 Roberto Cavalli designed the girls' costumes for the show |
It was the first full concert in nine years involving all five members of the group.
Victoria Beckham, Geri Halliwell, Melanie Chisholm, Melanie Brown and Emma Bunton performed 22 songs, which included tracks from their solo careers as well as some of the tunes which made them famous.
The Spice Girls returned to the stage with the first concert of their reunion tour wowing fans with a tightly staged and ambitiously choreographed performance.
The show was about spectacle and proved that the Spice Girls know their audience.
Most of the Girls seem to have come into their own, displaying a maturity and comfort level that may not have been there during the height of their popularity.
The standout exception was Victoria Beckham, who did not seem comfortable in her own skin, despite showing a fair bit of it.
She looked awkward (if gorgeous) in her corseted outfits and carefully coiffed hair, which she spent a fair amount of time clearing from her face - her mouth, in particular.
Her dance moves were stiff and she appeared to be concentrating hard.
Girl Power has aged surprisingly well, judging from the Spice Girls' high-energy, fun and often racy kick-off to their reunion tour.
The hits-heavy set list was so cleverly choreographed and the Spice Girls' energy was so infectious that their lack of vocal chops was hardly noticeable.
As we've known all along, the two Mels possess the best voices and everyone else has passable vocals.
It appears the Spice Girls haven't lost their kitschy cool pop idol appeal. And the girls didn't disappoint when it came to living up to their individual caricatures.
As a group, the girls looked genuinely ecstatic to be performing together again. There were several group hugs and a few melodramatic looks of love shared between the members.
When the five were together on stage, though, their energy and enthusiasm was infectious.
Just like 10 years ago, the show wasn't about great singing or dancing - it was about great entertainment. And the girls delivered the spice.
There seems no diminution in the energy they are prepared to expend, or the lengths they will go to please the audience.
Watching these five tiny figures belting it out over two hours, and giving every impression of having a high old time in the process, one has to conclude that this is ebullient pop music of a very high standard, presented with panache, and highly unlikely to provoke any attendance at the refund window.
The Spice Girls launched their world tour with a nostalgia-coated shot of pure energy.
The energy sagged briefly when Emma began the group's new tune Headlines (Friendship Never Ends), which fell compared to the songs long-time fans came to hear.
But a host of costume, set and dance switch-ups quickly erased that lag.
The rest of the two-hour, 22-song set transformed nostalgia into an incredibly well choreographed show.
In short, the Girls' performance was a refurbished, toned-down version of their original incarnation.
It was a pleasantly manufactured composite of late-'90s pop culture: all glitz, kitsch, and the determination that comes from five 30-somethings who may have traded their platforms for high heels, but still managed to make a laser- lit stage that much brighter.
If this show - colourful, energetic and wildly ambitious - was intended to cash in on past triumphs, there was certainly no stinting on the time, dedication and money spent on it.
And, despite the debate, the Spice Girls didn't mime, from what I could tell sitting in the front row.
The Spice Girls have never been the world's greatest singers or dancers, but they remain consummate entertainers.
Whether shamelessly pulling the sentimental levers with Mama or arriving, at last, at a raucous, celebratory encore of Wannabe, they performed with every ounce of strength in their legs and passion in their hearts.
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