Twenty minutes before the show last night, the shrill chants began, bouncing off the ceiling of the sold-out Tacoma Dome.

Anyone who predicts the demise of bubblegum pop underestimates the appeal of 20-year-old Ms. Britney Spears. It's a thought to mull over while sitting in traffic on Interstate 5 for an hour and a half from Seattle to the Tacoma Dome, where parking lots had been full since 3:30 p.m. (Britney wasn't due to appear till 9 p.m.)

Promptly at 9, the lights dimmed to a frenzy of blue and green glow sticks. Britney appeared, strapped to a revolving metal backdrop on a stage shaped like a large banjo and opened the show with an edgy, borderline Goth version of 'oops... I Did It Again.' (Her eight backup dancers looked like a cross between 'The Lost Boys' and high-school misfits on prom night.)

The Goth Britney look is not one that has yet registered with fans who buzzed around the Tacoma Dome. Before the show, various incarnations of Britney were everywhere: pig-tailed girls with plaid skirts, midriff-baring tops, body glitter, even the single tube sock on one arm from Britney's Super Bowl appearance.

But never fear, fans: After a couple of songs, the pop star shed her dominatrix-like black-leather get-up and appeared as a ballerina atop a huge music box, pink tutu and all. This was the Britney Spears the preteen girls came to see, and they screamed for more. Britney didn't disappoint, appearing next as a beauty-pageant queen in a sparkling silver leotard as she sang 'Lucky.' Is she a girl or is she a woman?

Make up your mind, already!

As expected, the show was pure mindless entertainment, with plenty of fancy footwork, explosions, video montages and one revealing outfit after another. With all the dancing, can Britney be forgiven for apparently lip-synching a few numbers, most obviously, 'Stronger'?

She performed songs from all three of her albums, including her most recent hits, 'I'm a Slave 4 U,' 'Overprotected' and 'I'm Not a Girl, Not Yet a Woman.' The song that made her famous, 'Baby One More Time,' was saved for the encore.

At one point, Britney sat down on a piano bench and confessed to the audience that she had been feeling 'a little overwhelmed' lately. She's busy for a young not-a-girl-not-yet-a-woman, what with breaking up with her teen heartthrob of a boyfriend (Justin Timberlake of 'N Sync), being constantly hounded by the press and kicking off this second leg of her 'Dream Within A Dream' tour. This show didn't stray far from the shows on the first leg: same songs, same outfits, same tricks — including one with a bungee cord during an energetic cover of Joan Jett's 'I Love Rock-n-Roll.' And don't leave early and risk missing Britney & Co. get all wet in the encore (and no, she wasn't wearing a white T-shirt).

It wasn't anything Britney-watchers hadn't seen before, but to the screaming fans who filled the Tacoma Dome: Yes, she did it again.

Posted by Dana Bennett - WoB North American News Reporter

Source: seattletimes.com