Wannabe: A Spice Girls Tribute coming to Sammy Krenshaw's May 27th
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Girl Power is coming to Sammy Krenshaw's on Saturday, May 27.
It's a one-night show in Tillsonburg by Wannabe: The Spice Girls Tribute band - five Toronto women who first got together for a 'one-show' tribute five years ago.
"We didn't expect that we'd still be together at this point and continuing to do this," said Suzy Wilde, who plays the role of Posh Spice. "We all sort perform in other ways - we're actor and dancers and musicians. In this industry, a lot of the time you have multiple gigs. We were noticing a lot of tributes coming out of Toronto and we started wondering what we could do. This idea (Spice Girls) occurred to us."
A couple months later, they were ready for their first show. A "one-time thing for family and friends." On the day of the show the Toronto Star published a story about them and it exploded. That night people lined up around the block, people they didn't even know.
"We weren't expecting any strangers in the audience," Wilde laughed. "It was expected to be a one-off fun kind of experiment.
"I think we sort of landed at just the right time when 90s nostalgia was really exploding. We're all women in our 20s and 30s, and as kids we grew up on that music. I personally attended more than one Spice Girls theme birthday party when I was 12 - I definitely dressed up as a Spice Girl multiple times before this band even existed, and I think the other girls can say the same.
"Yeah, we're all huge fans. Spice Girls was my very first CD, actually. My mom bought it for me. She handed it to me and said, 'these girls are really good, listen...' I remember hearing Wannabe and just loving it immediately."
Five years after Wannabe's debut, it's the 20th anniversary of the Spice Girls album Spiceworld and Wannabe is still going strong performing 30-50 tribute shows annually. In the fall Wannabe will be going on a 'Spiceworld Tour.'
"That's going to take us all over Canada and then we're going to head to the Middle East for a couple of crazy shows which we are very excited for..."
Audience participation is encouraged, said Wilde.
"We strongly encourage the audience to sing along and dance with us, and dress up as their favourite Spice Girl and just have a great time.
"We get lots of people dressing up - it's pretty fun. Growing up, my favourite was Ginger. She just really resonated with me because she's so strong and outspoken and I really like that in a person.
"It's funny because sometimes people will come up and whisper in your ear... 'YOU were always my favourite.' They kind of get wrapped in the fantasy, they really want to believe that we're actually them. It's fun because we all get to feel like we're famous without actually having to be famous."
Wannabe appeals to a wide demographic, including kids as young as 10, but mostly 'kids of the 90s.'
"Nostalgia is a huge part of it," said Wilde. "Secondly, it's really fun music. It's bouncy, it's energetic. And it's actually really good, too. A lot of it is derived from old Motown and just classic pop... and those hooks are pretty amazing. Another thing is, they (Spice Girls) don't just talk about romantic love. A lot of the messages that come out in their music talks about friendship and female camaraderie, which I think was really important back then and I think is very important and meaningful right now, especially in this political climate."
Wannabe: The Spice Girls Tribute
Saturday, May 27
Sammy Krenshaw's, 51 Broadway, Tillsonburg
Doors open 7:30 p.m.
Tickets at Sammy's, Bell Store Tillsonburg, and online at OurEvent.ca
Wannabe lineup
Suzy Wilde, Posh Spice
Catherine Merriam, Baby Spice
Anika Johnson, Sporty Spice
Barbara Johnston, Ginger Spice
Teanne Collins, Scary Spice