Britney Spears has taken her Circus across the pond and kicked off the European leg of her tour Wednesday night at London's O2 Arena. But instead of just bringing over the same tour she had Stateside, the singer has some new song remixes of old favorites and some new looks as well.
According to her Web site some of the remixed tracks include "Baby One More Time," "Do Something," "Piece of Me," "I'm a Slave 4 U" and "Womanizer." After the show, Britney Tweeted excitedly, "Just wrapped my first show in London. I love all the remixed tracks and new costumes!"
Although we're sure Spears' loyal fans loved the show, the same can't be said of some of her critics. The reviews are in, and some professional concertgoers described it as dull. The Sun said of Brit's performance, "Madonna is twice her age and does double the dancing." Read more...
By Matt Elias
Sunday night marked a momentous day in the U.K. as the Police played their last-ever show there — and MTV News was there to cover it all. London’s Hyde Park was the location, and fans packed shoulder-to-shoulder to catch their last glimpse of the trio, who were Sunday’s headliners at the Hard Rock Calling music festival.
Eric Clapton headlined Saturday night’s show, with Sheryl Crow, John Mayer, KT Tunstall, Jason Mraz and Starsailor rounding out the festival’s bill. Fans were treated to gorgeous, rain-free weather on both days, and were treated to a special Saturday night performance when Clapton encored with special guests Mayer and Crow on “Crossroads.”
Of course all the talk backstage was about the Police playing their last U.K. show and about Eric Clapton, since both have had a strong influence on the bands that took the stage before them. Check out photos from the show, and watch our full wrap-up below:
You can also check out my show reviews from both days of the festival over at You R Here.
By Matt Elias
We spent the day at Tim Kash's old stomping grounds: the MTV UK office. MTV News Associate Producer James Barnes showed us around, and while walking through cubicles and edit bays might be boring for some, it was really rad to see the U.K. operation in action.
In one of the edit bays, they were reworking one of our pieces from the States — 50 Cent and G-Unit's recent trip to South Africa — to be rebroadcast in the U.K.
We also got a chance to sneak into the studio while on-air reporters Rickie and Laura were doing stand-ups for news hits (or "bulletins" as they call them here). Seeing green screen in person still blows my mind. Read more...
By Matt Elias
(This report comes straight from London, where MTV News is covering the Police's final U.K. show. Check out the first post here.)
We spent the morning touring the festival grounds for the Hard Rock Calling in Hyde Park. Before we were allowed on site, we had to throw on some very stylish neon-orange-and-yellow vests (since the stage is still being built).
After walking around the grounds, I have to say that this might be one of the nicest locations for a festival, rivaling Lollapalooza's Grant Park in Chicago. There is a freakin' pond right behind the backstage entrance, plus people are riding horseback throughout the park — it's gorgeous.
Before the fest kicks off Saturday, there will be a special concert on Friday in the same spot, celebrating Nelson Mandela's 90th birthday. Among the performers, Amy Winehouse is "scheduled" to play, and the talk around town is whether she'll actually show up. One of the local gossip rags reported that her backstage dressing room has been turned into a makeshift clinic, just in case anything goes wrong. Oh, and there will be an ambulance standing by — you gotta love that free British health care.
Unfortunately, I didn't get a chance to peep any of this. My neon-orange vest didn't give me the level-four clearance. Fortunately, the good folks at Hard Rock scored us tix to the event, so check back here Friday night to read my full report.
by Matt Elias
Shooter James, Production Manager Damian and I have touched down in London after a nice nine-and-a-half-hour flight from L.A. We're here to cover the Police's last U.K. show at this weekend's Hard Rock Calling festival in Hyde Park. Eric Clapton, John Mayer, Sheryl Crow, KT Tunstall and Jason Mraz are also playing — it should be a great show.
Our plane was actually pretty rad: British Airways have made coach an enjoyable experience. Every seat is equiped with a monitor that has, like, 200 movies to choose from, plus countless CDs worth of music. It's kind of like having a giant iPod Touch in front of you, and there's a great selection of British artists. I swapped back and forth between Hard-Fi, Radiohead, Calvin Harris, Athlete and Bat For Lashes.
Yeah, I didn't sleep much. Bring on the jetlag!
