Gig review: Kylie Minogue at Utilita Arena, Sheffield
Rejuvenated as Australia’s premier pop-export colossus over the past few years, the star cuts a confidently reinvigorated figure on this latest return to South Yorkshire.
“I’m ready to go whenever you are, Sheffield,” Kylie Minogue says, hand planted on hip and full saucy-seaside postcard grin in effect. For a woman born and raised half the world away in the bosom of Melbourne, the actress-turned-singer has always found a kinship with the risqué entertainment value and risible mischief of British humour; tongue-in-cheek lodged with a nudge and a wink beneath the arch-camp glitterati.
The Victorian star has arched a fascinating trajectory from her days as a soap drama pin-up; a genuinely fascinating performer who has battled back from both feigned obscurity and genuine adversity on-and-off-stage to cement her position as a transnational treasure.
Rejuvenated as Australia’s premier pop-export colossus over the past few years, the star arrives for this latest return to South Yorkshire as a confidently reinvigorated figure; less magnificent diva and more magnanimous darling.
Decade-plus phases of Kylie have transformed her into an earthlier creature than the tabloids would have had fans believe back in her turn-of-the-millennium heyday, a sly metamorphosis into a consummately slick entertainer underscored and undercut by a genuine sense of charm and candour.
Though most predominantly choreographed within an inch of its life, this latest run – the Tension Tour, behind her return-to-form records Tension and Tension II – sparks with a dash of spontaneity that cuts through the clamour and locates genuine emotional heft.
As deliriously entertaining as it is to see Minogue, supremely limber and flamboyant at 56, clad in a blue-PVC bodysuit as she drops through a holographic diamond array from the roof as the heavy womp-womp club beat of Lights Camera Action threatens to tear the roof off the Utilita Arena, it is in the intimate gestures that capture hearts best.
A B-stage section, complete with a sparkly red jumpsuit, allows for acoustic acapellas through Je Ne Sais Pas Pourquoi and Two Hearts; she pulls a teenage fan on stage for a hug after serenading her with verses from Where the Wild Roses Grow, her superlative dark gem of a duet with Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds.
Those in need of hits are kept regularly satisfied throughout, even as everything comes amped up with a little more techno flair; Spinning Around, On a Night Like This and Can’t Get You Out of My Head all sound positively drugged-up in their endorphin blast.
“What a night!” Minogue cries after a terrific All the Lovers, before rebirth smash Padam Padam sends everybody home grinning. What a night indeed.