mr.x
Dec 2, 2007, 1:24 AM
but noooooo.....David Beckham isn't coming!!!!!:hell:
Vancouver braces for Spice Girls concert
Dec 01, 2007 01:59 PM
THE CANADIAN PRESS
VANCOUVER – Nearly a decade after disbanding amid rumoured spats and sliding record sales, the Spice Girls return to the stage Sunday with one of the most hotly anticipated reunion tours this year.
Ginger, Baby, Sporty, Scary and Posh are now a bit older, not necessarily much wiser, but just as spicy and with "mayjah" fans, say excited concertgoers and ticket sellers.
"Everybody just remembers the Spice Girls," said fan Jenn Scheck, 26, who scored a free ticket from a generous friend. "Like, I don't even really listen to the Spice Girls but I'm just super-excited to go, you know what I mean? Just because it's the Spice Girls and they're all back! It's going to be good."
Tickets for the inaugural show at GM Place went fast after the world tour was announced in the summer.
Fans say they're drawn to the show by nostalgia and curiosity, but mostly by a genuine love of the music.
"I don't even care if they lip-synch, actually," said Dawn Teasdale, who paid $130 for a ticket she called an "early Christmas present" to herself.
"I just love their music whether they lip-synch or not. I don't care. Same with Britney Spears, quite frankly."
Hoping to cash in on the demand, some brokers flooded online resale sites with ads selling tickets for several times their face value. Floor tickets initially sold for $150 to $200 but as of late last week, resellers were asking for as much as $550 on sites such as EBay and Craigslist.
Several fans seemed more than willing to entertain the steep prices, with one person offering up to $800 for a pair in choice sections of the arena.
Others have tried appealing to the sympathies of resellers.
"Please ... I am a huge fan and slept outside a Ticketmaster location in Grade 6 just to get tickets and didnt (sic) get them then," one hopeful fan wrote on Craigslist.
"Its (sic) 10 years later and I really want to have the opportunity to see them."
Not surprisingly, the bulk of the interest has come from young women, with reseller Todd Dutlantis saying most of his ticket requests are from people between the ages of 19 and 28.
Ticket-broker Nick MacDonald says his concertgoers are as old as 50, and come from as far away as Seattle, Tacoma, Wash., and Los Angeles.
"It's a very popular show," said MacDonald, adding that fans have been more diverse than expected.
"(They're) all different individuals. Very surprising, very popular show."
However, Dutlantis complained of an apparent sales slump as the weekend approached.
"It's not selling quite as it was, ticket prices definitely have come down quite a bit," said Dutlantis, who offered pairs for $250 on Craigslist. "Justin Timberlake was a lot hotter of a show."
Nevertheless, it's clear that plenty of fans have maintained their ardour for the Brit quintet despite almost a decade of celebrity scandal, weight troubles and career missteps for various members.
Ginger Spice, a.k.a. Geri Halliwell, has traded in her voluptuous curves for a lean figure while battling bulimia and depression; Posh Spice, a.k.a. Victoria Beckham, is a frequent tabloid target for her skeletal frame, famous husband and extravagant lifestyle; while Scary Spice, a.k.a. Melanie Brown, can thank reality TV and a humiliating romp with actor Eddie Murphy for her most recent run in the spotlight.
Meanwhile, Baby Spice, a.k.a. Emma Bunton, and Sporty Spice, a.k.a. Melanie Chisholm, have managed to avoid scandal in large part. Considered to be the strongest vocalists in the group, they are said to be burdened with a good portion of the tour's singing duties.
For some fans, the Spice drama has only made the group more appealing.
"Their personalities, for sure, have always been entertaining to me," says Teasdale, who, at 35, expects to be among the older fans in the audience.
"I mean, I have a thing for celebrity gossip anyway.... Their lives, I would actually argue, are even more entertaining after the band broke up. And now that they're back together I'm super-jazzed."
Teasdale's friend Charlotte Watson said she was curious to see how Posh Spice would handle the dance routines and whether she would sing.
"I was listening to their greatest hits album and I can distinguish between all of the singers (but) I can't find a song where Posh sings," Watson notes.
"I'll be interested to see in the actual concert what's happening."
During final preparations for the tour, Mel C said Friday the quintet was looking forward to a big night in Vancouver.
"We are pretty petrified but we're just so excited," Mel C says on band website www.thespicegirls.com,
"We feel really lucky to have a second opportunity to do this."
In the same video report from rehearsals, Halliwell revealed that her 18-month-old daughter Bluebell has come down with chicken pox from Beckham's boy Cruz and is "completely pelted" with spots.
Four of the Spices are now mothers, with Brown, Bunton and Halliwell caring for children younger than two years old. Tour merchandise is said to include baby bibs, alongside T-shirts inspired by each of the Spices.
Fans can also look forward to sparkly fashions by Italian designer Roberto Cavalli, who has hinted that Halliwell could take the stage in a revamped version of her famous Union Jack dress.
Scheck predicted a spectacular show, gushing over Ginger's buff new bod while admitting her teenage allegiance to Baby Spice has switched in recent years to Posh Spice.
But she questioned whether relations between the Spices are as good as they claim, despite their continued mantra of "friends forever."
"I don't think they are (friends), but I don't know," said Scheck, adding she never regarded them to be role models, even as a teen.
"I don't think they kept, in touch, did they? They're just kind of like reuniting because they need money? Maybe they need money? Probably."
The Spice Girls' global tour next heads to San Jose, Calif., and then two shows in Los Angeles. The band's only other Canadian dates are in Toronto, on Feb. 3 and 4.
Vancouver braces for Spice Girls concert
Dec 01, 2007 01:59 PM
THE CANADIAN PRESS
VANCOUVER – Nearly a decade after disbanding amid rumoured spats and sliding record sales, the Spice Girls return to the stage Sunday with one of the most hotly anticipated reunion tours this year.
Ginger, Baby, Sporty, Scary and Posh are now a bit older, not necessarily much wiser, but just as spicy and with "mayjah" fans, say excited concertgoers and ticket sellers.
"Everybody just remembers the Spice Girls," said fan Jenn Scheck, 26, who scored a free ticket from a generous friend. "Like, I don't even really listen to the Spice Girls but I'm just super-excited to go, you know what I mean? Just because it's the Spice Girls and they're all back! It's going to be good."
Tickets for the inaugural show at GM Place went fast after the world tour was announced in the summer.
Fans say they're drawn to the show by nostalgia and curiosity, but mostly by a genuine love of the music.
"I don't even care if they lip-synch, actually," said Dawn Teasdale, who paid $130 for a ticket she called an "early Christmas present" to herself.
"I just love their music whether they lip-synch or not. I don't care. Same with Britney Spears, quite frankly."
Hoping to cash in on the demand, some brokers flooded online resale sites with ads selling tickets for several times their face value. Floor tickets initially sold for $150 to $200 but as of late last week, resellers were asking for as much as $550 on sites such as EBay and Craigslist.
Several fans seemed more than willing to entertain the steep prices, with one person offering up to $800 for a pair in choice sections of the arena.
Others have tried appealing to the sympathies of resellers.
"Please ... I am a huge fan and slept outside a Ticketmaster location in Grade 6 just to get tickets and didnt (sic) get them then," one hopeful fan wrote on Craigslist.
"Its (sic) 10 years later and I really want to have the opportunity to see them."
Not surprisingly, the bulk of the interest has come from young women, with reseller Todd Dutlantis saying most of his ticket requests are from people between the ages of 19 and 28.
Ticket-broker Nick MacDonald says his concertgoers are as old as 50, and come from as far away as Seattle, Tacoma, Wash., and Los Angeles.
"It's a very popular show," said MacDonald, adding that fans have been more diverse than expected.
"(They're) all different individuals. Very surprising, very popular show."
However, Dutlantis complained of an apparent sales slump as the weekend approached.
"It's not selling quite as it was, ticket prices definitely have come down quite a bit," said Dutlantis, who offered pairs for $250 on Craigslist. "Justin Timberlake was a lot hotter of a show."
Nevertheless, it's clear that plenty of fans have maintained their ardour for the Brit quintet despite almost a decade of celebrity scandal, weight troubles and career missteps for various members.
Ginger Spice, a.k.a. Geri Halliwell, has traded in her voluptuous curves for a lean figure while battling bulimia and depression; Posh Spice, a.k.a. Victoria Beckham, is a frequent tabloid target for her skeletal frame, famous husband and extravagant lifestyle; while Scary Spice, a.k.a. Melanie Brown, can thank reality TV and a humiliating romp with actor Eddie Murphy for her most recent run in the spotlight.
Meanwhile, Baby Spice, a.k.a. Emma Bunton, and Sporty Spice, a.k.a. Melanie Chisholm, have managed to avoid scandal in large part. Considered to be the strongest vocalists in the group, they are said to be burdened with a good portion of the tour's singing duties.
For some fans, the Spice drama has only made the group more appealing.
"Their personalities, for sure, have always been entertaining to me," says Teasdale, who, at 35, expects to be among the older fans in the audience.
"I mean, I have a thing for celebrity gossip anyway.... Their lives, I would actually argue, are even more entertaining after the band broke up. And now that they're back together I'm super-jazzed."
Teasdale's friend Charlotte Watson said she was curious to see how Posh Spice would handle the dance routines and whether she would sing.
"I was listening to their greatest hits album and I can distinguish between all of the singers (but) I can't find a song where Posh sings," Watson notes.
"I'll be interested to see in the actual concert what's happening."
During final preparations for the tour, Mel C said Friday the quintet was looking forward to a big night in Vancouver.
"We are pretty petrified but we're just so excited," Mel C says on band website www.thespicegirls.com,
"We feel really lucky to have a second opportunity to do this."
In the same video report from rehearsals, Halliwell revealed that her 18-month-old daughter Bluebell has come down with chicken pox from Beckham's boy Cruz and is "completely pelted" with spots.
Four of the Spices are now mothers, with Brown, Bunton and Halliwell caring for children younger than two years old. Tour merchandise is said to include baby bibs, alongside T-shirts inspired by each of the Spices.
Fans can also look forward to sparkly fashions by Italian designer Roberto Cavalli, who has hinted that Halliwell could take the stage in a revamped version of her famous Union Jack dress.
Scheck predicted a spectacular show, gushing over Ginger's buff new bod while admitting her teenage allegiance to Baby Spice has switched in recent years to Posh Spice.
But she questioned whether relations between the Spices are as good as they claim, despite their continued mantra of "friends forever."
"I don't think they are (friends), but I don't know," said Scheck, adding she never regarded them to be role models, even as a teen.
"I don't think they kept, in touch, did they? They're just kind of like reuniting because they need money? Maybe they need money? Probably."
The Spice Girls' global tour next heads to San Jose, Calif., and then two shows in Los Angeles. The band's only other Canadian dates are in Toronto, on Feb. 3 and 4.