She is, as Rufus Wainwright once famously said, the “gay shorthand for joy”. But listening to one of her albums only gives you the faintest taste of the full explosion of joy that is seeing Kylie live.
At the ICC Sydney Theatre on March 5 (the opening night of the Australian leg of her Golden tour), Kylie proved that she’s at the absolute top of her game as a live performer. At 50 years old, she has the kind of ease on stage and instincts that only come from a lifetime spent as a showgirl, bringing endless joy into the lives of her fans. Here are the five undeniable truths that we came away with.
1. Kylie Minogue taught all of Australia about good drag
Every time she’s on stage, Kylie plays with her own femininity and brings a wardrobe that’d make any self-respecting drag queen green with envy. This isn’t the draggiest – or most feathery – of her tour wardrobes, but every costume is utterly gorgeous, sleek and has some sparkle. Even a flannelette shirt tied around her waist is covered in diamantes. It’s all in reference to her latest album, the country-inspired, Dolly Parton-esque Golden.
But Kylie’s drag is about more than the frocks – you can read her body language. The subtle head tilt, the gentle swivel of the hips, the placement of a little finger. It’s all artifice and role play, but it feels completely real. Kylie apparently once said, “I don’t have to try to be a sex bomb. I am one.” Nobody who’s seen her live could deny that.
Photograph: Jasin Boland
2. All the classics are there – but she performs them like she wrote them last week
One of the strengths of Kylie’s tours has always been her work with musical director Steve Anderson, who’s gently updated her hits to make them zing on stage in 2019. He’s previously been responsible for some stunning reimaginations of her catalogue (remember when she did a big band version of ‘Better the Devil You Know’ back in 2001?) and for the Golden tour mashes together ‘Can’t Get You Out of My Head’ with Fleetwood Mac’s ‘The Chain’. It works gorgeously.
There’s also a Donna Summer-inspired take on ‘The Locomotion’, a version of ‘Confide in Me’ that builds from an intimate confession to a screaming climax, and a fairly faithful version of ‘Better the Devil You Know’ (with added guitar and cowboy hats because Golden is Kylie’s country moment). Best of all? Whether she’s sick of them or not, Kylie performed every song on opening night like it was her absolute fave. You probably associate a lot of these songs with a particular moment in your life, and Kylie is always willing to recapture that moment for you.
Photograph: Jasin Boland
3. She manages to make a meticulously crafted show look spontaneous
The Golden tour isn’t the biggest show she’s ever brought to Australia (that would be Aphrodite: Les Folies, which had a stage covered in literal water canons) but it’s still packed with intricate choreography (the camp cowboy dancing for ‘In Your Eyes’ is brilliant), costume changes, glitter and confetti cannons, and a stunning stage and lighting design. But through all this, Kylie seemed spontaneous, totally in the moment, and never lost in the razzle dazzle.
Photograph: Jasin Boland
4. Haters can back off – she’s a better singer than you
The cliche about Kylie is that she’s “not much of a singer, but sure puts on a hell of a live show”. True, there are singers with more impressive voices in the pop world. But she’s significantly better than you need be to make this sort of show work – she always sings live – and is one of the most consistent in the pop business. And anybody who can hear her belt the bejesus out of ‘Confide in Me’ and still claim she’s not much a singer needs to back off.
Photograph: Jasin Boland
5. No other popstar feeds off their audience’s energy like Kylie
How often do you believe it when a popstar says they’re excited to be performing for you? Kylie told her audience that she was thrilled to be back in her home country, but it would’ve been clear without her having said a word. She absolutely beams on stage and always seems to be living her best life. She listens to her audience, and their ecstatic screams seem to push her into a higher plane of pop bliss. It’s a relationship of generosity that goes two ways – she gives her absolute all on stage and, in return, her audience has stuck by her through every hit and miss. They have done so for three decades now, and anybody who was there last night will feel that loyalty for many years to come.
Kylie is performing one more show at the ICC Sydney Theatre tonight before touring Australia.
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