You can't go far wrong if you take to the stage at St George's Hall wearing an 'I Love Bradford' T-shirt.

And when Melanie C provided the added bonus of having Leeds crossed out, it was no wonder she had the audience eating out of her hand.

The Spice Girl's solo concert last night had originally been scheduled for the Town and Country Club, east of Pudsey.

But its loss - the club shut down earlier this summer - was Bradford's gain as she transferred the West Yorkshire leg of her pop tour to St George's.

Melanie's solo album has wrong-footed many pundits by offering far more than just retreads of the Spice Girls' blueprint. And as she and her five-strong backing band cranked up the volume on some of the rockier numbers, it must have been quite an eye-opener for some of the seven and eight-year-olds in the audience - not to mention an ear-opener.

In fact it was the songs heavier on the powerchords that were generally the more impressive.

It was hard not to admire the super-dumb riffing of the Robert Palmer soundalike anthem Going Down. Ms Chisholm proved that a least one of the Spice Girls has a decent voice - but there was precious little in the way of dancing.

"I'm not as Sporty as I used to be," she grinned after just two songs, as if by way of explanation for her lack of on-stage exertion. Melanie came across as almost gauche in the way she waved coyly to onlookers.

One of the few occasions when she seemed to let her hair down was when she added a further spot of sartorial insanity to proceedings by re-emerging for her encore wearing a bra that had been flung on to the stage.

But it would be churlish to deny she has gained more credibility through her solo career than many would have thought possible.

And it can only be healthy for the music scene generally when someone of her status puts together a proper band - including a female guitarist and bass player - and takes a real live tour on the road.