The third installment in a new series by staff member Graig Agop takes a different direction from his usual ruthless celebrity hunting. In this column, rather than collecting and selling star photos and autographs, he is an unabashed Spice Girl fan.
Massive, breathtaking, groundbreaking and mind blowing! Ladies and gentlemen the wait is over and the time has come. Welcome to Spice World, where everything is fun, loud, and over the top! The comeback of the decade, that took a decade, exploded onto the colossal stage at in Staples Center on Dec. 5.
All five Girls reunited for this 45-plus-date spectacle billed as their world tour, which will travel everywhere from the United States to the United Kingdom to Asia, Spain, Canada, Australia, Argentina and Germany. Ticket prices passed the hundred-dollar mark, but for long-time devoted fans like myself, money was not an issue. I was thrilled to finally get the opportunity to see these divas in action.
Eager and ecstatic couldn’t begin to describe the energy of the anxious fans that filled the Staples Center. The lights went down at 8:45 p.m. One, two, three, get it together and breath.a mystical violet video played from a long rectangular screen of five little girls resembling the fab five, chasing butterflies while humming the first notes of “Spice Up Your Life.”
As the butterflies took off, the screens switched places and five evenly spaced screens that projected a Spice Girl’s montage at one diva per screen and stopped one at a time to a digital silhouette of each bombshell. The tension built and it was overpowering. The words “The power of five, keeps the love alive. tonight!” shot out of the screen and yellow and orange lights along with green lasers dominated the stage as the spotlight hit Baby, Scary, Sporty, Ginger and Posh as they rose up on platforms from under the stage in fearless poses wearing shiny beige outfits.
They started a magical night with a hypnotic performance of their signature hit “Spice up your life.”
Scary, Baby, Ginger, Posh and Sporty delivered a high-energy 21-song set, which included hits like “2 Become 1,” “Say You’ll Be There,” “Stop” and “Viva Forever.” They closed with “Goodbye,” and encored with “If U Can’t Dance,” “Wannabe” and “Spice up Your Life.” The highlight of the show was the four solo performances.
Melanie C performed “I Turn to You,” which featured a laser show and showed off her amazing voice. Emma Bunton and Geri Halliwell called on the help of the Spice boy dancers for their solo performances of “Maybe” by Baby and “It’s Raining Men” by Ginger. And Melanie B. dominated the stage, whip and all and strapped up a lucky fan to her torture device for “Are You Gonna Go My Way.”
But without a doubt the fan favorite was Mrs. Victoria Beckham who passed on her solo, but made sure she got her moment in the spotlight-when this fierce diva turned the catwalk into a fashion runway as she stormed down to a Madonna track and disappeared when she reached the end. Fans screamed in support every time Lady Beckham opened her mouth.
The pop starlets’ huge production was overwhelming. Between the dramatic, chic, and vibrant custom wardrobe created by Roberto Cavalli, and the ever-changing stage which featured eight moving screens, side stages, rotating platforms, props, poles, state of the art lighting and catwalk which extended though three-fourths of the arena, it was pure perfection.
This sets the bar very high for other pop stars like Beyonce. All five girls were singing live and were accompanied by nine dancers and a live band. The band was elevated in boxes on top of both the left and right sides of the mind-blowing purple toned stage. With all those exciting numbers there literally was not a moment of boredom. The fans were on their feet the entire show.
This was clearly a powerful, flawless colorful production. It left me standing with my mouth open as I looked in disbelief of what I was seeing in front of me. Tickets should have come with a warning “will cause hyperventilation.” This concert is on such a huge scale that words can’t describe the astonishing, jaw dropping visuals, and dramatic non-stop set and costume changes. Definitely the best concert I have seen and I’ve seen many!
The Spice Girls are back and they’ve still got it! They spiced up my life and everyone’s life I touch, and I wanna touch you.
