Dates:
Hartford, CT. - July 3, 1998
Scranton, PA. - July 6, 1998
Dates:
Hartford, CT. - July 3, 1998
Scranton, PA. - July 6, 1998
The Spice Girls came and conquered America....at least from what I saw. Both shows were relatively the same but that certainly didn't take away from the second night at all. But, the big question that is usually asked, "was it the same with just four?" Absolutely!!!
The Spice Girls (and their audience) aren't really what I am used to. I mean, within the same month, I will have attended the Ozzfest, Stabbing Westward and Van Halen shows. An audience of 20 to 30-something guys with black concert shirts sporting images of skulls and death while vigorously pumping their fists up in the air in the midst of the metal meyhem going about on the stage. It's almost a culture shock! Parents, kids and more kids! Little girls dressed as their favorite Spice. Some of them even brought their favorite Spice doll to come and enjoy the show as well. And almost all of them have found a way to beg their moms and/or dads to purchase them one (or more) of the available Spice T-shirts (which took each concert goer about 20-30 minutes to get through the merchandise line alone!) and accompanying Spice Girls tour book. It is a merchandiser's dream! And even after the Spices take the stage and groove their way through eight songs, they take a 25-30 minute break so people can find their way back to the merchandise stands. Slick marketing it certainly is.
But, the show itself is quite marvelous. The fab four eventually make their way out after about a ten minute intro that is geared to get the audience whipped into a frenzy. It works. Then just as you start to think, "where the hell are they?", they appear in all their glory. The Spices donned outfits that complimented each of their individual character images. They looked absolutely wonderful! And the little girls' screams were more ear piercing than fingernails against a chalkboard. Ouch!
The Spices busted through twenty songs over a two hour (on-stage time) period. They performed all of their hits including: "Say You'll Be There", "Spice Up Your Life", "Stop", "Too Much", "2 Become 1", and the mega-hit "Wannabe". The highlight of the show (from a male point of view) was the song "Naked", in which the girls intro the song by claiming that they were getting so hot in their current clothes and were itching to get naked. YES!!! They ran off stage and the next time they appear to the audience, they are unclothed and are straddling backwards facing chairs that just manage to cover their significant frontal body parts. Oh well, it was a nice gesture of the girls anyhow.
But, all and all, they put on a great show. While the women of Lilith Fair are so hung up on being respected for their musical talents, the Spices seem to care more about showing a fair amount of skin and romping around stage with their fellow Spice-boy dancers than trying to gain "respectability". Who cares about it anyway? Isn't a concert about having fun? The Spice Girls show is where it's at!
And yes, they can sing and they do sing well. No, their vocals are not taped. In my opinion, I was happier that Ginger Spice did not make the tour in retrospect. Geri is not a good vocalist and she actually brought down the others in the musical end of the group. She definately was important in the sucess of the Spice Girls, but singing wasn't her strong point. To me, she was not missed at all.
Again, the show was brilliant. Yes, there were a lot of kids but there were a fair share of late teen/early twenty types at the show as well. Certainly, we were out numbered but it didn't take away from the show. It actually made it easier to see!!!
