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Costume drama: Love it or Hate it?
Whilst it may not be to everyone’s taste, excitement had been growing in my mind for weeks. Yes – I was going to see the Spice Girls. As a child, the Spice Girls had officially ruled my life. My days were not complete without a sneaky listen to Wannabe on my hefty cassette Walkman. I wore my neon green dress emblazoned with the Spice Girls logo to every social occasion going, and I unashamedly modelled myself on Sporty Spice (the coolest Spice Girl by far to my ten-year-old mind). And now I had a chance to recapture those long lost days of dancing crazily around my room and making the peace sign with two fingers in every photograph from the era, not to mention the intense emotions that caused tears to flow when they made that first, fatal appearance minus Geri.
But however enthralled I was with the idea of a night of nostalgia, I had my doubts about the long-anticipated (well, by me, at least) reunion. Would the Spice Girls have what it takes to thrill an older and wiser audience? An audience who has grown up with them, watching them turn from young poppy teenyboppers into mature women with partners and children? I was intrigued on multiple levels – would it be somehow wrong to see these women in their 30s donning baby pink platforms and lycra jogging suits? How would the group dynamic work after being reunited with Geri?
After an anticipatory two hours in the stadium of dreams, the lights went down and the screams went up. And as five figures suddenly appeared on stage, I was one of many who was shrieking in sheer excitement. As the (in)famous five burst into their first track (I won’t ruin it for any of you who are yet to experience the magic that is the Spice Girls concert), girls all around the arena were screaming, cameras flashing desperately to capture that perfect Baby Spice shot. There were tears - yes, the excitement and nostalgia became too much for both me and the perfect stranger standing next to me.
To all those cynics out there who claim that the Spice Girls were yet another merely manufactured pop band I would say: get yourself down to the O2 for a shot of the action. Or rather, as all the tickets sold out weeks ago, go and stand outside the arena and get a feel of the atmosphere. Never has a gig or pop concert felt so much like being surrounded by family. The Spice Girls truly are a cultural and social phenomenon that the world hadn’t seen before, and I doubt will see again. Admittedly, it may be pushing it slightly to claim that the Spice Girls defined the 90s with their Girl Power slogan and feisty antics, but they were an integral part of that era, and certainly played a huge part in opening a boy-band-dominated music market to girl bands and young female soloists.
And if you really don’t buy any of that – just sit back, relax, and enjoy the catchy tunes. If you wannabe my lover…
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