It was intended to be a big thank you and a fitting farewell to their fans, but in June 2007 when the Spice Girls announced their plans for the “Return of the Spice Girls” tour, Emma Bunton, Geri Halliwell, Melanie Brown, Melanie Chisholm and Victoria Beckham could have had little idea what a huge success their tour would turn out to be. Now the five girls can look back on 47 sell-out shows — a success backed up by Sennheiser technology.

“The Return of the Spice Girls” tour — Emma, Geri, Mel B, Melanie C and Victoria say farewell to their fans
(© 19 Management)

As usual, the Spice Girls’ series of concerts broke all records: in London they filled the O2 Arena 17 times, and they gave six concerts in the New York area, including a sold-out show at the legendary Madison Square Garden arena. Their farewell tour took the five girls across North America and Europe, in the company of Sennheiser’s wireless technology.

The Spice Girls sang using very special microphones: their SKM 935s were lavishly adorned with rhinestones; even the ear pieces on their evolution wireless monitor receivers were decorated. The band used (much plainer) evolution wireless guitar systems and all the microphones were used with EM 550 twin receivers. Ray Furze, the tour’s FOH engineer: “For the Spice Girls tour we needed great sounding vocal mics with rock-solid radio performance. The 935 capsule proved to be an excellent choice. We had no radio drop outs on the whole tour and I found they were highly resistant to feedback, even with all five mics 20m in front of the PA.”

As exceptional and individual as the Spice Girls: the rhinestone-studded SKM 935 microphones and evolution wireless monitor receivers (© 19 Management)

Monitor technician Matt Napier adds: “After Ray Furze and I reviewed all the radio systems that were available for the Spice Girls tour, it quickly became obvious that Sennheiser was the logical choice. With five girls, lots of quick changes and a huge set, not only would we need equipment that sounded good, but something that was durable and had

rock-solid RF.” In total 20 channels of radio were used for the tour, during which they would be visiting multiple locations, often with very short set-up times. “There were many days when the quick scan function became invaluable,” continues Napier. “The small pack size of the G2 in-ears was an instant hit with the girls, and the G2 mics have taken a battering and worked flawlessly. To date we have not had one drop out. Technical points aside, the best part of working with Sennheiser has been the fantastic back-up. From the planning stage with expert technical help (many thanks to Dave Hawker from Sennheiser UK) to on-the-road back-up from Mark Saunders and Kristy Jo, Sennheiser have done a fantastic job.”

“The Return of the Spice Girls” tour marks the end of a fairytale career. The girls’ big break came in 1996 with their hit “Wannabe”, when the song shot to number one in the British charts and took the top spot in 30 other countries as well. More hit singles and their first album “Spice” came out the same year, quickly turning the Spice Girls into Britain’s hottest band. Their second album, Spice World, sold more than 10 million copies. When Geri Halliwell left the band to go solo, the band kept going initially. In 2000 their album “Forever” appeared — but despite the title, it was to be the last time they would work together for quite a while, with the Spice Girls going their separate ways. Then sensational news came after a break of seven years: last June, Baby, Scary, Sporty, Posh and Ginger Spice announced plans for a huge farewell tour. Tickets sold out almost straight away, meaning that extra shows had to be laid on. The Spice Girls’ “Greatest Hits” album went platinum just two weeks after its release — a wonderful parting gift for the band and fans alike.

The Sennheiser Group is one of the world’s leading manufacturers of microphones, headphones and wireless transmission systems. A family firm established in 1945 and based in Wedemark near Hanover, Germany, the company recorded sales of over 356 million euros in 2006, 82% of which was generated abroad. Sennheiser employs over 1,800 worldwide, around 55% of whom are in Germany. Sennheiser has manufacturing plants in Germany, Ireland and the USA and is represented worldwide by subsidiaries in France, Great Britain, Belgium, the Netherlands, Denmark (Nordic), Russia, Hong Kong, India, Singapore, Japan, Canada, Mexico and the USA, as well as through long-term trading partners in other countries. Also part of the Sennheiser Group are Georg Neumann GmbH, Berlin (studio microphones), K + H Vertriebs- und Entwicklungsgesellschaft mbH (Klein + Hummel studio monitors, installed sound) and the joint venture Sennheiser Communications A/S (headsets for PCs, offices and call centres). 

Download press release:
press_release_Spice_Girls_eng.zip (4,55 MB)

You can find out the latest information on Sennheiser by visiting http://www.sennheiser.com/ or contacting:

Sennheiser electronic GmbH & Co. KG 
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Am Labor 1 • 30900 Wedemark 
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Sennheiser electronic GmbH & Co. KG
Greg Beebe
Director Global Relations
Tel:  +1 (860) 581-8052
E-mail: gbeebe@sennheiserusa.com