviews of her show. The reviews were mixed. A lot of people complained that she lip-synched her songs. Yes, she does. However, she definitely sings a few of the slower songs. I'm a hundred percent certain that she was really singing, as although she has good voice, she was a bit out of breath from the dancing.
This is primarily a dance show set to her music. She even stated it after selecting an audience member to come on stage during one number. She directly thanked him for dancing with her. I'm totally cool with this being a dance show, rather than a concert. There is simply no way that anyone could sing those songs while doing those dance moves. Plus, how could you even sing those overproduced dance numbers during a concert? Nope. What Britney does is she is throwing a party and her fans are coming along to dance with her and have a good time. She does this well and it's a fun show.
I'm still not a fan of her most of her music, although Toxic has been stuck in my head. Speaking of Toxic, it was one of the best numbers in the show with an enormous tree in the middle of the stage. I did leave the show with a respect and like for her as an artist. Besides it being about Britney, it's a damn cool show esthetically. For sheer spectacle, it definitely rivals some of the Cirque Du Soleil shows in town.
Fan or not, make sure to catch Piece of Me before Britney's residency ends. It's worth your time and money.