The Return of the Spice Girls

Infobox concert tour
concert_tour_name = The Return of the Spice Girls World Tour


image_size=
caption =
artist = Spice Girls
start_date = 2 December, 2007
end_date = 26 February, 2008
number_of_legs = 3
number_of_shows = 47 (Total)
25 (North America)
22 (Europe)

last_tour = Christmas in Spiceworld
(1999)
this_tour = The Return of the Spice Girls
(2007-2008)

The Return of the Spice Girls was a Spice Girls concert tour that visited five countries and commenced on December 2, 2007 in Vancouver, Canadacite web
url = http://www.emigroup.com/Press/2007/press46.htm#
title = "The Return of the Spice Girls
work = EMI Group - Press Release
accessdate = 2007-06-28] and ended in Toronto on February 26, 2008. The Return of the Spice Girls marks the group's first tour since 1999's Christmas in Spiceworld tour of the United Kingdom, and the first as the original five-piece group since May 1998.

General information

On June 28, 2007 the Spice Girls held a press conference at The O2 in London, formally announcing their intention to reunite as a group, [http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/06/22/AR2007062200609.html Statement regarding Spice Girls' future from 19 Entertainment] "Washington Post", June 22 2007. Retrieved December 4, 2007.] a plan that had long been speculated by the media.Finn, Natalie. [http://www.eonline.com/news/article/index.jsp?uuid=e3303910-79a7-41d2-9c62-4c3b1291f202 'A Well Seasoned Rumour] E! Online, June 8 2007.] During the press conference, the group laid out their plans to embark on a world concert tour that would be seen as a celebration of the group’s history and a final farewell to fans. [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/6246448.stm News report confirming group’s reunion] . BBC. Retrieved December 06, 2007.]

Initially eleven dates were announced and spanned North America, Europe, Asia, Oceania, Africa and South America and fans were informed that they had to pre-register for tickets on the group’s website. On September 30, the successful applicants for the Los Angeles, Las Vegas, Vancouver and London concerts were informed of how they could purchase their tickets, via email and text alerts, from valid ticket vendors. Demand was so high that many dates quickly sold out and three new dates in London were immediately announced after the first date at The O2 sold out in only 38 seconds. [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/7021976.stm News report confirming London date sold out in 38 seconds] . BBC. Retrieved December 06, 2007.] Fans who had pre-registered for tickets were given 48 hours to purchase their tickets, after which they went on sale to the general public. In total, a further eighteen dates were announced in Britain and twenty in the United States and Canada.

The Spice Girls' biggest international audience on the tour was New York/New Jersey area. The girls performed three shows in the New York area (two in Long Island - Nassau Coliseum, and one in Manhattan - Madison Square Garden), and three shows in the New Jersey area (two in Newark - Prudential Center, and one in East Rutherford - Izod Center), marking this the first time an act has ever played both the Prudential Center in Newark and the Izod Center in East Rutherford at one time, on the same tour. The girls were also scheduled to play the Atlantic City Boardwalk Hall near the end of the tour but those plans were later scrapped.

Due to the expansion of the British and North American legs of the tour, it was announced on 1 February that the end of the tour would take place in Toronto, on 26 February 2008. Dates in Asia, South America, Africa and Australia were cancelled due to touring logistics and personal commitments. [http://www.thespicegirls.com/news/080201announcement Important Tour Announcement] .]

The tour was one of the highest grossing tours in history – and the London dates they played topped the list of concerts that made the most money in 2007-2008 anywhere in the world. The bands sell-out shows at London’s O2 Arena made a massive £16.5 million and, according to business magazine Forbes, all 17 shows in London sold out in one minute when tickets went on sale.

Audio by BBC Radio 2

BBC Radio 2 recorded both shows on December 15 & December 16 and compiled them into an hour-length "Highlights Special" which was broadcast on 22 December and 31 December 2007. Various songs were omttied as the broadcast only had 11 songs, as well as the Intro.

DVD

Despite rumours of a DVD release of the tour it was confirmed on the Spice Girls official website on the 2nd April that there will be no DVD release. This caused many fans to set up online petitions to get a release. New rumours of a DVD release in America have emerged. The DVD is planning to be called .

etlist

Following is the full set list for the tour. [cite news
url = http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/news/story.html?id=5fa15346-97fe-4477-bf2e-a84bfb1ce9d8
title = The Return of the Spice Girls Set List']

*The Power of Five

1. "Spice Up Your Life"

2. "Stop"

3. "Say You'll Be There"

4. "Headlines (Friendship Never Ends)"

*Seduce Me (Costume Change)

5. "The Lady Is A Vamp"

6. "Too Much" (Jazz Version) (Minor Costume Change)

7. "2 Become 1"

*Bittersweet (Costume Change)

8. "Who Do You Think You Are"

9. "Like A Virgin/Supermodel (You Better Work)" Catwalk (Victoria Beckham Solo) (Minor Costume Change)

10. "Are You Gonna Go My Way" (Melanie Brown Solo) (Minor Costume Change)

11. "Maybe" (Emma Bunton Solo) (Costume Change)

12. "Viva Forever" (Costume Change)

13. "Holler" (Without Geri Halliwell) (Minor Costume Change)

14. "It's Raining Men" (Geri Halliwell Solo) (Costume Change)

15. "I Turn to You" (Melanie Chisholm Solo) (Costume Change)

**Celebration (Costume Change)

16. "Let Love Lead The Way" (Without Geri Halliwell)

17. "Mama"

18. Medley: "Celebration"/"Shake Your Body (Down to the Ground)"/"That's the Way (I Like It)"/"We Are Family"

19. "Goodbye"

**Encore (Costume Change)

20. "If U Can't Dance" (Intro) (Minor Costume Change)

21. "Wannabe"

22. "Spice Up Your Life" (Reprise)

Personnel

Performers

*Melanie Chisholm - vocals, dance
*Emma Bunton - vocals, dance
*Geri Halliwell - vocals and dance (except Holler and Let Love Lead The Way)
*Melanie Brown - vocals, dance
*Victoria Beckham - vocals, dance

Management and additional personnel

*Creative Director: Jamie King
*Video Director: Dago Gonzalez for Veneno, Inc.
*Costume Design: Roberto Cavalli
*Manager: Simon Fuller
*executive producer: Spice Girls and 19
*Global Transport : Virgin Atlantic

ong copyright

*Spice Girls Songs - Virgin Records and EMI
*I Turn To You (Melanie C Solo) - Virgin Records and Red Girl Records
*Maybe (Emma Bunton Solo) - Universal Records
*It's Raining Men (Geri Halliwell Solo) - EMI
*Are You Gonna Go My Way (Melanie Brown Solo) - Virgin Records
*Celebration- Mercury Records
*We Are Family - Cotillion Records
*Shake Your Body (Down to the Ground) - Epic Records
*That's the Way (I Like It) - Rhino Records

Band

*Greg Hatwell (Guitar)
*Paul Gendler (Guitar)
*Nick Nasmyth (Keyboards)
*Scott Firth (Bass guitar)
*Vinnie Lammi (Drums)
*Simon Ellis (keyboards)
*Sudha Kheterpal (Percussion)

Dancers

* Gus Carr (Dance Captain)
* Scotty Nguyen (Dance Captain)
* Alex Larson
* Antonio Hudnell
* Cassidy Noblett
*Dougie Styles
*Ivan "Flipz" Valez
*Leo Moctezuma
*Victor Rojas
*Vinh Bui

Celebrity audience members

* David Beckham sat in the audience to all but one concert, instead going to the Ricky Hatton fight.
* On Wednesday December 5, 2007 Janice Dickinson attended the show in Los Angeles's Staples Center.
* Madonna attended the show in London on January 16, 2008 as did Will Smith. [ [http://www.thespicegirls.com/news/080104stories] . "TheSpiceGirls.com". Retrieved April 24, 2008.]
* At the first Los Angeles show Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes were spotted with their daughter Suri. Other celebrities spotted that night included Teri Hatcher, Paula Abdul, Simon Cowell and girlfriend Terri Seymour. [ [http://www.thespicegirls.com/news/080104stories] . "TheSpiceGirls.com". Retrieved April 24, 2008.]
* At the first Manchester show on January 23, 2008 Eva Longoria Parker was spotted in the audience alongside Jason Orange of Take That. [ [http://www.thespicegirls.com/news/080123show] . "TheSpiceGirls.com". Retrieved April 24, 2008.]
* At the last two Manchester shows Katherine Kelly and Antony Cotton from Coronation Street were spotted in the audience.
* On Wednesday January 2, 2008 the girls announced that singer George Michael was attending the concert that day in London.
* On Sunday January 20, 2008 comedian David Walliams was spotted at the show and was greeted with a mexican wave. [ [http://www.thespicegirls.com/news/080104stories] . "TheSpiceGirls.com". Retrieved April 24, 2008.]
* Sir Bob Geldof was at one of the London shows with his daughters. [ [http://www.thespicegirls.com/news/080104stories] . "TheSpiceGirls.com". Retrieved April 24, 2008.]
* At the first London show Rihanna, Gordon Ramsey, Peaches Geldof, Will Young, Jon Lee, Carrie Grant, David Grant, Danielle Lloyd and Roberto Cavalli were spotted in the audience. [ [http://www.thespicegirls.com/news/080203stories] . "TheSpiceGirls.com". Retrieved April 24, 2008.]
* Mexican pop star Paulina Rubio attended the show in Madrid, Spain.
* On January 9th, Girls Aloud appeared in the audience.
* On January 4th, Simon Fuller was in the audience along with members of his family and friends.

Tour notes

General notes

* There was no opening act on the tour. In-house music was played every night, while the girls would always kick off the show at least one hour late. There was also a video from Roberto Cavalli with a message saying "Enjoy the show".
* The intro for "Stop" is the first verse of "It's Like That" by Run DMC, the song that reached number one instead of Stop in 1998.
* The intro for "If U Can't Dance" is "The Humpty Dance" by Digital Underground, the song that was originally sampled in the original version of "If U Can't Dance".
*All of the girl's solo performances, as well as "Let Love Lead The Way" were not full versions, but rather the 1st Verse, chorus, bridge and final chorus.
* The girls had several conversations between songs. They were slightly changed on every show, but they always talked about the same topics. The only one that never changed was the recorded conversation interlude before "Too Much", where the girls discuss their various states of undress behind the changing room screens in which they are standing.
* The lines spoken on the intro of "Who Do You Think You Are" are "The flame that burns twice as bright burns half as long, and you, my friend, have burned bright", a line inspired by a quote from the film "Blade Runner". The original quote of "A light that burns twice as bright burns half as long, and you have burned so very, very brightly" was used in the intro of "Viva Forever" during the Spiceworld Tour.
* The microphones that the girls used on the tour were decorated according to each girl. Victoria's was decorated in white crystals, Emma's in pink crystals, Mel C's in amber crystals, Mel B's with a leopard print crystal design and Geri's with a small Union Jack crystal design.
* Virgin Atlantic gave the girls a plane that they could use for their transport during the tour. The plane was called the "Spice One" and was introduced first when the girls finished their first leg in the USA in Los Angeles Airport.

Tour stage

The stage used for the tour is rumored to be one of the most expensive, due to all the features used on it:
* There was a main platform that featured 5 raising platforms to bring the girls on stage and lifted over the stage for both performances of "Spice Up Your Life", plus machines to expulse smoke used for Stop and It's Raining Men. Chairs were brought on stage here for "Goodbye".
* Around the main stage there were 4 side platforms: the 2 lower ones a few feet over the main stage level; the 2 upper ones were located over the platforms for the band and were used only by Emma and Victoria during "Who Do You Think You Are", Emma's was decorated with pink balloons and Victoria's with gray glittery columns; they were accessible by a set of stairs each.
* The front featured a catwalk and a small platform, a couch was brought on stage here for "Who Do You Think You Are" and "Holler".
* There were 2 big screens, sometimes joined together to display a widescreen. Also 5 individual finger screens, notably showing images of each girl on the intro or forming the word Spice; they were also sometimes put together to form a bigger wide screen. The entire back wall was also a glass paneled video screen. It also featured a hidden, raising, portcullis-style door to bring on stage another platform that had different features for each song: The band for "The Lady Is A Vamp", 5 fitting rooms for "Too Much", 5 poles for "2 Become 1", a big ladder for "Are You Gonna Go My Way" and spinning platforms for "Viva Forever".
* A giant frame of lights was also used for "The Lady Is A Vamp".
* Confeti was thrown on the front platform almost at the end of the show.

Special events

* During Mama, for the London run of the shows, a choir appeared on stage with the girls.
* The Spice Girls brought their children on stage a few nights during the tour to sing "Mama". The first show the children were up was in London on December 18, 2007.
* On one of the shows in London, somebody in the audience threw on the stage a red wig, the girls suggested that Geri should wear it, but she refused to do it.
* Mel C and Emma celebrated their birthdays during the tour, on both occasions a birthday cake was brought on stage.
* During one of the shows in London, somebody threw his underwear to Victoria. She said she "hoped those were clean so David can wear them".
* Mel B lost her bracelet that David Beckham gave to each one of the girls as it flew into the audience during one show in London, the fan who found it contacted their management to give it back.
* During the Madison Square Garden show Cruz Beckham started break-dancing during "Mama".
* On the last show in Toronto, Melanie C did a backflip for the first time during the tour and since the Spice Girls originally split.
* The dancers joined Mel C during her performance of "I Turn To You" on the final show.
* All the girls started to cry during the performance of "Goodbye" on the final show of the tour.

Choreography

* The band was located on the two paltforms on both sides of the stage, except for "The Lady is a Vamp", when they appeared on the center of the stage with the girls.
* Almost at the end of "Who Do You Think You Are" Mel B and Geri simulated a catfight having the dancers to get them separated.
* In Spice Up Your Life Reprise in the Las Vegas show, Emma Bunton fell on the stairs and sprained her ankle. Geri fell during her solo song at the final London concert. Melanie C also tripped but did not fall with one of the dancers laying during "If U Can't Dance" at the first show in Los Angeles. Victoria also fell during the course of the tour but no information states when. [http://perezhilton.com/2008-02-20-posh-takes-a-tumble]
* At the end of their show in Montreal on February 24th, during the "Spice Up Your Life" reprise, Geri joined Victoria on her raising platform, leaving her own empty until the show closed.
* On the later shows, during "Who Do You Think You Are", Emma Bunton appeared on the previously unoccupied lower left stage platform, instead of the top left platform where she originally appeared. She decided not to climb as many stairs because of her fall in Las Vegas.
* During Mel B's solo, she would bring a male member of the audience up onto stage and strap them in under a ladder.

Costumes

* Although Victoria did not actually change her outfit for "Who Do You Think You Are" and her solo catwalk, she added sleeves and stockings on the later shows to her outfit.
* The outfits the girls wore for the encore changed when they came to the UK and they kept them for the rest of the tour. The new outfits saw the girls in their own individual colour, and were covered in glitter and sparkles.
* Mel B changed her outfit she wore for the celebration section of the show at the last Manchester date on January 26, 2008.
* Melanie C changed her opening outfit and her encore outfit frequently.
* In one of the shows, Emma forgot to take of her dressing gown in "If You Can't Dance".
* As the tour came to an end, Emma changed her opening outfit.
* During one of the performances at the STAPLES Center in Los Angeles, Victoria did not sing "Let Love Lead the Way" due to the zipper braking on her outfit, and having to be sewn in instead. Her parts were taken by Emma.
* During their February 7th show Mel C split her pants during "Wannabe".

Props

* During "Stop", each girl had a mic stand.
* For "The Lady Is A Vamp", the girls performed with chairs and canes.
* Giant feathers covered the girls for segments of "2 Become 1".
* Two Union Jack flags were used to cover Geri, as she emerged from the floor for "Who Do You Think You Are?".
* For Victoria's catwalk solo, the dancers all had cameras to take pictures of her.
* For Mel B's solo, a ladder was brought onto stage. She also had a mic with a whip attached.
* For Emma's solo, she danced on black and white patterened boxes.
* During and after the dance break in "Viva Forever", the girls performed with dark red hand held fans.
* In "Holler" the male dancers had leads and chain attached to them. Also 4 chairs were used in this performance.
* For Geri's solo, she emerged with a black umbrella, as did the dancers.
* For Mel C's solo, she sang with a mic stand.
* Just before "Goodbye" started, 5 chairs emerged on stage.

Equipment malfunction

* At the first Manchester show, the girls were 90 minutes late on stage. This was due to the short period of time for the stage to be built as they had travelled from London that night. They were also late in having their sound check as concert goers could hear them rehearsing after the doors were opened. Plus lifts used to bring them on stage broke down.
* At TD Banknorth Garden (in Boston), on January 30, 2008, the confetti machines used during "Spice Up Your Life" (Reprise) caused the sound to cut out, and as a result the concert ended in silence. See this [http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=AbP3q6DTOjA&feature=related YouTube Video] .
* During "Stop", on two occasions, one of the screens failed to raise in time for the beginning of the song, leaving one time Emma and the other Mel C covered (London, 2nd January).
* At the Wachovia Center (in Philadelphia), on February 19, 2008, there was a malfunction of the five individual screens used during the "Open" introduction. Geri's screen was in the centre (rather than being second from the right), and Melanie C's screen was second from the right (rather than being in the centre). See this [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=517iD13yi94 YouTube video] .

Official website

* Melanie B collected several prizes for the fans during the tour, each one of them belonged to each girl and was signed by the girl the item belonged to. To qualify for the prizes, fans must have answered an easy question about the tour and submit their information. The prizes were a pair of socks that belonged to Mel C; a pair of fake eyelashes that belonged to Mel B; the cast that Emma wore after falling in Las Vegas; Geri's tour reheasals book, this includes also notes by Geri herlself and DVB Style leather accessories signed by Victoria. Other items included the 1 million sign the girls used after that number of fans registered on their website for tickets, a headrest from the Spice One plane signed by all five girls, backstage passes to meet the girls in London and Washington D.C. and a chance to travel in the Spice One plane with the girls.
* The girls frequently updated their webiste blog to keep the fans informed about the experiences from the girls during the tour. Each girl submitted a blog taking turns, when all 5 girls wrote a blog, they started in a different order until all 5 wrote new ones. Other blogs included videos from the dancers, the choir that performed with them in London and the girls themselves on backstage. Sometimes the blogs included videos, like the one where Geri was teaching to introduce herself in German to Victoria, and Geri made the comment after "In case you didn't know she is called Victoria". At first Victoria responded "Ja", but after noticing what Geri just said, she and the people in the scene started laughing.

Original tour dates

* Los Angeles, (USA) - December 7, 2007
* Las Vegas, (USA) - December 8, 2007
* New York, (USA) - December 11, 2007
* London, (UK) - December 15, 2007
* Cologne, (Germany) - December 20, 2007
* Madrid, (Spain) - December 23, 2007
* Beijing, (China) - January 10, 2008
* Hong Kong, (China) - January 12, 2008
* Sydney, (Australia) - January 17, 2008
* Cape Town, (South Africa) - January 20, 2008
* Buenos Aires, (Argentina) - January 24, 2008

Final tour dates

* Indicates the show was sold out.

References

External links

* [http://www.thespicegirls.com Spice Girls Official Site]
* [http://axs.muchmusic.com/?fr_chl=70d0a7c0cd1104fb18ea6f42129cf6e0365e507b&fr_story=3f5ec2d8fc97a199e8055434f8657ad3a712ffe4 Exclusive Interview from Backstage @ The Toronto Concert]