Zig a zig ahhh
Written by Ashley Kelmore, Posted in Adventures
Oh man. Sunday night I had the absolute best time I’ve ever had at a concert, in terms of sheer joy. I had the privilege of attending the Spice Girls Reunion Tour.
My friend Jon Mark and I arrived at the Prudential Arena in Newark about 5:45, and people were already lined up waiting for the doors to open. It was freezing – and actually snowing – but that didn’t dampen the spirit. The demographics were about what you’d expect – lots of teenage girls (some with their mothers), lots of gay men in their 20s, and a few folks like me, who loved the Spice Girls when they were in high school. Many of the younger girls actually came dressed like the group, and one had a boom box with her and was playing the albums. The crowd of course sang along. It was a party before we even got inside.
They went on at 8:30 PM, no opening band. It was the exact level of spectacular you would expect. Costumes by Roberto Cavalli? Check. Costume changes after every two or three songs? Check. Pyrotechnics? Check. Hot male dancers? Check. Fabulous dance moves performed in crazy heels? Check.
Some may not realize that the group has had quite a few hits beyond “Wannabe”. They’ve released three albums, and from them probably 12-15 have been really memorable songs. And they sang them all, along with a break in the middle where each (expect Posh . . . hmmm) sang a song from a solo album. The Mel C. song was actually really popular in clubs, and Geri sang her cover of “It’s Raining Men.” They opened with Spice Up Your Life, and closed with it, too, right after they performed their encore of Wannabe. Which ended with confetti.
Oh, and they sang live, too. There were some moments where you could tell they were a bit off, but they had a live band, some backing vocals and tracks, and really sang live. And they were good!
I had an absolute blast and am still enjoying it. Everyone was in a good mood, enjoying just the silly joy that comes from that kind of positive music.
