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At 66, Nina Simone remains a remarkable figure. The jazz singer who quit America in the late-'60s disgusted by her homeland's continuing racism still retains her staunch political militancy. In this country, she's probably best known as the voice behind 'My Baby Just Cares For Me', but the devoted response she provokes in the Meltdown audience tonight goes way beyond that.

Despite initially struggling to find her voice, Simone is an intensely charismatic and unpredictable performer. If she feels she's not getting enough respect from the audience, she walks off and doesn't come back. Which is why between songs feels like a Stalinist rally where no-one wants to be the first to stop clapping. Simone clambers gingerly to her feet, soaks up two or three minutes of applause, sits down again, and then stands up to take some more.

Backed by a three-piece band, she mixes breakneck protest songs with snatches of gospel and more familiar material like 'Here Comes The Sun'. Throughout, she demands full audience participation - clap more, sing more, stand up, sit down, be quiet - her intensity verging on the intimidating. She ends with a few stolen bars of 'My Baby Just Cares For Me' and then a stark take on Jacques Brel's 'Ne Me Quitte Pas'. It's an astonishing finale from a woman who remains one of the most radical, haunting voices of the 20th century.

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