Review and Photos by Phil Bonyata
Britney, who now joins Elvis, Cher, and Madonna as single name icons, brought her MTV video production to the wanting arms of the Allstate Arena last night. She graces the cover of Rolling Stone just about every month, has MTV chasing her like a jealous lover and has the general news media hanging on her navel ring eagerly awaiting every pouty word that flows form her full lips.
Here begins the problem. What is it about this woman, who is flowering from caterpillar to butterfly virtually overnight, that has the world so captivated with her every move? Madonna charted this path many years ago. She went from cute and snotty pop singer to the sexy chameleon who helped take the name "slut" out of women who just want to enjoy having sex.
Britney in concert is about the spectacle and let the music fall where it may. Her visual circus has her changing costumes on almost every song while never forgetting to keep her famous navel proudly exposed. On "Born to Make You Happy" she rose form a huge music box dressed like a medieval princess just itchin' to bust outta of her stodgy clothes. Britney's dancers followed her down a 25 feet runway that led to a smaller second stage and proved why all of those dance videos paid off. As the dancers hopped around the former Mouseketeer, like kangaroos looking for a boxing match, Britney gyrated onto a cot that descended into the stage just as the fires of hell breathed forth from all the pyrotechnics hiding underneath. If you were close enough you probably knew what it felt like for the unlucky people who lived near Mt. St. Helens.
Britney likes to show off her rather ample cleavage with the pride of David Lynch's first couple of episodes of "Twin Peaks." She's moved from G to PG-13 and now is toying with the world of the R-rated. This girl knows how to work it. She knows how to tease and pout. She also knows that canning the singing is easier than putting out. Teasers can do this, in fact, we expect it. With Britney ablaze in various states of dress on the giant video screen behind her, she started to float on a bungee cord over the shrieks of the many 6 -12 year old girls in the audience. On the ballad "I'm not a Girl, Not Yet a Woman," she let her blossoming sexuality ooze out slowly all over the stage. The soon-to-be 20 year old seems to be marketing a newly discovered asset - her sexual charisma. Perhaps this is where her mass appeal and media interest lies. We rarely and so publicly witness a young and squeaky clean girl change into the mirror image of a Rush Street hooker on the street corner for the very first time. On the encore "...Baby One More Time," Britney took flight again and soared over the audience with her pearly whites reflecting the bright spotlights back onto the astonished eyes of the audience.
Appropriately, the little girl turned sexual dynamo, ended it all by slowly walking through a fake shower to cool herself down while causing quite the opposite effect on many of the older people in attendance.
Photos of Britney at the Bradley Center
in Milwaukee on Nov. 27, 2001 by Terry Mayer
