Christmas In Spiceworld Tour
Encyclopedia
The Christmas in Spiceworld Tour was a concert tour performed by the British pop group the Spice Girls
. It came after the Spiceworld Tour
(1998) and before the Return of the Spice Girls World Tour (2007/08).
Act 2: Supergirls
Act 3: It's Christmas/Encore
Act 1: "Forever Spice": The girls entered the stage on the small stage and made their way over to the main stage. During the whole show the girls would move from the main stage to the circular one in the centre on the main stage. The version of "Right Back At Ya" performed was the pop version. The girls introduced it as a comeback song and as a get back to the critics, who said they would split. "W.O.M.A.N" was introduced as a new song from their third album, but the studio recording never surfaced. It is similar in style to "Who Do You Think You Are?" and "Never Give Up On The Good Times". For the last song of the set Melanie B and Emma Bunton would go into the audience and pick two members of the audience to join them in "2 Become 1" with Mel B saying she needs a man and Emma saying she needs a baby (a reference to her own spice persona).
Act 2: "Supergirls": There was no interlude between set one and two. The girls began "Stop" on the centre stage while it rotated around the stage. "Holler" was done as normal, though a dance interlude was added before the third verse. "Who Do You Think You Are?" was remixed into a jazz song. "Never Give Up On The Good Times" had an interlude before the final verse were the girls acted as superheros. "Wannabe" was also remixed for the tour. "Goodbye" ended with an interlude as the girls left the stage.
Act 3: It's Christmas: Before "Viva Forever" church bells were heard.
A choir performed with the spice girls during "Mama", "Goodbye" and "Viva Forever"
Spice Girls
The Spice Girls were a British pop girl group formed in 1994. The group consisted of Victoria Beckham , Melanie Brown, Emma Bunton, Melanie Chisholm and Geri Halliwell. They were signed to Virgin Records and released their debut single, "Wannabe" in 1996, which hit number-one in more than 30...
. It came after the Spiceworld Tour
Spiceworld Tour
The Spiceworld Tour was a concert tour performed by the British Europop group the Spice Girls in support of their second album Spiceworld which was the soundtrack to their feature film Spiceworld: The Movie. The sell-out European/North American tour ran from February to August 1998, after which it...
(1998) and before the Return of the Spice Girls World Tour (2007/08).
History and general information
Christmas In Spiceworld Tour was a sell out arena tour that ran for eight shows in Manchester and London, England during December 1999. The tour occurred between the albums Spiceworld and Forever. The Spice Girls debuted three new songs from the "Forever" album sessions on the tour - "Right Back At Ya (Pop Version)", "W.O.M.A.N" and the future number one single "Holler". The performed version of "Right Back At Ya" differed from the version that later appeared on the album. Rather than a Darkchild-produced R&B song, it was a "Spiceworld" - esque pop song. A studio version of "W.O.M.A.N" never surfaced. It was written by Matthew Paul Row Bottom, Richard Fredrick Stannard and the four spice girls after Halliwell left the group in May 1998. This is considered the most infamous unreleased Spice Girls song. The song was meant to be released on their third album but after it was decided that the third album would have a more R&B influence, the song was cutfor it was considered that the bubble-gum pop sound did not fit in with the rest of the album. "Right Back At Ya" was originally written and produced by the Spice Girls and Eliot Kennedy, whom they have worked with before on singles such as "Say You'll Be There" but it was remixed by Darkchild so it would fit in with the rest of the album. This offended Kennedy and he labeled the final piece another "boring, plodding R&B song".Setlist
Act 1: Forever Spice- "Spice Up Your LifeSpice Up Your Life"Spice Up Your Life" is a song by the British pop group Spice Girls. It was written by the group members, with Matt Rowe and Richard Stannard, at the same time as the group was filming scenes for their movie Spice World...
" - "Something Kinda Funny"
- "Say You'll Be ThereSay You'll Be There"Say You'll Be There" is a song by British pop group Spice Girls. It was written by the Spice Girls and Eliot Kennedy, for their debut album Spice, released in November 1996. Production duo Absolute incorporated a mix of pop and R&B into the song, which includes an harmonica solo, played by Judd...
" (acapella introduction of the first verse) - "Right Back At Ya" (Pop Version)
- "Step to MeStep To MePepsi launched a £1 million 'generation next' campaign in the United Kingdom - running alongside sales promotion activities, notably one by where consumers collected twenty pink ring pull tabs from promotional Pepsi cans, sent them off and received the free Spice Girls CD single "Step to Me" -...
" - "MamaMama (Spice Girls song)"Mama" is a song by British pop group Spice Girls. It was written by the Spice Girls, Matt Rowe and Richard Stannard, and produced by Rowe and Stannard for the group's debut album Spice, released in November 1996...
" - "Too MuchToo Much (Spice Girls song)"Too Much" is a song by the British pop group Spice Girls. Written by the group members with Paul Wilson and Andy Watkins—the songwriters and production duo known as Absolute—at the same time as the group was filming scenes for their movie Spice World, it was produced by Wilson and Watkins for the...
" - "W.O.M.A.N" (unreleased song from "ForeverForever (Spice Girls album)Forever is the third and final studio album by the English pop girl group the Spice Girls, released in 2000. It is their only album without Geri Halliwell, who later reunited with the group for their Greatest Hits release in 2007...
") - "2 Become 12 Become 1"2 Become 1" is a song by the British pop group Spice Girls. Written by the group members, Matt Rowe and Richard Stannard during the group's first professional songwriting session, it was produced by Rowe and Stannard for the group's debut album Spice, released in November 1996...
"
Act 2: Supergirls
- "StopStop (Spice Girls song)"Stop" is a song by the British pop group Spice Girls. It was written by the group members with Paul Wilson and Andy Watkins—the songwriters and production duo known as Absolute—at the same time as the group was filming scenes for their movie Spice World...
" - "HollerHoller"Holler" is one of the two songs picked as the first single from the Spice Girls' third studio album, Forever . The single was released as a double A-side single internationally, except within the United States and Canada...
" - "Who Do You Think You AreWho Do You Think You Are"Who Do You Think You Are" is a dance-pop song performed by British pop group Spice Girls. It was written by the group members with Paul Wilson and Andy Watkins,—also known as Absolute—for the group's debut album Spice, released in November 1996. The song is heavily influenced by early 1990s...
" (Jazz version) - "Never Give Up On The Good Times"
- "WannabeWannabe (song)"Wannabe" is the debut song by British pop group Spice Girls. Written by the group members with Matt Rowe and Richard Stannard during the group's first professional songwriting session, it was produced by Rowe and Stannard for the group's debut album Spice, released in November 1996...
" (Remix) - "Goodbye"
Act 3: It's Christmas/Encore
- "Viva ForeverViva Forever"Viva Forever" is a song by the Spice Girls from their second album, Spiceworld. Originally set to be released alongside the track “Never Give Up on the Good Times” the B-Side was then pulled as member Geri Halliwell left the group. The song was released on July 20, 1998 in the United Kingdom and...
" - Christmas Medley: "Merry Xmas EverybodyMerry Xmas Everybody"Merry Xmas Everybody" is a 1973 song by the English rock band Slade. Written by lead vocalist and guitarist Noddy Holder and bassist Jim Lea, and produced by Chas Chandler, it was the band's sixth number-one single in the UK...
" / "I Wish It Could Be Christmas EverydayI Wish It Could Be Christmas Everyday"I Wish It Could Be Christmas Everyday" is a popular Christmas song, first released in 1973 by the English glam rock band Wizzard.It reached number four in the UK singles chart. The song was famously beaten to Christmas number one by Slade's "Merry Xmas Everybody" which remained there for nine...
" - "Wannabe" (Reprise)
Show and stage
The stage was their most complex and most accommodating. It was set up at the far right corner of the arena with a small platform with some props such as Christmas trees. From the small platform, there was a very long runway which lead to a pentagonal main stage which was nearly in the middle of the arena. In the middle of the main stage there was a pit that contained the band. Above the pit were four small runways onto the circular centre piece of the stage which could be raised up and rotated. Above the main stage, in addition to stage lights, there were Christmas-type features such as a fake ice pillar.Act 1: "Forever Spice": The girls entered the stage on the small stage and made their way over to the main stage. During the whole show the girls would move from the main stage to the circular one in the centre on the main stage. The version of "Right Back At Ya" performed was the pop version. The girls introduced it as a comeback song and as a get back to the critics, who said they would split. "W.O.M.A.N" was introduced as a new song from their third album, but the studio recording never surfaced. It is similar in style to "Who Do You Think You Are?" and "Never Give Up On The Good Times". For the last song of the set Melanie B and Emma Bunton would go into the audience and pick two members of the audience to join them in "2 Become 1" with Mel B saying she needs a man and Emma saying she needs a baby (a reference to her own spice persona).
Act 2: "Supergirls": There was no interlude between set one and two. The girls began "Stop" on the centre stage while it rotated around the stage. "Holler" was done as normal, though a dance interlude was added before the third verse. "Who Do You Think You Are?" was remixed into a jazz song. "Never Give Up On The Good Times" had an interlude before the final verse were the girls acted as superheros. "Wannabe" was also remixed for the tour. "Goodbye" ended with an interlude as the girls left the stage.
Act 3: It's Christmas: Before "Viva Forever" church bells were heard.
A choir performed with the spice girls during "Mama", "Goodbye" and "Viva Forever"
Performers
- Emma Bunton - vocals
- Melanie Brown (or Melanie Gulzar) - vocals
- Melanie Chisholm - vocals
- Victoria Beckham - vocals
Band
- Simon Ellis - musical director / keyboards
- Michael Martin - keyboards
- Paul Gendler - guitar
- John Thompson - bass
- Fergus Gerrand - drums
Brass
- James Lynch - trumpet
- Mike Lovitt - trumpet
- Howard McGill - sax
- Winston Rollins - trombone
Violins
- Greg Warren Wilson
- Richard George
- Anne Morffe
- Laura Melhewish
- Darren Morgan
- Helen Patterson
Management and additional personnel
- Richard Jones - tour manager
- Peter Barnes - show producer, lighting & set designer
- Chris Vaughan - production manager
- Ray Furze - sound engineer
- Darrin Henson, Melinda McKenna - choreography
Tour dates
| Date | City | Country | Venue | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| United Kingdom | ||||
| 4 December 1999 | Manchester Manchester Manchester is a city and metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. According to the Office for National Statistics, the 2010 mid-year population estimate for Manchester was 498,800. Manchester lies within one of the UK's largest metropolitan areas, the metropolitan county of Greater... |
United Kingdom United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages... |
Manchester Evening News Arena Manchester Evening News Arena The Manchester Evening News Arena is an indoor arena situated in Manchester, England. It is adjacent to Manchester Victoria station near Corporation Street... |
|
| 5 December 1999 | ||||
| 7 December 1999 | ||||
| 8 December 1999 | ||||
| 11 December 1999 | London London London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its... |
Earls Court Arena | ||
| 12 December 1999 | ||||
| 14 December 1999 | ||||
| 15 December 1999 | ||||