Sportin' girl

Mel C gives fans a treat at Winspear

EDMONTON -- It's almost too bad that Melanie Chisholm is a Spice Girl.

 That's a lot of baggage for any performer to carry, even one as peppy as She Who Shall Be Called Sporty.

 Luckily, Melanie C was more than up to the task of proving she's not some sad Ringo Starr-esque novelty act when she bounded onto the stage at the stately Winspear Centre last night, glowing like a Liverpudlian Easter bunny making an early visit.

 Backed by a watertight five-piece band, Melanie C gave the mostly female, mostly under-18 crowd exactly what they (presumably) came for - a solid hour-and-a-bit of music, performing her entire solo debut Northern Star from one end to the other and mixing it up with some chatty banter and lots of shakin' of her blue-jean-clad booty.

 Kicking off with the first two tracks on her album, Go and Northern Star, Mel C spent some time getting the audience up to Sporty speed. Maybe it was the keep-your-bum-in-your-seat rule of the Winspear or maybe it was the percentage of slightly wary parents in the crowd, but it wasn't until Mel was sweatin' through her sleeveless pink top that the fans seemed to really get into her groove.

 Battling a sound mix that didn't give her voice the space it deserved - at times it seemed like her microphone was off completely, and only lung power was getting the song across - the solo Spice wiggled, strutted and windmilled her way through all the tricks in her bag, from the melancholy homelessness tune If That Were Me to the trance-flavoured Feel the Sun to the tasty pop confection Suddenly Monday to the loud n' raunchy Goin' Down. (Earlier on, when Melanie flipped a double bird while singing about mean men, you could practically hear the parental types in the audience squirming in their seats. This isn't your eldest daughter's Spice Girl!)

 The only weird point - not counting Mel C getting randy with a mike stand in front of an auditorium of teenage girls - was When You're Gone, her duet with Bryan Adams ... minus Bryan Adams. The feedback squeal at the end didn't help, either. (Fire the sound guy, please.)

 For Never Be the Same Again, the final song before her encore, Mel C told Winspear security to chill and ordered everyone out of their seats. And when the audience sang the final verse, a cappella and in perfect unison - hell, it sounded like a children's church choir. Lumpy throat time.

 Opening act Tariq, a funky folkster from Calgary, was perfectly solid and engaging. Lots of variety. The Spice of life. (More on: Spice Girls).

		Concert rating