Britney Spears has been busting her ass for months, if not the past year, to get ready for her live comeback. At her Louisiana tour kickoff, she was back to the Britney we loved years ago, an engaging performer with strong stage presence.

Welcome back!

Britney Spears descended from the New Orleans Arena ceiling and back into fans' hearts Tuesday night with a bump-and-grind performance on a Big Top stage.

As the pop star launched her first tour in five years, the 16-song set began with Spears, 27, being lowered from the rafters in a cage and breaking into the single "Circus," followed by "Piece of Me" and Radar" with stripper-pole dancing.

"Oh my god, she looks amazing," said Joshua Matassa, 23, from New Orleans. "And the show's a spectacle �" it really looks like a three-ring circus."

Later, fire shot out of the middle of the stage during "Slave," and the nearly sold-out 19,000-seat arena broke out into an explosion of screams as Spears performed "Toxic" and "Baby One More Time" back-to-back.

If you wanna read about Britney's fans losing their shit during the concert, you can do so here at her website.