Spiceworld Tour
| Spiceworld Tour | ||||
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 Cover of the official Tour book |
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| Tour by Spice Girls | ||||
| Associated album | Spiceworld | |||
| Start date | February 24, 1998 | |||
| End date | September 20, 1998 | |||
| Legs | 3 | |||
| Shows | 56 in Europe 41 North America 97 in Total |
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| Spice Girls tour chronology | ||||
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The Spiceworld Tour was a concert tour performed by the British Europop group the Spice Girls in support of their second album Spiceworld which was the soundtrack to their feature film Spiceworld: The Movie. The sell-out European/North American tour ran from February to August 1998, after which it returned to the UK in September 1998 for a series of stadium shows. The monumental final concert at London's Wembley Stadium was filmed and broadcast live on pay-per view, for later VHS release and eventual DVD release in 2008. The tour was originally slated to begin in Copenhagen on the 19th of February, however opening night was later changed to the 24th of February at The Point in Dublin for unknown reasons. The tour saw the group perform to an estimated 2.1 million fans in total, covering Britain, Europe and North America.
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[edit] History
The Spiceworld Tour was the first global tour staged by the group, and proved to be an almost instant sell-out. Tickets for the first two shows in Ireland sold out within 2 hours,[1] and various shows on the North America leg such as L.A., Toronto and Philadelphia sold out within mere minutes of sale. In New York, the group set the record for the quickest ever sell-out, selling 13,000 tickets for Madison Square Garden in less than 12 minutes. Such was the interest, it led to State Attorney General Dennis Vacco (together with the co-operation of the group) to investigate whether illegal scalping to ticket brokers had taken place - a claim that was later dropped by the Attorney General's office[2]
Days before the end of the European portion of the tour, the group and its fans were left in shock as fan-favourite and outspoken Ginger spice, Geri Halliwell, did not appear on stage in Oslo, Norway where it was announced she was suffering from gastroenteritis and was at home recovering. Halliwell's final performances occurred in Helsinki, Finland at the Hartwall Arena. Promotional appearances with the new 4-piece promoting the release of 'Viva Forever' on the National Lottery also claimed that Halliwell was ill. On May 30, 1998, [1] Halliwell's lawyer announced she had left in the group. The Spice Girls quickly released a statement which stated that the North American leg of the tour would continue as planned with the remaining group members.
[edit] The Show & The Stage
The show began with a video introduction set in deep space nine, with a spacecraft known as the "Spiceship", travelling through the unknown, past asteroids and comets to reach its final destination. Excerpts from the #1 hit singles "Wannabe", "Say You'll Be There", "2 Become 1" and "Mama" were heard as the spacecraft manoeuvered through the galaxy. The videos accompanying the singles appeared as floating compact discs. The introduction also featured the voice of William Shatner, who could be heard reciting the lines "Spice: The Final Frontier" and "The 5 girls are setting out on a mission, to boldy go where no woman has gone before" minutes before the girls appeared onstage. This speech was changed after Geri's departure, with the removal of the word "five". The stage itself consisted of three projection screens, one at the back wall of the set and two at each side of the arena / stadium. The Spice Girls entered the stage from behind the big screen, which opened for their reveal, while the doors of the "mothership" were projected on screen to the audience. A staircase lead down to the main stage with a small ramp for the European leg, which was then removed for the US leg of the tour. During 'Move Over' on the European leg, the ramp transformed into a catwalk where the girls and their dancers re-enacted a fashion show. A full live band was located at each side of the staircase. There were also two staircases at the far right and left of the set which lead to small balconies which were used at various alternate staging points throughout the concert by both the girls and their dancers. Quick area movements were also possible via two poles located on either side of the big screen. There were several entry and exit points to the quickchange area, two on either side of the big screen, and two hidden away to the left and right of the band pit. A full behind the scenes tour of the stage was aired prior to the broadcast of the Wembley Stadium concert on MuchMusic in Canada.
[edit] Setlist
Act 1
- "Intro" (contains samples from Wannabe, Say You'll Be There, 2 Become 1 and Mama
- "If You Can't Dance"
- "Who Do You Think You Are" (Diva by Club 69 introduction)
- "Do It"
Act 2
- "Denying"
- "Too Much"
Act 3
- "Stop"
- "Where Did Our Love Go?" (Emma Bunton Solo Performance)
Act 4
- "Move Over"
- "30 Minute Intermission"
Act 5
- "The Lady Is A Vamp"
- "Say You'll Be There"
Act 6
- "Naked"
Act 7
- "2 Become 1"
- "Walk Of Life"
Act 8
- "Sisters Are Doin' It For Themselves (Mel B & Mel C Duet)
- "Wannabe"
- "Spice Up Your Life"
- "Mama"
Act 9
Act 10
- "Never Give Up On The Good Times"
- "We Are Family"
Act 1
- "If You Can't Dance"
- "Who Do You Think You Are"
- "Step To Me"
Act 2
- "Denying"
- "Too Much"
Act 3
- "Stop"
- "Where Did Our Love Go?" (Emma Bunton Solo Performance)
Act 4
- "Move Over"
- 30 Minute Intermission
Act 5
- "The Lady Is A Vamp"
- "Say You'll Be There"
Act 6
- "Naked"
Act 7
Act 8
- "Sisters Are Doin' It For Themselves (Mel B & Mel C Duet)
- "Wannabe"
- "Spice Up Your Life"
- "Mama"
Act 9
Act 10
- "Never Give Up On The Good Times"
- "We Are Family"
Act 1
- "If You Can't Dance"
- "Who Do You Think You Are"
Act 2
- "Something Kinda Funny"
- "Do It"
- "Too Much"
Act 3
- "Stop"
- "Where Did Our Love Go?" (Emma Bunton Solo Performance)
Act 4
- "Love Thing"
Act 5
- "The Lady Is A Vamp"
- "Say You'll Be There"
Act 6
- "Naked"
Act 7
Act 8
- "Sisters Are Doin' It For Themselves (Mel B & Mel C Duet)
- "Wannabe"
- "Spice Up Your Life"
- "Mama"
Act 9
Act 10
- "Never Give Up On The Good Times"
- "We Are Family"
- "Closing" (contains elements from"Firestarter" by The Prodigy)
- "Who Do You Think You Are" contained a sound bite from the song "Diva" by Club 69. In the beginning of the song the lyrics "You have to work to get this good" could be heard.
- "Naked" sampled two sound bits from the film "Batman Forever". In the beginning of the song the phrase "Tell me your dreams, Tell me your fantasies, tell me your secrets, tell me your deepest, darkest, fears" were heard. In the middle 8 of the song, the Riddler's growls were heard.
- "Viva Forever" sampled a sound bite from the film "Blade Runner". In the beginning of the song the famous words "The light that burns twice as bright burns half as long, and you have burned so very, very brightly" spoken by Dr. Eldon Tyrell are heard. This inspired a similar, revamped sound bite that was used during "Who Do You Think You Are" on the Return of the Spice Girls Tour. This sound bite consisted of a deep, male, American-accented voice saying "The flame that burns twice as bright burns half as long, and you, my friend, have burned the brightest".
- The original "London town" lyric in "Walk of Life" was replaced by the name of the city the girls were performing in each night. The lyrics varied depending on the pronunciation of the city name, for example "Birmingham", "Antwerp town", or "Boston city". This song was later removed from the setlist midway through the American leg due to several dancers' injuries as well as the (unannounced) pregnancies of Melanie Brown and Victoria Adams, who were picked up and carried around in various positions during the song.
- During the European leg of the tour, "Move Over" featured some rather interesting lyrical changes in the middle 8. Instead of the usual "dedication, babynation etc...", the girls would alternate the words "penetration, menstruation, lubrication and masturbation" on various nights in the predominantly non-English speaking countries.
- Later on in the North American leg of the tour, "Step To Me" was added to the setlist, replacing "Do It".
- After Geri Halliwell's departure, a pre-recorded backing track of Geri's vocals were used during the Spanish Rap in "If U Can't Dance" and the remaining girls sang her original "Ginger" lyric in "The Lady Is A Vamp".
- As presented on Sky Box Office Live, there was no thirty minute intermission during the "Back in Britain" live broadcast at Wembley Stadium, and two additional songs were added to the setlist for the "Back in Britain" stadium shows, "Something Kinda Funny", which replaced "Denying" and "Love Thing", which replaced "Move Over".
- In 2007, diehard fans were amazed when a series of previously unseen videoscreen recordings from the European leg of the tour were leaked, including concerts in Paris, Arnhem, Madrid and Lyon. Complete footage of the tour with all 5 bandmembers had been previously unseen.
[edit] Personnel
[edit] Vocals
- Melanie Brown
- Emma Bunton
- Geri Halliwell - her last show before she left the band was the 26th of May, 1998 - Helsinki, Finland
- Victoria Adams
- Melanie Chisholm
[edit] Band
- Simon Ellis – Musical Director / Keyboards
- Andy Gangadeen – Drums
- Paul Gendler – Guitars
- Fergus Gerrand – Percussion
- Steve Lewinson – Bass Guitar
- Michael Martin – Keyboards
[edit] Dancers
- Louie Spence
- Takao Baba
- Carmine Canuso (aka Jake Canuso)
- Jimmy Gulzar
- Eszteca Noya
- Robert Nurse
- Christian Storm (until Geri's departure)
[edit] Management And Additional Personnel
- Tour manager: Richard Jones
- Assistant tour manager: Juliette Slater
- Production manager: Julian Lavender
- Show producer: Pete Barnes
- Stage manager (Europe): John Armstrong
- Stage manager (US): Jimmy Bolton
- Choreographer: Priscilla Samuels
- Costume designer: Kenny Ho
- Make up artist: Karin Darnell
- Booking agent (Europe): Primary Talent International
- Booking agent (US): William Morris Agency
[edit] Tour dates
[edit] Notes and references
- ^ Article reporting 2 hour sell-out of Irish gigs. Rolling Stone. February 3, #1998.
- ^ Article reporting 12 minute sell-out of New York gig. Billboard Magazine. April 22, 1998.
[edit] Further reading
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