All this excitement of seeing the Spice Girls had made my friend’s bladder go weak. Being on the London underground, where there are no toilets, he could not wait. He came out in a sweat and was getting agitated, so we had to get off at the next stop, which was Canada Water.
He rushed to find a toilet, when he did finally find a toilet – it was locked! ‘Typical’ he exclaimed ‘of all the times and places, why today?’
About ten minutes later he resurfaced and we scampered back for the tube heading for the O2 stadium at Greenwich.
Some friends were waiting for us at the gates with our tickets. It was Spice-mania at the gates. A quick scan of the area highlighted that the majority of the fans were girls, all dolled and spruced up for a night of girl power. One fan said “I’ve been waiting for this night all my life, I’m so excited.” Inside a group of four, young rugby type men walked into the arena with union jack dresses and the whole arena erupted and cheered them as they found their seats.
The lights then dimmed and on huge screens at the back of the stage a video showcasing five little spice look-alikes peering into a magical box and yearning for fame and fortune. On five plinths suddenly the girls arise from the stage floor – and there they were in their dazzling golden, Roberto Cavalli costumes like five beautiful Egyptian goddesses while pandemonium exploded and echoed amongst the 20 000 excited fans.
The opening succession of ‘Spice up Your Life’, ‘Stop’ and ‘Say You’ll Be There’ brought back memories of the hay days. The girls performed with enthusiasm and a string of dance moves, if that’s what you call dancing – the Spice Girls just Vogue. The indigenously burlesque jazz composition for ‘Lady and the Vamp’ worked well but was not their best choreography.
All the girls performed solo numbers, except Posh – aka Mrs Beckham who took an epigrammatic solo skit of herself, strutting down the runway with huge sunglasses and her trademark pout and a black promontory billowing behind her.
The girls start again the halcyon days in their trademark outfits with a belting performance of ‘Who Do You Think You Are’ Ginger in her Union Jack mini, Scary in a leopard print cat suit, Baby in a cute pink trench coat, Sporty in a cropped top with tracksuit and Posh in a laced black dress who sent the crowd into hubbub every time she sang or waived.
The Spice Girls may not be the best singers or dancers but they definitely are consummate artistes and their ebullient style of pop music was a massive success and was delivered with elegance. Wannabe is the final song and the show comes to an end with glitter bombs and the sign ‘Mission Accomplished’ on huge screens at the back of the stage. The show was about nostalgia and the fantasy reflected in the opening video of the concert.
Was it £85 well spent, the gargantuan clatter of 20,000 fans reveals so.
