Everyone thought it would be Sporty. With her big Scouse lungs, earthquake-proof ponytail and scene-stealing key changes, Melanie "C" Chisholm was the Spice Girl Most Likely to achieve longevity in the music industry. Surprise, surprise, then, that eight years since Wannabe gate-crashed the charts with its boy-baiting Hubba Bubba cheek, bland Baby Bunton is the one selling the records.

For despite a few solo number ones and respectable chart-topping duets, Mel C was dropped by Virgin last year after disappointing sales of her second album, Reason. Since then, Chisholm has undergone a radical regime change. Rather than follow Posh into the shanty towns of Peru, or change shape for column inches à la Geri, she has taken the brave step of touring new material in venues that are smaller than the security pit of most Spice Girls concerts.

Opening the tour in Glasgow's 200-capacity Barfly she seems unfazed by the intimacy, leaping onstage to deliver a passionate 21-strong set. Chisholm might be 30 now, but she's not forgotten the girl band moves, demonstrating a mean line in cheeky winks and this-means-you pointing. There are minor wobbles of insecurity - "If you like it, dance. If you think it's shite, fucking lie and dance anyway," is one attempt at banter - but her voice is on fine form, avoiding the caterwauling screeches of her ensemble, and demonstrates unexpected grace and variation.

The primary school rhymes remain ( "I couldn't live without my phone/ But you don't even have a home" sounds sillier than ever), but there's no bastardised Anarchy in the UK this time round, and the new tracks are pleasingly catchy and polished to grown-up pop perfection. The over-play-listed oldies sound good after a few years off, with the rocky vitriol of Going Down and its incongruous "I am not a whore!" chorus providing a particular highlight. She might not play stadiums again, but there's life in the old Spice yet.