U.S. Fans Do Without One Spice

Despite the absence of one band member, Spice Girls fans in the U.S. exhibited plenty of enthusiasm for the four remaining entertainers.

The Spice Girls opened their 40-city North American tour Monday night without Ginger Spice - Geri Halliwell - who quit the group two weeks ago. Hundreds of pony-tailed, glittered pre-teen and teen-age girls waited in nearly 100-degree heat to see the popular singing group from England.

"We love the Spice Girls and their music is so cool, and how they dress," said 15-year-old Kathy Garcia, wearing a halter top and black athletic pants to look like her favorite Spice, Sporty.

Even some grownup fans expressed their admiration for the four holdout Spices: Baby, Scary, Sporty, and Posh.

"I can't sing and I can't dance, but that doesn't mean I can't be a part of the group, does it?" one adult male fan who wore billboard signs with messages for the band, told WFOR-TV Reporter Ted Scouten.

The Spice Girls have sold 32 million albums in 2 and 1/2 years, making them one of the top-selling pop groups of the 1990s.

Pam Hagen, 42, was in a group of four mothers who came with their daughters.

"We're all Old Spice," she said.