britney spears OR a stranger in a strange land OR the most fun I've ever had OR you know you totally would've loved it

When I decided to start this blog almost 2 years ago I don't think I could have predicted that there would be an entry about what I'm about to write about here so I'll just come right out and say it: I went to a Britney Spears concert last Friday.

And I had an effin' blast...like some of the most fun I've ever had at any concert. I sang my voice ragged and danced like it was the end of the world. And this erudite, high-falutin, obscure-French-poetry-loving, "classical" composer is nowhere near ashamed of any of it.

There. I said it. Everyone okay?

Of course, I'm being a bit dramatic here but, hey, this entry is all about Britney, dammit! She came to town for the first time since 2001(!) and, for all intents and purposes, it was a triumphant return.

We stopped at Gluek's for supper beforehand. It's the oldest restaurant in Minneapolis and serves German fare. In the spirit of excess I decided to drop the vegetarian thing for the night and had an amazing brat. Oh my, I completely forgot what these things tasted like...sooo good. I'm happy to report that I'm back on the veggie wagon, though. Meat makes me feel so "heavy" after I eat it.
















Then it was on to the Target Center for the concert. The Pussycat Dolls opened up and, having never heard any of their music before, I had an adequate time. Definitely not my cup of tea but they were also definitely entertaining.

Then She came out. And oh my god did everybody freak out.

I've never been a fan of her music but, truth be told, I just hadn't ever heard any of it. Having listened to a mix someone gave me for the past couple of days now I think I can say it's actually fairly complicated and enjoyable. I'm completely floored by how some of her producers can play the synths and, if I try to deconstruct it all while listening to a song, it seems like there are just so many tonal colors. It's the same thing as being a master of orchestration...but your orchestra is all manufactured sounds. It cannot be an easy thing to pull off. My personal favorite was the concert opener, "Circus."

I won't review the concert here because it really isn't my place. However, the Star Tribune threw out a good article the next day called "Britney is the ultimate showgirl." My favorite part of the review reads:

"She pranced from ring to ring in skimpy outfits, dangled overhead on the arm of a giant umbrella, cavorted with S&M dancers, paced inside a cage, rode on the back of a tricycle, changed outfits after nearly every number and shook that famous blonde mane."

That pretty much sums it up: a three-ring freakshow of icy dance grooves and a ringmistress with blonde hair. It was just damn good fun on a Friday night and I'd do it again in a heartbeat.

However, having written what I've just written I think it's worth mentioning that her music (and lifestyle...my god, her lifestyle) is not for everyone. And, frankly, it's too bad she's gotten a bad wrap. I think this probably illustrates that music is all things to all people, though. What matters to you might not matter to me and vice versa. What you call "amazing gamelan orchestral music" might be a simple curiosity to me.

And, in the end, that's what it's all about. The incredulous look on my "legit" musical friends' faces when I tell them I had a great time at a Britney concert is the symptom of the, shall we say, "genre-fication" of musical consumption in this country at the moment. We often build our self-image around the kinds of music we like and that, in the end, is completely missing the point.

What if all types of music were just fine? It reminds me of the first time someone played a Cannibal Corpse song or a John Cage score for a Merce Cunningham ballet for me and asked me if I liked it. I had to answer honestly that I didn't. But, from the perspective of someone who fights for the legitimization of their own music, I had to say that it just wasn't my cup of soup. I hated both of them (especially that damn Cage piece...at least the CC song had a bunch of swears in it...tee-hee) but I don't think it's my place to say something sucks. If you like it then you like it. If you don't then just turn it off.

Of course that leads to all sorts of "agree to disagree" nonsense which is just a way of not taking a stand on anything. But who cares? It's Britney, dammit! It's Britney!

Weirdly enough, the Met's amazing production of La Damnation De Faust has been playing in the background the entire time I've been writing this. I wonder if Hector would approve of my new love of sweet, sweet Britney. I guess we'll never know.

Work on We, The Boys re-starts in 2 weeks.