Craig David is one of those must-see acts on the contemporary scene. For those, like myself, seeing him live for the first time, he did not disappoint or surprise.

The 3,000 fans who packed the Brighton Centre were treated to a mix of garage, R'n'B and rap by the 22-year-old megastar from Southampton.

For a support act, we were introduced to the powerful singing of up-and-coming artist Michelle Lawson, who looks good and sounds good with her solid medley of songs with a blues flavour.

Whether she progresses or disappears in the plethora of young female singers around remains to be seen.

Craig is supposed to be sexing up his image by talking of his liking for porn movies and enjoying a string of dates with beautiful women.

He is not an obvious sex symbol and at times could have moved his tall frame around the stage a little more but there is no doubting his command over an audience.

As with any singer, hand them a talented set of musicians to work with, give them good lighting effects and a sound system, put them in front of 3,000 paying fans and you have a concert, no matter how talented they are.

Craig David is definitely a talented artist who can put on a slick act, entertain his fans and probably gather more along the way.

We were only just into his set when we were treated to his best-known hit, Seven Days.

Interspersed within his mix of garage and blues, we had his other major hits such as Walking Away and What's Your Flava.

His garage-style numbers are certainly more tuneful than some of the garage music around these days.

Cool Craig, with two keyboard players, two guitarists, drummer and a backing group of three soul singers, got virtually the entire audience on its feet.

I liked the way he introduced each band member to the audience by singing in his distinctive style.

Craig has certainly come a long way in a short time, managing to keep the commercial side of the music business happy with his ten million album sales, while maintaining his street credibility with garage music fans.

He did not disappoint the largely late teen and early 20s audience in Brighton, nor will he disappoint the many thousands who will see him on the international section of the tour, which starts next month.

The boy from the South Coast has done well and will remain a megastar.