Here & Now Tour, Brighton Centre, Brighton

Never mind the music, here's the nostalgia

This is hen-night heaven. Swaths of excitable thirtysomethings are dressed in period costume; you can barely see the stage through the back-combed hair. One group of woman are kitted out as Adam Ant-style highwaymen. It seems no one told them that their Prince Charming, the original headliner of tonight's show, is indisposed.

Welcome to the second part of the Here & Now tour. If part one passed you by, allow me to fill you in. This is where the pop stars of the Eighties get to relive past glories while securing some cash for the kids' school fees. That most of the performers are pulling larger crowds than they ever managed in their heyday is hardly the point. Nostalgia is now pop's greatest money-spinner. Even Britney would struggle to compete with this.

With clearly nothing better to do with their lives, Go West are back for a second round. Once again, they play competently enough, though songs such as "Call Me" and "The King of Wishful Thinking" remind you that Eighties music wasn't all funny-bad – a lot of it was just bad.

Belinda Carlisle does her best to get through the show with quiet dignity, padding about the stage in bare feet and silk pyjamas. True, her voice isn't quite up to the job any more, but it's the songs that really suck. Carlisle always peddles the kind of soft rock Bon Jovi were so much better at. Indeed, you wonder why the Here & Now organisers didn't just go ahead and hire Bon Jovi.

In the 15 or so years since he last had a hit, Howard Jones's bird's-nest fringe seems to have slipped down to his chin. But, facial hair aside, his set is splendid. "What Is Love?" and "Like to Get to Know You Well" have the same rabble-rousing catchiness they did two decades ago.

ABC's Martin Fry brings some much-needed sparkle and charisma to proceedings. A vision in a glittering pink suit, the singer coos: "We're not overdressed, are we?" "Poison Arrow" is performed with satisfying melodrama, particularly from the backing singers, who enact Shakespearean death scenes with each chorus. "When Smokey Sings," Fry's tribute to Smokey Robinson, is fabulous as well.

By comparison, Hadley, Norman and Keeble – former members of Spandau Ballet – are tedious, not least because they insist on doing an extended medley of their greatest hits. Hadley at least still looks the part, with his sharp suits and greasy flick. But the Kemp brothers were wise to stay away.

The tour visits London (Wembley Arena) tonight, Sheffield (Arena) tomorrow night, and Manchester (MEN Arena)on Saturday 27 April