Spice Girls O2 Gig
The reunited Spice Girls arrived on stage at London's O2 arena for their first UK concert in nine years. "Thank God we're home," yelled Mel B, while Geri Halliwell said: "What a crowd! We love you London!" Guests in the audience included R&B star Rihanna and Gordon Ramsay as well as Victoria Beckham's husband David and their sons Brooklyn, Romeo and Cruz. Tickets for Saturday's gig, which cost up to £75, sold out in just 38 seconds when they went on sale in October, as a result, 16 further London dates were added, plus two nights in Manchester next year. The gigs form part of the girls world tour of two-hour shows featuring eight costume changes and a laser-lit stage backed and huge video screens.
During the O2 gig the girl band performed songs from their heyday, including Wannabe and Stop, the set also incorporates solo hits by Melanie C, Geri Halliwell and Bunton.
The tour marks the first time the band have performed as a five-piece since a 1998 gig in Birmingham, shortly after which Halliwell walked out on her bandmates.
On the opening night of the reunion tour, Halliwell referred to the incident by amending the lyrics to the band's debut single, Wannabe.
"If you really bug me then I'll say goodbye," she sang, adding: "And I did!"
Bunton who injured her ankle during the band's final US concert in Las Vegas on Tuesday wore an elasticated support throughout the show.
In the coming months, the five will also perform in Cape Town, Buenos Aires, Shanghai, Sydney and Beijing.
But the original dates for these performances have been cancelled after the band decided to reschedule the tour due to cope with exceptional demand for tickets.
Unfortunately the girl power band never lived up to the pre tour hype, the performance including a mixture of old and new reinforced the fact that none of the five can actually sing and the groups somewhat 'wooden' dance routines added to the lack lustre performance.
Really the Spice Girls or more appropriate Spice Middle Aged Mums should have left the comeback to Take That a band with true talent.
The Spice gig was in complete contrast to Rock legend Bruce Springsteen's gig as the 'Boss' serenaded his audience with Christmas classic Santa Claus is Coming To Town to end his first UK show of 2007.
"Do you believe in Santa Claus?" the 59-year-old asked before he launched into the song, a chart hit in 1985 and a festive airplay favourite ever since.
The gig, at Belfast's Odyssey arena, is one of only two UK shows scheduled for Springsteen's 2007 world tour. If this is a sample then the audience is in for a real spetacle when Springsteen hits London's O2 arena on Wednesday. The current world tour marks the first time in almost five years that the blue-collar rocker has played live with the E Street Band. In an energetic two-and-a-half hour set in Belfast, Springsteen delivered hits like Born To Run and Dancing In The Dark alongside tracks from his latest album, Magic, the record, which went to number one in October, includes lyrics which lash out at the war in Iraq.
Introducing the album's title track, Springsteen said: "In my country today the truth has become lies and the lies have become the truth and that's the magic."
On a less political note, he dedicated I'll Work For Your Love to a couple in the audience who had come dressed in their wedding outfits.
Springsteen recently revealed plans to bring his tour back to Europe in 2008 for a series of stadium shows including three UK dates - at Manchester Old Trafford on 28 May, London's Emirates Stadium on 30 May, and Cardiff's Millennium Stadium on 14 June.
For a true music treat forget the Spice tour save it for the Boss
Tagged in The Spice Girls