Zig-A-Zig-WHAT?

OK, when I found out about the Spice Girls concert, I was so excited. I never saw them in concert when they were big like 10 years ago, and discovered that all of my friends were carrying around that emotional scar as well. Now, as what technically qualifies as adults, we could afford the tickets, didn’t need parental supervision, and *BONUS* could drink.

Tickets were an ungodly amount that I wont disclose, except to say that the price we paid was more than I feel comfortable with, and we were still in the nosebleeds. Like whoa. Bleeding noses all over the place. Also, in case you don’t know. The Verizon Center nosebleed seats are angled in such a way as to create a very real fear of falling to your death. The angle down from our seats was so severe that one could not differentiate individual seats, even 5 rows down, it was all just a wide slide of terror.

Emily had decided to wear the crazy 8 inch platform sneakers, so she was our main concern in keeping her from death. She called her boyfriend to ease her fear and he said, “c’mon, its not that bad. The Grand Canyon is deeper”

The show ended up starting almost and hour and a half late. It was scheduled to start at 7:30, but didn’t start until roughly 9. While waiting for le Spices, we were “entertained” by the top 40 hip hop songs on a looped CD. I swear, if I see another skinny 13 year old wiggle along to “Umberella” I’m going to puke.

And that was another thing. The crowd was made up of people my age, understandably, but also 13 year old girls. They can’t remember when the Spices were big, they would have been 3 years old! How on earth did they A) know who the hell the Spice Girls were and B) get tickets? End of Rant

When the Spices did take the stage it was all that I hoped for and more! Well, maybe not more, but certainly all that I hoped for. They did some of their Uber Big numbers and moved into less well known songs from their one album without Ginger. Those weren’t as fun for me because they were songs I didn’t know, but I bounced and screamed or swayed along.

Each Spice did a solo number, Ginger sang “Its raining men”, Baby sang “Maybe”, Scary sang “Are you gonna go my way”*, Sporty sang her solo single “I turn to you” and Posh just walked the catwalk in a Roberto Cavalli little dress. Oddly, she may have gotten the biggest applause.

*Scary’s “are you gonna go my way” featured pulling a poor man out of the audience and chaining him into a cage that she then crawled over and gyrated on. I asked Emily if she would be OK with the Fiance being serviced by a Spice Girl and she thought it over for a second and said, “sure”.

The big moment for me came at the end of the show. They had yet to sing “wannabe” which was their big hit in the US, the song that encapsulates all things Spice for most young girls in middle school. It’s the ‘girl power’ anthem! So we were beginning to get antsy as it was clear that the show was coming to a close and as of yet, no “Wannabe” but then, during one of their odd banter moments, Scary looked out at the audience and says “Washington DC, I have a question. Zig-A-Zig- What??” I lost my shit! But no one else got it. She asked again “Zig-A-Zig WHAT????” At this point I was screaming so much that my vocal chords simply shut down. No noise was coming out, but did I let that stop me? NO! What I wanted more than anything was to “Zig-A-Zig-Ah” with the Spice Girls. It was the moment that I was most looking forward to, and here it was! when they did start the intro the whole crowd lost it, but I felt lovely in being able to anticipate because I can decipher a Leeds accent.

The whole night was one for the books, the girls looked beautiful, they sang songs that really defined my little middle school self, they preach ‘girl power’ the right that women have to be powerful as opposed to subservient, and they do it all in great shoes.

*note* Many of the photos here are stolen outright from Felicia Herzog, as she had much better seats. Eventually I will try to post my CrapCam® photos, but for now, Felicia's are the best ever!