Tuesday, June 16, 1998

First taste of Spice is nice

Spice Girls prove they can take the heat in North American tour kickoff

WEST PALM BEACH -- Just when you thought all possible Spice Girls trivia questions had been exhausted, the opener of the group's first-ever North American tour at the Coral Sky Amphitheatre suggested one more.

If you make them perform in near-100^oF heat under hot stage lights, which Spice Girl will sweat the most?The answer is Victoria -- a.k.a. Posh Spice. Following a Star Wars-esque light show opening, the four weren't halfway through their opening number If You Can't Dance before Posh looked like she'd been dumped in nearby Lake Okeechobee.

By song two, Who Do You Think You Are, we had an answer to the musical question: "What do you suppose Posh looks like without makeup?" Kind of rosy-cheeked and less hard, actually.

Certainly, the Spice Girls couldn't have arranged a hotter welcome to North America. South Florida is suffering through its hottest June in nearly 50 years, with draught conditions and temperatures in the mid-90s at the beach.

That didn't deter real Spice fans however. Hoping to be first in line for the general admission area on the grass, young girls (and some boys) and their parents sat on blankets and chairs from 8 a.m. Sunscreen and Kool-Aid only go so far, and 12 hours later, some of them were suffering from heat stroke and being hauled away in ambulances.

Then, of course, there's the burning question everyone wants to know in advance of their July 11 Toronto date. What do the Spice Girls sound like, now that Geri Halliwell --a.k.a. Ginger -- has quit? At intermission, I heard kids complaining "They just don't sound the same."

But let me paraphrase that recent detergent ad. "I can't hear the difference. Can you hear the difference?" As someone whose kid went through a phase of playing Spiceworld to death (he's into Aqua now), I feel as qualified as anyone else about to turn 40 to say that the songs sounded as pleasant and light as they do on record. Stop sounded like vintage dance-pop Madonna, Spice Up Your Life was Miami Sound Machine-lite, Too Much sounded just as mildly moody as it did in the opening of the Spiceworld movie.

This speaks, of course, to just what polished and slick product you get with the imprematur Spice Girls. It's the reason there used to be rumors that the girls were a Milli Vanilli act. (Listening to Emma's -- a.k.a. Baby Spice's -- weak solo on Where Did Our Love Go put the lie to this rumor.)

But in the wake of Ginger's departure, one thing did seem true. Reputed arch-enemy Mel B -- a.k.a. Scary Spice -- does seem to be the de facto leader of the group. She got to scream things at the crowd of 20,000 like "Is there any Girl Power out there?"and "Are you ready to partaaayyy?!?!"

All that said, there is one thing about the Spice Girls' show that was absolutely dumbfounding. These four women get in and out of their clothes faster than Madonna on a date.

There were three wardrobe changes in the first act alone -- none of which took them longer than a minute and 12 seconds (I counted). One minute Posh is strutting in Spandex, Baby in lavender go-go attire, Scary in yellow and black bellbottoms and matching halter and Sporty's in bike gear.

(They were in these outfits when they called out The Spice Boys, dressalike dancers whom they rode horsey-style across the stage to Do It. No matter their orientation, guys just can't wear lavender minis well).

The next moment Baby is wearing a "Baby" tank top with black mini-dress, Sporty is all navy blue with a vest, Posh is psychedelic skin-tight mini and Scary is in some kind of tiger stripe zootsuit.

And the next, they're all in some kind of big-shouldered things that look like Bob Mackie spacesuits.

I think I speak for all men who've ever waited for women to get dressed when I say that this talent alone makes the Spice Girls role models without compare.

Set List