eXplosive, eXpensive, eXtreme, and sometimes X-rated – Kylie Minogue’s X Tour came home to Sydney this week and proved to the adoring crowds that she is still the ultimate princess of pop.
From the warm-up DJ spinning the coolest club hits, to the amazing acrobatic dancers and mind-blowing visuals, this show was one big party with the Aussie songstress at the helm.
Opening with Speakerphone and emerging in a John Paul Gaultier spiderweb gown, Kylie looked radiant and excited and wasted no time in launching into her crowd-pleasers Can’t Get you Out of my Head and In Your Eyes.
Described by Kylie as “a show within a show’, the evening was split into themed acts including Cheer Squad, with Miss Minogue and her dancers throwing a high school pep rally complete with cheerleading outfits, Xposed, with Kylie dressed as a raunchy bellboy, and Black versus White, when Kylie belted out On a Night Like This and Your Disco Needs You dressed head to toe in monochrome.
In homage to the album’s electro-dance vibe, old and new songs were reworked with minimal beats and dirty bass lines. The tracks were cut with futuristic visuals in neon colours and Kylie was backed by a very cool live band.
With a nod to her huge gay following, Kylie included a very kitsch cover of Barry Manilow’s Copacabana, and Loveboat, set to a backdrop of hunky sailor boys. And for those fans longing for the the old-school classic, Kylie delved into the memory box and pulled out retro favourites Better the Devil you Know, Shocked, and I Should be So Lucky.
The high point of the evening for us was the performance of Slow, with Kylie emerging suspended on a huge silver skull singing a funked up remix of the track.
She ended the night in true Kylie style with a 30 minute encore featuring Love at First Sight and The Rain – and as the gold glitter fell from the sky the thousands of fans at the Acer were on their feet dancing to the grand finale.
A spectacular and slick show – it didn’t beat the spine-tingling performance that Kanye West delivered in the same venue the week before, but as far as polished pop performances go, it ticked all the boxes.
Amy xx
