April 1st, 2000.  I mean, yeah, I guess it's pretty exciting.  My Spice Girls
obsession since 1997 has been pretty hardcore.  Since then my walls have been
plastered with posters.  I know all the words to all the songs (B-sides
included).  Out of the five girls that revolutionized pop music as we know it,
Melanie C has always been my favorite.  But... My seats are crap.  Me and my
friend Veronica (who's the only person at my school who wouldn't laugh at me
if I invited her to come) are seated at almost the very back of the Massey
Theatre in Vancouver, British Columbia. The opening act, Tarak, isn't doing
much to pump me up.  His songs are crap and his feeble attempt to get the
audience to sing along to songs that he honestly feels we know the words too
are failing. Miserably. To top it all off Melanie will be singing songs off
an album that I've always perceived to be *decent*.  Good, but not great.  I
was going to be a hard sell.

After what seemed to be a very, very long time the audience said good-bye to
Tarak and prepared for Melanie C.  As the band started up I realized I felt
pretty tired and wondered how I'd last until the end of the concert and then,
as Melanie came out, the audience went nuts.  And so did I.

She wore a green vintage shirt, worn faded blue jeans, and a rhinestone belt.
I can't describe how much girl power was radiating from her.  She was so
confident and sure of herself despite the fact she'd just released the failed
'Forever' and had been constantly dogged by the media in recent months for her
weight gain.  She was strong and sexy as she ran around the stage and it was
almost surreal that my idol was in the same building as me.  As she touched
the hands of those who had surrounded the stage I realized just how sad I was
to be up on the balcony.  Me and Veronica were out of our seats and danced in
the aisles along with the diverse crowd of goths, ravers, and six year old
girls. 

During Ga Ga, both my and Veronica's favorite song, we grew desperate to be
closer to the stage.  We went out the doors and went down the stairs to the
lower level of the venue.  When the ushers were occupied we walked in cool as
cucumbers and screamed when we got inside.  We pushed our way forcefully
through the crowd and stopped when we could see the silver tooth in Mel's
mouth.  I couldn't believe how close we were.  I could see the stitching in
her pants. 

My favorite moment was the during the "last song".  Melanie performed Never
Be the Same Again and promised if we were good boys and girls and sang along,
loud as we could we would be treated to an encore.  As the band went silent
it was just us and Melanie singing the chorus over and over again.

Outside the Massey fans surrounded Mel's bus banging on the sides screaming
pleas for her to come out.  One boy wedged his foot in the tire and managed to
climb up to the window convincing Melanie's bassist to take his CD in to get
it signed.  The CD came back out with Melanie's autograph and the window was
shut.  I considered waiting around to see if Melanie would come out but I
realized that after spending my thirty-two dollars and fifty cents on this
amazing night Sporty Spice had delivered my money's worth. 

And so... maybe I've become a born again Melanie C fan.  Because *live* those
songs rocked! Every single one of them. Everybody in that place was wrapped
around her finger.