[Red Moon]

Spice Girls: 'Viva Vancouver!'

The Spice Girls returned to the stage with the first concert of their reunion tour in Vancouver Sunday night, wowing fans with a tightly-staged and choreographed show.

Opening with a video of five young Spice-like girls dreaming of growing up to be pop stars, and then a sequence of newspaper headlines documenting the group's short history, the already-frenzied sell-out crowd of close to 16,000 was whipped into a crazed state as the Girls ascended on risers, dressed in shades of gold and copper, singing Spice Up Your Life.

The strong opening continued with two more “classic” tunes: Stop and Say You'll Be There.

The frenzy died down somewhat when the Girls launched into Headlines, the first of two new songs on their Greatest Hits album. This was the point where fans stopped singing along.

Things picked up again, though, with costume change after costume change (the highlight was the back-to-the-classic Spice Girls look, including a stunningly contemporary take on Geri “Ginger Spice” Halliwell's iconic Union Jack dress), crowd-pleasing performances by 10 male back-up dancers (who were essential in giving the Girls time to make those costume changes), and some audience participation in a Melanie “Scary Spice” Brown S&M-inspired performance of Lenny Kravitz's Are You Gonna Go My Way?

Brown was an absolute delight to watch on-stage. She seemed to be having the time of her life, showing off the moves that recently took her to the finals of Dancing With The Stars, and really engaging with the audience. Her shouts of “Viva Vancouver!” were met with piercing approval from the largely-female audience. Mel B. appeared to be loving every minute of it.

In fact, most of the Girls seem to have come into their own, displaying a maturity and comfort level that may not have been there during the height of their popularity a decade ago.

The stand-out exception was Victoria “Posh Spice” Beckham, who looked uncomfortable in her tightly-corseted outfits and carefully-coiffed hair (which she spent a fair amount of time clearing from her face). Her dance moves were stiff and at at least one point she started to sing a line before it was time (not that you could hear her; her voice is not very strong).

Melanie “Sporty Spice” Chisholm remains the most distinctive vocalist of the group, and a fine, athletic dancer (although there were no backflips). She, like Mel B., was a delight to watch, moving easily across the stage.

But it was Halliwell many of the girls were talking about as they left the building – in particular, her toned, sculpted body (which she showed off in outfit after outfit, in particular a little orangey-red bodysuit with a thick white belt, worn with white go-go boots).

“It's amazing. I want to know what she does,” said 17-year old Natasha Gandham of Richmond, B.C. “I have grad this year so I need to get in shape. I want to know her tricks.”

When the Spice Girls alluded to the possibility of returning to Vancouver some day for another show, the crowd went wild. It appears they would have no trouble selling out GM Place again and again.

Source:Globe and Mail, CA

Picture Credit: Daily Mail