Last weekend the long awaited Britney Spears Japan Tour started off in Tokyo 東京. I had been waiting for months for this day to arrive and finally it was here. However, getting here wasn’t easy. When I first learnt about the concert, I made a Facebook post asking if any of my friends were interested in seeing Britney with me. Some showed interest while others went in on her singing ability. I won’t even go into the thick of it but Britney created a sound like no other and has a voice that is distinctively her own, identifiable anywhere. She’s broken barriers and records and never fails to deliver a stellar show. Mind you, I’ve never seen her perform live before but my friends from La La Land have seen her numerous times in Vegas and so have I via their Snapchat and IG videos. Haha! Finally, my friend Kaydeen said she was interested as her birthday would be around the time Britney would be in Tokyo 東京.

DREAMS SHATTERED

Tickets weren’t going to be on sale until May 7th and based on what happened in The Philippines (tickets selling out within minutes of them going on sale) I was more nervous than America was on November 9, 2016. My friend informed me of a lottery system where we would basically raffle our emails and if selected, one could nab a presage ticket. I jumped on this opportunity so fast, you think it was a once in a lifetime event. But it was, for me at least. Email entered and the waiting began. One week after my whole world came crashing down. I wasn’t successful in the lottery. All hopes of seeing the ONLY Princess of Pop were shattered. Kaydeen informed she got through and I broke down immediately. How could this happen? I told her about it. Why me? I bawled my eyes out for about 2 hours. It was that soul crushing.

SECOND CHANCES

I went back to the same site to see if they made a mistake because I couldn’t understand why I was being denied the chance to be great. It was like the pop gods heard my heart cry and opened up a new lottery. This would be for the June 3rd and June 4th concerts in Tokyo 東京. Though the 3rd was more ideal, I had to take whatever chance I could. Once again I entered the lottery for both dates. I got down on my yoga mat and prayed so hard, Britney would be proud of me. Tears welled up in my eyes. This time, tears of fucking JOY. I was a winner for not one but both Tokyo 東京 dates.

TAKING AN “L” 

It was B Day. Kaydeen and I couldn’t be happier. We strolled to a local store and got come craft to make posters. I thought people still did that. Even though that didn’t really matter. Being Jamaicans we wanted to do something that Britney would see. Only, our signs were a bit small. Whatever!

We arrived at the National Yoyogi Stadium (国立代々木競技場) in Harajuku (原宿) where the concert was being held. Confident in ourselves, we approached the entrance with our tickets. The staff informed us we should go to the side at the window. Confused, we looked at each other and followed the instructions that were given. At the window, we presented out tickets. The staff now told us that what we had weren’t tickets. Yo, my fucking heart sunk. I felt like I was in the sunken place (credit to Get Out). LOL. How could we not have tickets? We paid for them. We had the confirmation email and everything. Then they made their point clearer and told us we had to print the official tickets cuz what we had were the ticket receipts. Now, how on earth were we supposed to know this? Every correspondence that we had with the lottery site was in Japanese. Okay, maybe it’s partly our fault for living in Japan and not knowing Japanese. For the first time, I felt the sharp pain of taking an L. It wasn’t pleasant but it made for a damn good laugh with Kaydeen.

NOW GET TO WORK BITCH

We sat down at the front of the section on our tickets. Kaydeen was going to be in a different area than I. We weren’t going to let that happen. However, we had to move because the seats were assigned. How didn’t we know this? Luckily, Kaydeen’s seat was close by and I sat with her. It then dawned on us that we should have booked our tickets together. Just taking Ls all around, aren’t we? L O L. It was 18:15 and the show hadn’t started. Where are you Britney? We thought. The lights went out and I heard, “you wanna hot body, you wanna bugatti…now get to work bitch“. (Don’t laugh but all my life I thought Britney said “you wanna hot body, you wanna muscle body”. I crack myself up)

When I tell you I lost it. I fucking lost IT. My voice went out in the first 30 seconds of seeing Britney. I was over the moon. This one woman wanted to kill my buzz by stating how loud I was. It’s Britney bitch! This ain’t the fucking opera. You should have stayed your quiet little Asian ass home. Britney did the damn thing! I wasn’t seeing her on Scheana‘s snapchat anymore. I was witnessing true artistry. Don’t argue with me on this. 

The Princess of Pop “slayed” my entire existence. I almost hurt Kaydeen with how crazy and wild I was flinging my hair. But it was in the name of a legend. I would, without a doubt see her again and again and again Till The World Ends. Thank you for taking me along for your GLORY days, Britney Jean. 

CHATTERBOX: Keirn