I got to Wembley about 6.45, I was so glad I didn’t have to cue in that awful weather, thank god for seats! Anyway, before the gig I met up with my friend Emma W and her friend Emma B (Hello if you read this!) I also met Chris from the Shepherds Bush gig and his friend Lucy (Hello to you guys!). I spent even more money on merchandise than at SBE, I got another T-Shirt, and a mug (which I managed not to break!) I got a T-Shirt for my friend Sarah who couldn’t be there (Hiya, see you Wednesday!) and I got a book and badges for my friend Beccy’s B-Day (Happy Birthday Beccy!)
The ticket said the gig started at 7.30pm but Tomcat had been and gone by about 7.20pm, which meant I missed most of them. No disrespect but I wasn’t too upset!
I thought Kelis was good, although her set seemed to drag on slightly. I was waiting for “I Hate You So Much” that was second to last, followed by a cover of “Smells Like Teen Spirit”. They rocked and prompted more of a response from the audience, before she said we were “calm”.
It was about 9.20pm by the time Melanie came on, I thought that was quite late, but it was worth waiting for! The set list was exactly the same as the SBE gigs (at least I think so because I didn’t managed to grab a set list this time!). I thought maybe because it was Wembley she’d have some extra surprises for us, not that I was disappointed though, Melanie was wicked!
She came on stage in blue jeans and this wicked black top with tons of red and silver glittery patterns on it! Her hair looked good too!
She started the set, as usual, with “Go”. I never know why she started every gig of this tour with “Go” because last year it was the last song before the encore. Anyway, it rocked, and Wembley started liven up! Next was “Something’s Gonna Happen” I love that song, it sounds so much cooler live too! Then “Northern Star”, which is always a good one! Looking out from the stage and seeing thousands of people all waving their arms with you must be pretty cool! “Who is next, who’s gonna steal your crown? Mel C!” gets me every time! Just like the chorus of “Be The One”. I was especially pleased with myself for managing to get a photo of Melanie doing “the finger” during this one! Melanie wasn’t supposed to be swearing, but could she help herself? Noooo, I won’t repeat what she said! She did make me laugh when plugging the new Spice album. She was talking about it, and talking about the Spices in the audience, then she said “Yes Westlife ARE prostitutes!” Everyone roared, it was so funny!
She sung “Closer” which sounded really cool, it was nice to chill a bit while she was doing that! Not for long though, because next was “Independence Day”! That’s were I always go extra mental because that’s my favourite song! (Apparently it will be a B-Side to ITWM!) I was surprised at the amount of people who didn’t know the song. A lot of people had heard it from the Northern Star documentary or pervious gigs. Then Melanie did “I Want You Back” I think that song is wicked but it always sounds extra cool live because Melanie sings it like she really means it!
“Why” came next, its quite a dramatic song but Melanie sung it so well, it was excellent! Lots of energy and lots of emotion! Same went for “If That Were Me”, I really hope that song does well as a single! She told us about her plans for it, everyone cheered her, then she said jokingly “I’ll be a prostitute for this one!” once again, we roared! Heheheh!!! “Feel The Sun” followed, another song sung really well by our lovely Melanie!
Then “Goin Down” and “Ga Ga” back to back! How tired was I from jumping around like a nutter all the way through them! Melanie managed to avoid an embarrassing repeat of SBE where she forgot the words to “Goin Down”, but we didn’t escape her alternative lyrics to “My karma must be bad”, you must all know what I mean by now! “Ga Ga was just as cool, Melanie looks so funny when she rolls around on the stage! Everyone was dancing for the next song “Suddenly Monday”, Melanie sung the extended version (Why couldn’t that be on the album???) and she did her little dance with Claire – they are so cute! Claire rocks too!
Melanie threatened that the next song would be her last, she even admitted that spontaneity was not her strong point. Everyone who’d seen the show before knoew exactly what was gonna happen! Melanie sung “Never Be The Same Again” to us, then we sang to Melanie, then Melanie went, then we sung with the band, and then the band went too. And then, Melanie came back for “I Turn To You” !!! Everyone was getting really hyped up because they play some long, long into to it, then it starts up and Melanie starts doing the ad-libs at the beginning at everyone was dancing! So cool! I love it when we point to her each time she sings “I Turn To You” and then she points back!
It was the last night of the tour. Melanie assured us we were “******* excellent”, “the best crowd” and that she was glad to be back home! She thanked everyone for coming, thanked the band and all the crew and then she was off!
After the gig me and my friends (Hiya Emza, Rachel & Maria!) managed to meet Phil Jupitus, Sean Hughes and Mark Lamaar from Nevermind The Buzzcocks. Between the 4 of us we got all the autographs. I said to Sean “Did you enjoy Melanie then?” and he said to me “Ahh yeeeaahh” didn’t sound too sure about it though, or maybe I was just scaring him! We also met Dermot O’Leary and got our photo taken with him, it took ages to sort out our camera and he kept pulling stupid faces but we got the photo in the end, I hope it comes out!
Now here’s the set list for you! I think its right, apologies if not because its from memory rather than an actual list!
Set List 5th November 2000
1. Go
2. Something’s Gonna Happen
3. Northern Star
4. Be The One
5. Closer
6. Independence Day
7. I Want You Back
8. Why
9. If That Were Me
10. Feel The Sun
11. Goin Down
12. Ga Ga
13. Suddenly Monday
14. Never Be The Same Again
Encore
15. I turn To You