I was one of the lucky ones that got to go to Melanie's Toronto show last
Monday(Oct. 4, 1999) at The Guvernment. She was so amazing throughout the
entire show! I still can't believe I was actually there. I just thought I'd
share my experience with you. So sit back, and enjoy!

I have never dreamt in my whole entire life that I would get to see
Melanie Chisholm, my one and only inspiration, in the flesh. It was always
just wondering, wondering what I would do, how I would react, if I were to
see her in person. I'd always wonder what I would give to hear Melanie's
beautiful voice, just to hear her sing one note. But on Oct. 4, 1999, both
of my wishes came true. And the answer, to what I have to give, was simply
20 dollars Canadian. (Talk about value...)

Everything I expected to happen to me during the wait between getting my
hands on the tickets and the actual night of the concert never happened.
All the excitement, all the hyperness, all the jumping around, the not
being able to sleep at night...none of it happened. But that's not to say
that I wasn't excited. I was just too shocked. I was in so much shock
during those ten days, that I never reacted to any of what was to become
reality for me. Life just went by as usual, and in my subconscience I knew
that there was something to look forward to on Oct. 4, but I never
believed it was happening to me, and so I had nothing to get excited over.

The comprehension of what was going on finally hit me an hour before the
concert. I was having dinner in a small indoor café across the street from
The Guvernment(the club that Melanie was playing at), and as I finished
eating the chicken on my plate and looked outside the window at the club,
I wanted to throw up. Everything that I've eaten. The realization that I
was indeed only across the street from Melanie hit me hard and it was as
if my mind went flying from the sudden realization. I started to get
really nervous, but I showed none of it on the exterior. I was just
unusually quiet.

Finally it was time to go in. The Guvernment, a place I've never been to,
turned out to be a really funky night club with an excellent vibe. It
wasn't very big, with a capacity of only 1,100 people. The place was about
half filled when I went in, and the show was starting in an hour. Already
there was a huge crowd around the stage, so I quickly made my way towards
the sea of people.

It was then when I really began to get annoyed at my height. Being as
short as 5', I could barely see ANYTHING, especially when there's about
ten million people in front of me. However I was able to see the metallic
rim of the drums, the top, sort of curvy thing that goes over the drums,
and a black vertical stick that stood proudly in the air. I desperately
prayed that it was the mic stand.

The audience was made up of mainly people in their mid-twenties. There
were some people that look about forty and the second largest group would
probably be teenagers, like 14 to 19 I'd say. There were a couple of kids
that looked about eight. But there were a lot of people, men, that you
would never expect to see in a Spice Girls t-shirt. Half shaved head(with
hair in the middle), tattooed(not that I'm stereotyping anybody, I'm just
trying to get you a mental picture), tough looking muscular men, in a
Spice Girls t-shirt. It was a bit overwhelming for me, just because I
didn't really expect that.

After standing around for what seemed to be three hours in which I once
again forgot about the realness of what was about to happen, the music
started. Well there was always music, but this time it changed. There were
a bit of the computerized talking like in the SpiceWorld concerts, and
they said something about heaven, but I couldn't catch what they were
saying. Everyone started screaming. Then all of a sudden she walked on
stage.

I can't remember exactly how it happened, whether she ran on stage, jumped
onto stage, or simply walked onto stage. All I know is that she came onto
stage and the crowd went wild and I started screaming really loud and was
amazed at how loud I could actually scream. I wasn't even close to
fainting or anything like that, just plain excitement then. She smiled a
really nice smile and they went straight into "Soul Believer"(Thank God
for answering my prayer about the mic stand...)

It was probably around the second chorus, when I finally understood what
was going on, that I was indeed watching Melanie Chisholm perform, live,
right before my eyes. I couldn't believe how good the singing was. Her
voice sounded much lower than she does on radio, TV, etc., but the quality
of the performance was better than anything I've heard.

After smiling again at our loud screaming, she did "Independence Day",
which again blew me away completely. But by then I was beginning to take
her excellent performance for granted, because she's just proven herself a
truly amazing performer, so there's none of that "Oh I hope she gets the
note and makes it real nice" which you sometimes feel when watching people
perform. That's totally unecessary in a Melanie C gig, because you KNOW
she's gonna rock the house with her voice. 

It was after "Independence Day" when she finally spoke. "Hello Toronto!
How ya doin'? Good?" loud screams. "Good!" Then she went into "Northern
Star". Having heard the recording of this song, I must say that she sang
MUCH, MUCH better live than on the recording. Her band was just wicked as
well, they completely captured the magical vibe of this song, the
atmosphere was just beyond belief.

More songs went by and her performances always impressed me to the max. I
think it was in "Suddenly Monday", but I'm not totally sure, when she slid
from one note to a high note, and she did it so smoothly it was just like
singing one note and the note right above it. She hit the higher note so
effortlessly I started to(well I always have) wonder how anyone could
actually sing like that.

Melanie really did well on ballads, like "Be The One" and "Feel The Sun",
they were definitely one of my favourites. Her voice carried the songs so
well, and it was just so magical, to hear someone sing the way she did.
"Feel The Sun" especially touched me, I really enjoyed that one.

One thing I thought I'd mention, is her facial expressions during each
song. They are ALL different. Every song has a different mood, and Melanie
would always have different facial expressions during every song. One very
good example, would be "If That Were Me". Melanie completely put her heart
into singing that one. She had this really troubled, concerned look
throughout, especially in the part where it goes "Could you ever forgive
my self pity...", that part where it's softer, right before the last
chorus. She looked so sincere, with her eyes closed, my heart literally
stopped at the sight. You can completely tell that the girl put her heart
into every song and was really into the performing.

"Ga Ga" and "Goin' Down" were probably one of the favourites. Everybody
sang along, and there were loads of jumping around and arms in the air. I
think everybody knows about this by now, about the rock version of
"Wannabe". I had initially expected it to be a bit awkward if not totally,
but it turned out to be really wicked. It got the crowd singing along, and
it was so cute to see Melanie singing it, in comparison to everything else
she sang.

One of my personal favourites was "I Wonder What It Would Be Like". She
had A LOT of energy in that song, not that she didn't for the other ones,
just that she had extra energy for it. And she ended it a cappella,
singing "I wonder what it would be like!" Her voice was so powerful and
just so nice. The crowd went crazy for that ending.

After performing "Go", she said cheerfully "Thank you! Good night!" and
left the stage. The crowd was still in a whirl of excitement from the
excellent performance and there were a lot of talking and chatting in
impressive tone. Hungry for more, everyone started to get a bit impatient
after a while, and soon a loud chanting began to spread from one corner to
another, and before long the whole audience was screaming "Melanie!
Melanie! Melanie!"

Finally she returned. The crowd went wild. From what I've heard of the
other two gigs Melanie's done on tour before this show, I knew she was
going to do an acoustic version of "Goin' Down". I was getting really
disappointed cause she didn't do "Closer", which is definitely one of my
favourites. Just then she smiled and asked us, "Hello! Are you having a
good time?" yesssssssssssss. "Pardon? Are you having a good time?"
yessssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssss was the
answer this time. She smiled again like an angel. "Me too!"

After a bit of shifting around in the band, acoustic guitar chords played
and I thought I'd heard "Closer", but before I could think over it, she
started singing... "Lovin' you madly, will be forever" and my jaw just
completely dropped open. That could not have been human, that voice was
way too good to be true. She sounded SO nice I just stared at her, totally
shocked at the quality of her voice. It was beyond beautiful. I just
couldn't believe that it was actually possible for anyone to sing like
that. 

After saying "Thank you!" with another very cute smile, Melanie did the
closing of the night, the acoustic version of "Goin' Down". Again I had to
admire her talent. Not only did the instrumentation take on an acoustic
edge, her voice did as well. Her tone was much softer, not the volume, the
tone, and it had this sweet but mournful/bitter effect to it, which kept
the frustration of the normal version. It was a masterpiece.

Finally it was the time I've been dreading- the end. "Thank you Toronto,
you are WICKED! Big hands for my band...oh yeah! See ya!" after bowing
with the band, Melanie bounced off stage with a sweet and content smile,
and the crowd was left alone again, still screaming their heads off. 

All through the rest of the night I had a huge smile on my face, still not
able to believe what I just had the pleasure of experiencing. Every now
and then bits from different performances would get into my head and I
would think of the details of that particular moment of the show. It was
truly a blinding performance. The singing was superb without question.
It's been five days now, since the concert, but I still can't believe that
I was there, that I've seen Melanie in person, and most of all, watched
her perform live so beautifully. I don't think I will ever be able to
believe it. It's simply too good to be true. I mean what have I ever done
to deserve this incredible experience?

You can come out of Melanie C's show not being a fan of the music, but you
can't come out of the venue without the utmost respect for that girl's
talent. 



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"Thank you Toronto you are WICKED!"
~ Melanie C, Oct. 4, 1999 at The Guvernment
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