OXON HILL, Md. — Who says you have to go to Las Vegas to see Britney Spears?
After wrapping her casino residency in December, the pop queen is taking her show on the road for the “Pieces of Me” tour, which just rocked MGM National Harbor on Friday night.
It was the second of two consecutive nights here in the nation’s capital, kicking off the American leg of her global tour, which opened in Tokyo and most recently hit Tel Aviv.
She kicked off the show with “Work B*tch,” “Womanizer” and “Break the Ice / Piece of Me.”
After a costume change into a sparkly pink outfit, Spears delivered her two biggest hits back to back with “…Baby One More Time” and “Oops…I Did it Again,” as the crowd sang along.
The next act saw the audience dancing and grinding to her more modern club hits with “Me Against the Music,” “Gimme More,” “Clumsy” and “Change Your Mind.”
After an interlude video package by will.i.am., Spears returned to the stage in red and black for “Boys,” “Do You Wanna Come Over?” and “Work It / Get Ur Freak On / “WTF.”
Next, things turned sultry, as she pole danced and brought a man from the audience to crawl on a leash across the stage. This stretch included such sexy tunes as “Get Naked,” “I’m a Slave 4 U,” “Make Me…,” “Freakshow” and “Do Somethin’.”
Suddenly, the stage transformed into a giant circus, as Spears dressed as a ringleader for “Circus,” “If U Seek Amy,” “Slumber Party,” “Breathe on Me” and “Touch of My Hand.”
Her final act transformed the stage into a jungle setting for “Jungle Fever,” “Toxic,” “Stronger” and “Crazy,” followed by an encore of “Till the World Ends” as confetti fell from the ceiling.
Diehard fans no doubt got their money’s worth, hearing a collection of newer songs and her old-school hits, the only glaring omission being “Sometimes,” but you can’t fit them all.
Newcomers might have been struck by the ratio of lip-syncing to actual singing, but when you go to a Britney Spears concert, you know the headset is mostly for show.
No, her concerts are all about the dance moves and the theatrics, both of which delivered.
As audiences filed out of the arena and made their way directly into the MGM casino, you could have sworn you just watched Britney Spears in Las Vegas.
