Live & Spicy!

As the first few bars of 'Spice Up Your Life' kicked off the party at Earls Court on Saturday night, thousands of teeny boppers wearing silver spangly deely boppers bounced into giggling life.

As the eager crowd frantically wave their flourescent light wands, their heroines appear in sugary shades of matching suede outfits. Baby is pretty in pink, Scary in lime, Sporty in blue and Posh posing in purple - and apart from the tassles fringing their costumes it's clear it's going to be a no-frills affair.

There's no huge backing band, no hordes of dancers, no hi-tech light show, no clever sets, illusions, dry ice or fireworks - just four young women in great outfits, with simple, polished choreography, performing in the round.

Almost immediately, they're eager to prove they can sing. They begin the second song, 'Say You'll Be There' with a beautifully harmonised acapella intro, the crowd scream and applaud, the girls smile broadly and kick into the song proper.

They strut and stride around the stage, carefully in step with one another, carefully spaced around the circle and careful to make contact with each section of the audience, regrouping at various intervals for some girl power cameraderie and knowing smiles while they work the crowd.

Each are almost caricatures of the personas originally created for them by the marketing bods. Scary leaps and lunges, full mane in full swing, Baby is all sweetness and light with saccharine coyness, Sporty bounces about like a demented jester and Posh is the self confessed quiet one, her shyness sometimes slipping into an air of arrogance.

The set is geared to please. Tracks from both Spice and Spiceworld are gently interspersed with songs from the new album, due out next year. 'Right Back At Ya' is a feisty little number with the makings of an anthem, 'Woman' is all funked up girl power, and 'Holler' has a groovy R&B feel TLC would be proud of. Apart from these and a couple of album tracks, it's hit after hit after hit. 'Mama' sees them enlist the help of a 20 strong gospel choir and for '2 become 1' Mel G drags an acutely embarrassed looking bloke onto the stage for a slow dance while Emma scoops up an eight year old little girl called Fiona. Both of them have a microphome shoved in their faces and both of them bravely sing along, the littl'un as though her life depended on it and the bloke so excrutiatingly out of tune, he gets one of the biggest cheers of the evening.

Surprisingly the girls squeeze in just two costume changes during the evening's performance, disappearing half-way through the gig to change into some black and silver combo's for 'Stop Right Now' and returning for their encore in stunning sequin-spangled red chiffon draped in dazzling white feather boas. All very winter wonderland.

They look stunning and sound fantastic. It's a no mess, no fuss, kind of gig, beautiful in it's simplicity, touching on pantomime in places - just four young women, slick and sassy delivering what they know the fans want with a sprinkling of Crimble thrown in for good measure. . . Lovely.