A look back at Britney Spears’ Castro comeback that wasn’t

SAN FRANCISCO (KRON) – Legendary pop star Britney Spears is back in the news today after dropping a duet with Elton John, “Hold Me Closer,” a spin on the pianist’s classic “Tiny Dancer.”

The single is certain to be in plenty of DJ sets tonight in the city, but what some may not remember was that San Francisco’s Castro neighborhood was to be the backdrop for the release of Spears’ seventh studio album, “Femme Fatale.”

So here’s the tea:

It was 2011, and Spears in many people’s minds was still (fairly or not) synonymous with the dark days of the long 2007 (think shaved head, being hounded by the press outside of court) that led to her conservatorship. She hadn’t released an album since 2008’s “Circus.”

Then, Spears dropped a commercial saying that she’d be performing in the Castro on ABC-TV’s “Good Morning America” on the morning of Sunday, March 27, 2011 and the city went berserk.

The city planned to close the 400 and 500 blocks of Castro Street, between Market and 19th streets, for a day-and-a-half. The plan was for Spears to perform in front of the Castro Theatre beginning at noon for a segment to air on ABC two days later when her album was to drop.

The television network paid the city for rerouting public transit, moving electric cables, clean up, and other associated costs.

Then came the letdown — the event had to be moved from the gayborhood to Bill Graham Civic Auditorium, an indoor venue near City Hall, due to inclement weather.

Six thousand Spears fans showed up from all over Northern California, according to a contemporaneous East Bay Times story, which stated that the event “certainly lost a bit of pizazz” after the change of scenery but that Spears performed three songs: “Hold It Against Me,” “Big Fat Bass,” and “Till the World Ends.”

“The production provided plenty of eye candy, with Spears gyrating about in a sparkly bodysuit while surrounded by six leather-clad male dancers on a darkly futuristic set,” the Times reported. Five drag queens joked around while the crowd awaited the pop sensation.

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The production aired on ABC two mornings later, as originally scheduled.

“Femme Fatale” tied Spears with Mariah Carey and Janet Jackson for the third-most No. 1 albums among women, and “Hold It Against Me” became Spears’ fourth No. 1 single, and the second artist ever to have two singles debut at No. 1 (after Carey).