DUBBED by some as the only Spice Girl that can sing – Mel C certainly has no worries of ever needing to return to the biggest selling all-girl band that catapulted her to stardom.

DUBBED by some as the only Spice Girl that can sing – Mel C certainly has no worries of ever needing to return to the biggest selling all-girl band that catapulted her to stardom.

Scary, Baby, Posh and Ginger may all be struggling to get a turn on the karaoke down at their local, let alone carve out a successful solo career, but Sporty has spiced up her life for the better.

In front of a sell-out crowd at the Ipswich Regent last night, Mel C gave a hugely energetic performance and had the audience feeding out of her hands and could do wrong.

Her arrival on stage was met with thunderous drumming and strobe lighting and immediately brought the crowd to their feet. They clapped and cheered and never back in their seats.

Dressed casually, or you could say made little effort, in jeans, a black vest top and red shoes, she opened her show with Yeh Yeh Yeh – a track from her new album Reason - followed by another heavy rock tune Let's Love - either I doubt will make it into the charts!

After the ear-splitting opening she went onto sing the slower Here It Comes Again, a chart song more familiar with the crowd.

Other songs from the album included the ballad Soul Boy, which was rather dull and uninspiring, while neither of the softer tunes, Melt, nor Lose Myself In You really stood out.

However, Mel C is strong vocally, albeit seemingly off key on occasions, and her energetic command of the stage captivated the audience throughout her hour and a half performance.

She played to an audience that spanned the teenage years to thirtysomethings and treated her fans to 19 songs, including a handful from her multi-platinum debut album Northern Star.

Throughout the show Mel C received wolf whistles and shouts of We Love You and she returned the adulation by touching hands with the crowd and waving and making lots of eye contact.

Mel C was no doubt at her best when she gave powerful performances of crowd favourites Never Be The Same Again, Baby When You're Gone and I Turn To You – which ended the show on a real high.

She is definitely now more rock chic than sporty. Her performance was second to none and vocally she was strong. But in my opinion, the tracks on her latest album are somewhat weaker than her first and the song Home made feel that's exactly where I wanted to be.

GEORGINA JAMES