LONDON:

The reviews are in, and everyone is agreed on one thing — the backing dancers were wonderful. “A marvel to watch,” according to the Toronto Star. Oh, and the Spice Girls didn’t fare too badly either during their first performance on the reunion tour trail in Vancouver. Though some reviewers appeared to damn the two-hour, 22-song set with

faint praise, the quintet’s energy, good humour and Roberto Cavalli costuming won most over.

The show began with a video of five young Spice alike girls surrounded by butterflies and dreaming of growing up to be pop stars, and the girls burst forth on stage, clad in shimmering gold outfits that made at least one of them look like C-3PO, albeit with a lower body-fat percentage.

They whirled through all their greatest hits to wild audience enthusiasm, though this didn’t spill over into a rapturous reception for their new song and all pulled off solo numbers with aplomb. The stand-out exception was Victoria Beckham who looked uncomfortable ... and at least one point started to sing a line before it was time.” Perhaps fortunately, the fans were not there entirely for the music but for the time warp factor. “It was so good ... like being reminded of when you were a little girl dancing in your room,” said 19-year-old Nicola Bride of Kenora, Ontario. “They’ve still totally got it!” averred Sarah Davies, 40, who attended the concert with her eight- and 11-year-old daughters.