The notion that only Kate Moss could look good in a bin bag has just been rubbished. Beth Ditto, Gossip’s fat, feisty lesbian leader, is sporting a sparkly refuse sack, and she looks fabulous. Peacock-strutting across the stage to a show-opening snatch of Lady Marmalade, she’s as raunchy as Tina Turner and sassier than any scantily clad size-zero rival.

Bag removed to reveal a royal-blue Lycra bodysuit and a wide, glittery belt, above and below which she wobbles with every step, Ditto launches into Listen Up!, and a crowd already open-mouthed are all but floored by her vocals. Packing Aretha-style soul, the blues punch of Robert Plant and a dash of Dusty Springfield’s sweetness, the 25-year-old’s voice soars, snarls and shimmies with a mix of punk-rock attitude and pure joy. Below it, a tight, cowbell-embellished rhythm rattles along, courtesy of the guitarist Brace Paine and the drummer Hannah Blilie.

Formed seven years ago in Arkansas, Gossip last year swapped their lo-fi blues-rock for infectious punk-funk on their fourth album, Standing in the Way of Control — and the mainstream came calling. The title track is currently heading for the Top 5. Live, Ditto displays a fuller range than she does on record. The passionate slowie Coal to Diamonds is dipped in gospel, Fire/Sign swings like a Motown girl group and the punk-funk sounds more like disco — she is Diana Ross meets Chaka Khan on a Jealous Girls that positively jives. Why is only one group of girls at the front dancing?

Ditto must notice, and when she returns from a lengthy costume change — more Lycra, this time black — she is on a mission to move feet. Clambering on stage from the pit below, she pauses in a doggy position, shaking her bum until the crowd goes wild. Then she’s back on her heels, strutting like Jagger and belting out uptempo tunes. Yr Mangled Heart is a riot, but it’s an awesome Standing in the Way of Control that brings the house down. Finally, the weighty reception Ditto deserved.

Explore Music

• CD Reviews

• Live Reviews

• Classical

Editor's choice

• The 100 Best Films of the Decade
• 70 facts you didn't know about Marvel
• The 50 Biggest Movies Of 2010