Washington Gig Review

from http://weblogs.baltimoresun.com/entertainment/critics/blog/2008/02/the_spice_girls_hadnt_performe.html

The Spice Girls hadn’t performed together for a decade before they decided last year to reunite. And even more time and several pop trends have passed since the British quintet made an impact on the international music charts.

But none of that mattered last night at Washington’s Verizon Center, which was packed with mostly white girls and women between the ages of 16 and 30. When the lights went down and the five Spice Girls rose on separate platforms in the middle of the expensive, multi-tiered set, the screams were downright deafening. And the Spice Girls delivered a well-paced and surprisingly engaging show full of high camp, Vegas glitz and Broadway style choreography. All the Spices, most are mothers now, looked incredibly fit in painted-on, skimpy outfits that didn’t crossover into sleaze.

Flanked by 10 athletic male dancers who at times served as props, the five performers showed that their famous “girl power” hadn’t diminished a bit. Backed by a faceless six-piece band, the group did note-for-note renditions of all its big neon hits from the '90s: “Say You’ll Be There,” “2 Becomes 1,” and, of course, “Wannabe.” The show was so exhaustively produced and extravagantly staged that it wouldn’t be a surprise at all if the Spice Girls soon became a resident Vegas act.