well, it's been a while since i posted anything. 3 wins out of 12 doesn't leave us with much to write home about...anyway, i did have a chance to do something fun yesterday i thought i'd share and have most of you say, "only jeffy..." most of you know my guilty pleasure of pop culture/teeny bopper pop music...well, one of the biggest bands from my days in amsterdam was on tour and came through SJ yesterday...yeah, don't tell anyone, but i went and saw "The Return of the SPICE GIRLS"...i was asking around to people i knew who either worked w/ us or knew someone at the arena, etc. to see if there were any tix available, and this past weekend, one of our docs who also covers the sharks gave me 2 tickets for xmas. he has a suite at the areana and have the option of purchasing tickets for other events.
when i was in a'dam, they were really hitting it big and it was amazing to see the response over there and the phenomenon in general. when i got back home that summer ('97), is when they were taking off here. the fact they played SJ was pretty curious too when you consider the other stops include Vancouver, LA, Miami, Vegas, NY, Manchester, London, Madrid, Shanghai, Sydney, and well, you get the picture...anyway, i'm sure you are anxiously waiting a review, so here goes...
I must admit i was impressed that first of all, it seemed like they sang most if not all of their songs. i couldn't tell of any prerecorded stuff during any part of the show. Second, they all look very good...time has worked in their favor, in my opinion, especially baby spice (the blonde) and scary (the one that just finished Dancing with the Stars). as singers go, i'd say that scary and sporty have the strongest voices - they can actually sing pretty well, while posh's (the one married to david beckham) voice is definitely the weakest. she got drowned out the most by the music. the other two are pretty good too, w/ baby probably a little better than ginger. the energy in the place was good and i found myself laughing at the mere fact i was there in the first place. 
they did all their hits of course and talked to the crowd a little, getting some shouts out to San Jose, etc....they started off the show by coming up through the stage on individual risers w/ the fog and laser show they of course deserve...they don't do a lot of dancing and had a bunch of guy dancers to handle the hardcore choreographed stuff. their first song was spiceworld which set the tone pretty well...the paper said they had 8 costume changes....ok, sure...at one point, they each had their own "solo" onstage alone. scary pulled a male fan from the stands and tied him to a large ladder while she swung a whip around and sang "are you gonna go my way" by lenny kravitz...the guy seemed to enjoy it. ginger sang "its raining men", baby and sporty sang songs i didn't recognize, and posh, in an effort at consistency (?) didn't sing, but instead strutted down the runway like a model to the stage that sat in the middle of the arena that also had a riser/floor that went up and down...
towards the end they sang "mama" at which time they showed pics on the video board, first of the girls with their mothers, then with their own children. touching indeed. they finished w/ a song called goodbye, which was followed by the inevitable encore which included their most popular song, wannabe as well as a medley of some classic 70's disco songs like celebration, that's the way i like it, and we are family...the last song was a reprise of spiceword...they should be fresh since it was only the second night of the tour. they played around w/ each other and at least looked like they were enjoying being back together. it was definitely a memorable night and a good show. they impressed with their ability to entertain...say whatever you'd like about talent, spectacle, etc., the friend i went with and i had a good time overall, and i guess that's what it's all about anyway, right?
