Knarisa’s blog

One week from today, on Friday, December 7, 2007, I attended the Spice Girls Reunion concert at the Staples Center. I was a bit hesitant upon buying these tickets though, not at all because I didn't want to see the Spice Girls, but because it was right in the middle of my finals at UCLA.  But after deliberating a little about how I could fit the Spice Girls into finals week, I jumped on the opportunity and told my friend to count me in!  So after a very long week of final projects, exams, and papers, the night finally arrived. 

As we arrived at the Staples Center, there was a huge line at the main entrance where hundreds of eager Spice fans were awaiting permission to go inside.  While we were in line, I couldn't help but notice the sheer demographics of the Spice Girls' audience for the evening.  I thought that the people that attended would be around my age - girls in their early twenties.  But from the looks of it, it seemed like the people in line never aged from the Spice Girls days.  It's either that they acted like they were in high school, or they actually were.  Other than the young, Justin Timberlake-lovin' high schoolers, the other majority of people that attended was good number of gay men of various ages.  As we got to our seats, which were surprisingly very close to the stage, I noticed a couple behind us.  The boyfriend looked embarrassed to be there and was obviously dragged there by his girlfriend.  I felt sort of bad for him because there was a bunch of teeny-boppers next to him that were pre-partying before the show.  Since the Spice Girls didn't have anyone opening for them, the venue played a lot of dance music and hip hop to amp up the audience before the show.  One song in particular that I remember was Soulja Boy's "Crank That".  I had only heard this song a couple times before in the car of my hip-hop loving friend, but I had no idea how immensely popular this song was.  The second this song was played, at least a hundred girls got up out of their seats, screamed, and started dancing like a well choreographed dance troop.  Their reaction was such a shock to me.  I just felt out of the loop and like I've been locked in the UCLA bubble for a little too long. 

When it seemed like anticipation for the show to start had reached its limit, the Spice Girls finally appeared on stage!  They were singing "Spice Up Your Life" and were each on an individual riser.  The waves of cheer and screaming from the audience was my cue to put in my earplugs.  It was actually still loud after I had the earplugs in that I can't imagine how deaf I would have been after the show.  The high-pitched screaming was so overwhelming and continuous throughout the first few numbers that it seemed like it was a Beatles concert in 60s.  I can't lie, I was screaming too.  There was just so much excitement in the room that you couldn't help but join in.  It was so great to see the Spice Girls on stage and back together again. The Spice Girls' second song was their hit, "Stop".  This is one of my favorite songs of theirs.  It is so unbelievably catchy and joyous that it can probably brighten up my mood any day.  As each of the Spice Girls alternated lines in the song, the audience would cheer for their favorite Spice Girl.  The first line went to Ginger, the second was Sporty, then Baby.  The audience seemed to cheer equally for those three.  Then, the next line went to Posh and the reaction from the audience was unbelievable.  The screams seemed at least five times as loud for Posh than any of the other Spice Girls!  I never knew that she was the "favorite" of the group, but I guess she is the new diva of pop culture.

The costumes in the show were all designed by Roberto Cavalli and were exquisite.  Cavalli smartly created updated sophisticated, and fun outfits for each Spice Girl while also incorporating each of their well-known personalities.  The choreography in the show was also very good.  The Spice Girls spent a long time rehearsing for their tour, and their hard work definitely paid off.  Their elaborate dance steps and movements were in sync with each other and looked pretty close to immaculate. I was also impressed by how well their choreographer moved the Spice Girls around the stage so smoothly and used every part of the large stage to their advantage. 

The middle of the set was surprisingly comprised of a bunch of solo numbers and overdone covers.  Although the solo tunes were decent, the numerous cover songs was the low point in the show for me because I'd much rather have the Spice Girls play more of their songs then play a medley of "We Are Family", "Celebration", and other disco hits.  However, the only cover of the night that I enjoyed was Geri's version of "It's Raining Men".  She was accompanied with ten campy, half-naked back up dancers, which was very well received by the audience. The Spice Girls saved the best for last and ended the concert with "Wannabe" and "Spice Up Your Life" (again).  Both of those performances were very fun and incredibly energetic.

Overall, the Spice Girls sure know how to end on a high note and supply their fans with a lasting memory of the show. This was one of the most fun and exciting concerts that I can remember.  I'm delighted to say that this wasn't just another reunion concert; the Spice Girls really put on a fantastic show and I felt that it was well worth the price on the ticket.  Through their showmanship and the obvious hard work that was put into making the concert, the Spice Girls provided something that you just can't get from a CD.  I absolutely adored this group when I was younger and it was awesome to see them reunited with the same fun-loving attitude and energy that they had when they were first together.

Here are a few pictures I took at the concert:

After a long week, yesterday I went to the Neil Young concert at the Nokia Center (which I've never heard of it before this concert).  It turned out that it was a brand new theater that just opened in October and was right next to the Staples Center.  It was really nice outside of the theater and seemed a bit like CityWalk.  As we approached the front of the theater, we were greeted with a lady yelling with a microphone saying, "Ladies and Gentlemen, TO THE LEFT OF ME! You will notice that here are more doors TO THE LEFT OF ME!!" As my friend Kristen and I got in line (to the left of her), I couldn't help but laugh because this lady would militantly yell her line after every breath.  You had to be there, it was too hilarious. When we got to our seats (in the higher tiers of the theater), we saw that Patti Young (Neil's wife) was his opening act.  I think that it's so cute that Patti can open for Neil and they can be on tour together.  Neil came on at around 10pm, and the theater went crazy.  The first half of the show was an acoustic set with only him on the stage and switching instruments (guitar/harmonica, piano, banjo) between songs.  I have to say that I didn't know most of the songs that he played that night, because most of his set was comprised of new stuff.  But my favorite song of the acoustic set and probably the entire show was "Heart Of Gold".  The second he played the first couple chords of the song, the audience went wild.  I find it amazing that just one man sitting on stage armed with a guitar and harmonica, can move a crowd 7,000 people.  The place echoed as the whole theater sang along softly.  The structure and chords of this song are quite simple, but it's something about its lyrics and the authenticity of his voice that makes it so perfect.  Here's a video of Neil performing "Heart of Gold" in 1971.

The second half of the show was an electric set with his backing band.  In the beginning, he flew through a number of songs, but then during one song he started soloing and it felt like it went on for at least 30 minutes.  As some old  ex-hippies were psychedelically rocking out the whole duration of the solo, I know a good majority of the people, like myself, were wondering when this song would be over.  The human attention span is a fascinating thing, and it's interesting to see how long people can hold up.  Nevertheless, since the song was so long, that made the ending cadence even more powerful. My second favorite song of the evening was the one he ended the concert with, "Tonight's the Night".  That one was great, and his backing band really rocked out with that one.  I wish that Neil played some more of my favorite songs of his like "Old Man", "Needle and the Damage Done", "Hey Hey, My My", or more stuff from his album Prarrie Wind, but I guess this legend who has been rocking out for over 30 years has too many songs in his catalogue to satisfy everyone.  Overall, it was a good concert and I can't wait too see my next concert in December, the Spice Girls. Yes, very different I know, but they were one of the first groups that I loved and I'm sure it'll be a great show with many girls my age reminiscing the good 'ol days.

And so this is where procrastination leads me...to the creation of my very on blog.  Well, I guess procrastination, reading other people's blogs, and thinking too much inspired me to make this.  I plan on using this as a creative outlet for whenever I have bursts of inspiration to write down my thoughts, but who knows how often I will be inspired to post.  It could be daily, weekly, or monthly.  I'd also like to write about music on here and some of the fascinating topics that I've come across in my classes.  Oh, I'm going to try to keep this blog public so please leave feedback/ comments if you like.  I think that is all for now...I should go study, I've been procrastinating for way too long.