UK Edition
Review
Kylie Minogue: a perfect mix of nostalgic party hits and sexually-charged new bangers
During a glittering gig at BST Hyde Park, the Australian Princess of Pop delivered a set that reached across the generations
The world has plenty to thank Australia for: cute koalas; Crocodile Dundee; a distant new home for 19th-century British criminals. And, of course, Kylie Minogue, the much-garlanded “Princess of Pop”, who has been lighting up dancefloors with her infectious hits – and sparkly personality – for almost forty years.Last night in London, the 56-year-old Minogue took to the Hyde Park stage with scores of backing dancers, five outfit changes and four decades-worth of irresistible pop bangers. She got the party started with the very first number: the title track from Tension, last year’s pulsating electro-album which has been widely credited with revitalising her career.
Dressed in primary-coloured, skin-tight latex, Minogue and her dancers looked like a cross between a Durex advert and the Teletubbies, a fitting aesthetic, considering her back catalogue encompasses both lust-filled club tracks and children’s party fodder. With its synth-driven chorus, Things We Do For Love – also from Tension and never before played live – evoked the Eighties excess that made Minogue’s name as a singer after she left the cast of Neighbours in 1988. But the inevitable highlight came from Tension’s unstoppable, Grammy-winning anthem, Padam Padam. Her most confident track in years, it breezily fuses Euro-inflected house and electronic dance music with the bubblegum pop that made her famous. She also premiered My Oh My, a thumping new slice of electronica produced by Steve Mac – the mastermind behind chart-toppers from Calvin Harris, Little Mix and One Direction – for which she was joined on stage by Bebe Rexha and Tove Lo.
Those among the 65,000 fans who had come for a nostalgia trip were not disappointed, as Minogue offered up a set perfectly flitting between old and new. Her 1987 debut single, The Loco-motion, had everyone dig deep to remember the moves for its addictively cheesy dance routine; Love At First Sight fleetingly turned this overcast corner of the capital into the world’s sweatiest, glitteriest nightclub. And later on, a stripped-back, a cappella rendition of I Should Be So Lucky served as a reminder that, long before Minogue became an icon for gay men and good-time seeking clubgoers, she was a universal girl-next-door pin-up.
At this stage in her career, Minogue could be forgiven for resting on past glories. Instead, she is embracing what feels like a new golden patch – who can forget her fantastic performance in the Sunday afternoon Legends slot at Glastonbury in 2019, 14 years after a breast cancer diagnosis led to her withdrawal as a headliner? – and it’s a treat to watch. Somehow, she has managed to overcome the music industry’s dire obsession with youthfulness that has knocked so many of her peers out of the spotlight, to evolve into a confident, sexually-charged performer beloved by all ages. The Hyde Park crowd encompassed both young children grooving with their parents and grandparents and millennials joyously singing along. Few artists can reach across the generations like this; Minogue makes it look effortless.
Kylie Minogue has no further UK dates; BST Hyde Park concludes today with Stray Kids