Sisterly Love

Bless the Scissor Sisters' bellies, for the Sisters - excluding Babydaddy - were struck with a bout of food poisoning from their previous stop in Bali. Thankfully, that didn't stop the quintet of Jake Shears, Ana Matronic, Del Marquis, Randy Real, Babydaddy and two female back-up vocalists from churning out an astronomical show at Fort Gate at Fort Canning Park on Monday night.

Despite the 90-minute hold-up that left many a punter irascible, any bad mood was swiftly disposed of when the band took to the stage. Flanked by the rest of their team, Shears and Matronic pounced into the arena - in all their shredded denim and yellow polka-dot glory - with opener track Night Work. Unfortunately, their introductory ditty didn't quite hit the ground running, with the sound system drowning out Shears and Matronic.

Later, Matronic called out to the sweaty 2,500-strong assembly. "We are all feeling a touch of a Bali belly ... The louder you scream, the better we'll feel," she rallied, before she and Shears launched into T*** On The Radio, replete with high falsetto sing-a-longs, rapturous cheers and wolf whistles from an adoring crowd.

Gloriously shameless, Shears peeled off his jacket to reveal not very much else and joined Matronic in Running Out, a fast-paced piece of glam pop introspection. Later, the front woman whipped out her tambourine and slipped into Pink Floyd gear with Shears in the band's rendition of the gorgeous Comfortably Numb.

The evening was a winner - but not just because the Sisters belted out popular numbers like I Don't Feel Like Dancing, Take Your Mama Out and Filthy/Gorgeous (even though there were one too many languid numbers from the third album on the set-list).

Success came from the way Shears and Matronic delivered a mellifluous harmony that shows just how hard they've worked over a decade; their dedication and perseverance despite having their own country (that would be the United States) under-appreciate them terribly. It's their adoration for the music that places them on a pedestal far from the reaches of the pretenders.