Gigs

So I went to see the Spice Girls at the Millennium Dome last night (Sunday) and, as I was expecting, had a very nice time.
If you haven't been to the Millennium Dome the magnificent arena built inside it is more akin to a US basketball arena than Wembley Arena or Earl's Court - the main differences being a much smaller floor area and much higher and steeper side tiers. Levels 2 and 3 are boxes, so the hoi polloi are either on level 1 or level 4, and really level 4 is a long way away (I was in level four for Justin Timberlake, the Rolling Stones, and the first of my Prince gigs this year).
On this occasion I was in level one, so had a decent view of the stage and didn't feel I was watching something on TV.
The show is excellent fun - the opening is fantastic (an exellent Spice Up You Life followed by an equally excellent Stop) and after that you get a run through the Spice Girls hits with only a couple of album tracks thrown in. The change costumes a couple of times, but not excessively. The highlights (other than the opening) are a stupendous version of Viva Forever, an emotional Mama, a beautifully staged the Lady is a Vamp, and a bookending version of Spice Up Your Life done in a riot of colour at the end of the encore. The lowest point (thoguh still not too bad) was a fast reworking of Too Much. This is probably the Spice Girls' greatest song, and the grand, stately pace of the original is its glory - speeded up it lost most of its impact.
There are some fascinating side issues - some self deprecating staged banter ("can you help me with my bra?" - "my how you've grown") which is all very sweet, but in particular two moments slap you in the face; the first is when the rest of the girls leave the stage and Victoria sashays around the stage on her own, which is fine, except that it is followed by Mel B and then Emma performing solo singles - of course Victoria has nothing (I think there's just the True Steppers single); the second is where Geri disappears into the stage during the last chorus of Viva Forever, not merely to get ahead for a costume change (after all we are now expecting a solo Geri song - she comes on later to do "It's Raining Men") but because the rest of the group are going to perform Holler, and SHE WASN'T ON IT and they haven't rearranged it. There is another song from the last album a bit later also sans Geri, though she is given some bvox for Goodbye, which finishes the main part of the show.
Meanwhile, generally the show is the Triumph of Mel C - as well as getting most of the important vocals in the Spice Girls songs (interesting Emma and Mel B int hat order have the next most solo lines - though the biggest cheers were for Victoria's solo lines), her solo spot is the brilliant (and brilliantly rendered) "I turn to you") and she clearly seems to be leading the group musically.
So a very nice evening with an enthusiastic crowd (mainly women) - the right kind of entertaining party in the run-up to Christmas.