The pom-poms are silver, they are sparkly, and they are everywhere. Seemingly every girl under the age of 13 at Earl's Court tonight (which is roughly half the audience) has pleaded with her respective accompanying parent to purchase one of these bouncy pom-pom headbands, presumably a nod to Baby Spice Emma Bunton's girly-girl pastiche of pigtails and all things Hello Kitty. Actually, one would be hard pressed to remember any video in which Baby really wore said pom-poms, but it hardly matters. Tonight, these little girls are more than Spice fans, they are a little Spice army. They're here to meet their leaders, and they mean business.

In reality, what these Spicekateers will receive is something better than they are able to appreciate. Far from the mammoth, impersonal dwellings of Wembley, tonight's in-the-round performance at Earl's Court is a surprisingly intimate choice for the certainly arena-sized spectacle that is the Spice Girls. Perhaps a year or so out of the limelight (as one unit, anyway) has humbled them. Maybe the constant onslaught of Spice imitators on the charts since 'Wannabe' first turned it around for pop music in 1996 has caused their label to worry about a splintered audience that might be simply girl-powered out. Whatever the reason, the audience are all the luckier for receiving such an atypical performance tonight.

The theme of this four-night stint is "The Christmas Tour" (hey! Imagination Alert!), and after a series of deodorant adverts and a montage of boy bands set to Christmas music plays on the overhead screens, a massive, throbbing icicle descends from the ceiling above the round stage and a small laser light show ensues. Suddenly, off to the side, from a collection of fake snow-covered pines, a platform rises into sight, with four figures, mistakable at first for mannequins, frozen in familiarly cheeky poses, drawing a deafening cry from the high-pitched crowd. Sure enough, it's them, and every single one looks as Spicey as ever.

The girls bound down the plank and gallop around the perimeter of the stage belting out 'Spice Up Your Life', rotating past us one by one in bright, papery outfits. With her short, spikey hairdo and blue techno-leiderhosen, Mel C looks the spitting image of Pinocchio as the four bombard us with the first round of hits, 'Say You'll Be There', 'Too Much' and 'Mama' among them.

They manage the intimacy well, opting for casual conversation and a jokey rapport with the audience in between songs rather than forcing up fake smiles or bravado. And, dammit, they sing every single note from start to finish. While not exactly Maria Callas, their voices are better than ever, particularly on vocal showoff tunes like 'Viva Forever' and their suprisingly, erm, sexy new material like the Lisa Stansfield-esque 'Woman', 'Right Back At 'Cha' and the Rodney Jerkins jam 'Holler'.

Two costume changes, some audience participation - a reluctant thirtysomething joins Mel G for a dance on '2 Become 1' - and every hit single (and no solo tunes) later, the girls encore with Wizzard's 'I Wish It Was Christmas Every Day', complete with karaoke lyrics on the screens. They ruin the moment a bit with a second performance of 'Wannabe', but all is forgiven. For, in a world of momentary pop careers and unprecedented fakery, the Spice Girls are still genuinely holding their own, they're still the best at what they do, and they seem happier about it than ever.

Daniel Werner