What You Really, Really Want
Spice Girls Tribute Band Wannabe Revive the ‘90s
If you were alive in the ’90s, you know who the Spice Girls are—they were inescapable.
Whether you loved or hated them, chances are you could sing along to at least one of their sassy and catchy songs.
Since their hiatus in 2000, however, seeing them perform live has been mostly reserved to watching the 1997 Spice World movie on VHS.
But POP is here to re-spice up your life.
Wannabe, a Spice Girls tribute group based out of Toronto, are embarking on a tour across Canada, on the heels of the 15th anniversary of the Spice Girls’ first world tour. Wannabe’s final stop will be playing Cabaret Playhouse for POP on Sept. 27.
The group’s five members—Anika Johnson, Barbara Johnston, Catherine Merriam, Janee Olivia and Suzy Wilde—have been involved in the Canadian arts scene for most of their lives, all of them coming from musical and theatre backgrounds.
Johnson, Johnston and Wilde played the folk circuit for years as half of the band Stonefox. In 2007, they booked a show on Halloween night at the Toronto venue The Drake. In the spirit of the holiday, they decided to do the show in costume.
“We thought that we should naturally choose the Spice Girls, because we love them,” said Johnson, who performs as Sporty Spice. “The audience went nuts, and it suddenly occurred to us—what if we did this full-time and made it a real thing?”
Evolving out of that one-off performance, Wannabe recruited Merriam and Olivia as Baby and Scary Spice and started rehearsing. They performed their first official show in January 2012 at Toronto’s El Mocambo.
“It was supposed to be a one-time thing; we wanted to put on a fun show for our friends and family,” said Wilde, who performs as Posh Spice. “All of a sudden [there was] a line around the block and we didn’t know who any of these people were.”
Wannabe tries to emulate the original group as best they can. Each member bears a significant resemblance to the Spice Girl they’re portraying, but they take it a step further by changing their hair, rocking the original ’90s-style get-ups, and even mimicking the dance moves of the internationally renowned group.
“If you watch a lot of their live performances, a lot of their choreography is really weird,” said Johnson. “We try to pick and choose the moves that we like, and try to keep it in the spirit of the Spice Girls.”
Getting into character takes some mental preparation, too. Each member has studied their Spice Girl carefully, analyzing performances to get accents, mannerisms and stage presence just right. Wilde says this was easier said than done.
“It took me a while to get into my character, because Posh doesn’t smile,” she said. “I love to laugh and have a good time. It’s been a process for me to find that inner poutiness.”
Gotta Get With My Friends
Wannabe brings the Spice Girls spirit to a whole new level by doing their own arrangements for each song, with Wilde charting out the music for their band. Their six-piece backing band is comprised of Humber College jazz students, who both Wilde and Johnson speak highly of.
“It’s a huge production, a really theatrical show,” says Johnson. “We’re not just getting out and singing the hits. We try to make a new experience out of it. It really occurred to us that we could elevate it to a more artistic level.”
Wannabe’s shows have attracted a pretty diverse audience, from 20-somethings who grew up loving the Spice Girls to members of the LGBTQ community, who have been especially drawn to their concerts.
“It’s just so fun and campy, which I think really appeals to that community,” says Johnson. “It’s so unabashedly theatrical and silly.”
Wilde agrees.
“Originally we wanted to make it like a drag show, to be larger than life in that way,” she says. “We love [the LGBTQ community] and they love us. It’s a really fun dynamic.”
They’ve even experienced a small taste of the Spice Girls’ fame.
Wilde says people often mistake them for the real thing, approaching them after shows to gush about how big a fan they are.
“They’re crying and reaching out to us on the stage,” she said. “It’s pretty insane.”
Added Johnson, “It’s really exceeded our expectations, but we should have known that we were tapping into something huge.”
The Spice Girls, arguably the biggest cultural icons of the ’90s, are relevant even today, with their 2007-2008 reunion tour and the release of their recent musical Viva Forever.
Like the original group, Wannabe is just happy to be sharing the music and empowering females.
“I think that now, more than ever, girl power is important,” said Wilde. “We need to embrace that whole idea of just loving one another, joining forces, and being strong.”
“That’s one of the things that drew us to the Spice Girls in the first place,” adds Johnson. “[This message] is definitely absent in contemporary pop music.”
But at the end of the day, it’s all about the fun.
“I think that people are really eager to jump back into the headspace of the ’90s,” said Johnson. “There’s something really sweet, positive and innocent about these songs.
“I think that people are somehow transported back to who they were when these songs first came out,” she continued. “You definitely feel this amazing energy in the room. It’s a dance party. There isn’t really any other band that could encapsulate what that time was.”
