No gimmicks, no diatribes, no diva attitude, just soul. That was what Angie Stone gave her fans.

Miss Angie didn't tease her audience. She came, she sang and she stole their hearts.

This was a sincere, well-balanced performance from the woman known as the queen of nu-soul.

Stone tempered the intensity of her ballads with the grooves of some more up-tempo numbers.

When she opened the set with The Theme From Mahogany, it was a sign we were going to be treated to a large chunk of material from her latest album, Mahogany Soul.

Mahogany Soul is gutsier and more emotionally charged than her first album, Black Diamond, and, like many critics, I found it heavy going on my first listen. But I was eventually won over.

Stone quickly established a rapport with the diverse audience who were eager to bask in the presence of this big and beautiful woman.

When she sang the current chart rider, Wish I Didn't Miss You, she had different sections of the crowd singing separate parts of the chorus.

Everyone was on their feet clapping and singing: "Ooh, ooh, ooh, I can't eat, I can't sleep any more, waiting for love to walk through the door, I wish I didn't miss you any more."

Some of the other nuggets from Mahogany Soul included So Pissed Off, Snowflakes, More Than A Woman, Mad Issues, Easier Said Than Done, What U Dyin' For, Bottles And Cans, Brotha and 20 Dollars.

Stone's musicians and singers were also in a class of their own.

Saxophonist Reggie Hines was excellent and Angie's daughter, Diamond, gave us hope that the family's vocal legacy is safely intact.

We even got to see her five-year-old son's dancing skills - maybe another Family Stone act is on the cards for the future.

Of course, she couldn't leave out the classics that made her a star in the first place, so we heard stirring deliveries of No More Rain, Life Story, Visions and Everyday.

With that performance, Angie Stone proved, without a doubt, she is one of the queens of soul, not nu-soul or some other hackneyed derivative.

Miss Angie is about pure, unadulterated soul.

Review by Franka Philip, franka.philip@theargus.co.uk