Britney Spears obviously didn't see Katy Perry Thursday at Summerfest in advance of her Saturday night Marcus Amphitheater performance. But it's very likely that one of her people saw Perry's act somewhere along the tour, because Spears, who was, in effect, last decade's Perry, did her best to one up the theatrics in Milwaukee tonight.

The difference is that Perry is at the top of her game, while Spears might've peaked at the end of the last century. But you can't fault a girl for trying in her first visit to Milwaukee since she played Summerfest 11 years ago.

Spears is now 29, and she doesn't look like she did when she was 18 –
but who among us does? Chalk it up to some rough living, but give her credit for bouncing back, because even without the body of a teenager, she looked pretty good.

Spears' Femme Fatale tour spans 65 shows in North America and Europe. It's an ambitious endeavor that's supporting her seventh studio album of the same name.

The show Saturday was less than sold out, and during the 45 minutes it took to put together the stage, security let fans come down from the grass seats to bleachers -- then changed their minds and made them leave.

Speaking of the stage, the set for Saturday's show was hyped as the largest in the history of the Marcus Amphitheater, with cages and pink cars and spiral staircases. Size aside, it didn't have the sizzle of Perry's stage.

But put aside the comparisons to Perry for a minute. Could this larger-than-life setting, mixed with a video-infused, unironic weird story about Spears as a secret agent, make the concert worthwhile --
considering many have criticized her dancing, and many more have criticized her singing ability?

Yes and no.

Love her or hate her, Spears is a pop culture icon. So, coming out with a lot of new material seemed like an unusual way to re-establish that this showgirl's still got it. She played only a handful of the songs that made her famous; an odd choice in my book.

And back to Perry, this crowd was older, almost exclusively female, and the highly sexualized performance didn't necessarily go over the audience's collective head.

On the other hand, the quality of the music tonight remains dubious. I've always liked "Toxic," but Spears actually didn't perform it for her encore (unlike in other tour stops). Instead, she ended with "Till The World Ends" with opener Nicki Minaj. The crowd ate it up nonetheless. I left a little annoyed with a short set and only a few hits.

The show could've been better, though. Don't even try to deny that
1998's "... Baby One More Time" takes you right back to a time before Facebook, when MySpace was still just a twinkle in someone's eye. If only there was more of that tonight.

Of course, with surprises like nude bodysuits, costumes with flashing LED bulbs and a flying Brit complete with angel wings, everyone in attendance saw a medium-to-high-energy, albeit overly-produced spectacle.

Does Spears dance like she used to? Certainly not, but then again, who among us does? Others who have criticized that Spears looked slow and lumbering on stage were somewhat right. Getting "old" is a bitch.

Nicki Minaj opened the show, with a high-energy, albeit raunchy performance. It was quite different than Spears' 75 minute set. Spears didn't interact a ton with the crowd, other than the obligatory, "Hello, Milwaukee!" and by bringing a guy onstage for a number. Largely, she stuck to her script.

Will Summerfest ever see Spears headline the Amphitheater again? My gut says no, so those lucky enough to see a slice of pop culture history should consider themselves lucky. If the music didn't blow you away, at least the production value might've. It was certainly a spectacle.

And as Spears entire adult life has been one giant spectacle, tonight's performance fit the bill perfectly well.

Set list:

Hold It Against Me
Up & Down
3
Piece of Me
Big Fat Bass
How I Roll
Lace & Leather
If U Seek Amy
Gimme More
(Drop Dead) Beautiful
Don't Let Me Be The Last To Know
Boys (The Co-Ed Remix)
... Baby One More Time
S&M
Trouble for Me
I'm a Slave 4 U
Burning Up
I Wanna Go

Encore:

Till The World Ends