This Day in Pop: Britney Spears wraps up her "Dream Within a Dream Tour" in Mexico City in 2002 (July 28)

[PokemonSpears]

  

July 28, 2002 marked the last show from her Dream Within a Dream Tour in support of her album Britney.

The last two concerts took place in Mexico City at the Foro Sol venue, however the last show had to be cancelled after only performing a few songs, due to a lightning storm which was very dangerous for the public and crew, as we can see on the Stages documentary.

Quote

Spears left the stage after the performance of "Stronger" while saying, "I'm sorry, Mexico. I love you, bye." Shortly after, an announcement was made through the speakers confirming the show was cancelled. According to local newspapers Milenio and El Universal, fans screamed "Fraud!", booed and hurled chairs and other items. Two days later, a statement was released by Spears that said: "I'm sorry I couldn't finish the show for my fans. The Mexican fans are one of the best audiences to play for. We decided that we had no choice but to cancel the show after the storm and lightning showed no signs of clearing up." Concert promoter Ocesa Presenta director Guillermo Parra explained to El Universal that "there was no trick nor deceit, but climatic conditions cannot be controlled".

 

 

This is from July 27

 

During the time she was in Mexico, she did several interviews

 

 

 

 

But probably the most controversial of all things, even more so than the cancellation of the show, was the now known as "Britney Señal" which refers to her flipping the middle finger to the paparazzi upon her arrival.

To this day, people in Mexico still refer to that gesture as "la Britney Señal" especially on the media. It's like a term of endearment, but people really remember it as something funny, rather than taking it as an insult. But at the time, of course the press tried to make it a huge deal.

 

Then we have that infamous press conference as well. She was treated very poorly by the reporters that attended the conference, who were very rude and disrespectful to her (something typical of the local media who were, and still are, used to treat celebrities without any respect to their privacy).

During those times, the media, especially the one dedicated to gossip TV shows and magazines, were out of control and thought they had every right to invade public figures' lives, which is why I believe Mexican celebrities feel more empathic towards Britney these days.

 

Later in the year, a documentary called Stages: Three Days in Mexico, was released showing Britney's stay in the country and it was accompanied by a photo book.

 

In commemoration of this date, Britney's Vault has released a collection of previously unseen outtakes that you can check here:

 

[PokemonSpears]

 

 

[princessmimi]

Wow I cant believe its been 20 years since the infamous performance in Mexico

[Slayer]

Iconic tour  I’m so glad we got a DVD.

[Headed Peckerhead]

Thanks!

[Whyshouldibsad21]

She’s so freakin gorgeous 

[MissSpearsSaysSo]

Too bad there was no official BluRay for the tour, if only..  

[Isla]

It’s a shame she couldn’t finish the last show properly  think the audience was too harsh though. Lightning would have made it dangerous to carry on performing.