Kylie Minogue delivered the opening show of her Tension World Tour on Saturday night in Perth, and it was the biggest party in town.
After being entertained by up-and-coming Australian artist Mallrat, the full house of adorning Kylie fans got exactly what they wanted with a show filled with wall-to-wall hits, and a relaxed vibe of celebration and joy.
The show kicked off with lasers shooting from the stage up into the auditorium and Kylie rising on trapeze swing recreating the cover of her recent Tension II album, with a laser diamond surrounding her.
Her black dress with silver edging included a massive train that hung below, it was soon discarded as she launched into the energetic Lights Camera Action, which was mashed up with older hit In Your Eyes.
The crowd in the centre of the arena were on their feet and dancing from the moment Kylie took to the stage and the show began like a whirlwind.
Get Outta My Way followed and the auditorium positively erupted when the band launched into early 90s hit What Do I Have To Do. Now even people seated up near the rafters were up and dancing. As the song ended with a spotlight falling on Minogue as she sang, “What do I have to do to prove that I really love you?”, there was no doubting that the opening night audience was completely in love with Kylie.
“Are you ready to come into my world?” Kylie asked as she launched into a piano ballad version of the opening of Come into My World. The slow pace was only momentary as the beats quickly returned and Kylie and her troupe of dancers enthusiastically performed the tune.
While Kylie’s brought many tours to Perth over the years from her first appearance at the Perth Entertainment Centre in 1991, to the extravagant Aphrodite tour at Burswood Dome, or her most recent shindig on the banks of the Swan River in 2019 which celebrated her sojourn into country vibes – but she’s never seemed so relaxed on stage. On Saturday night she looked like she was having a ball.
Good as Gone, a track from her most recent album Tension II came next, and morphed into the party anthem of Spinning Around which saw Minogue and her entourage take from the main stage onto to the runway that brought her even closer to the adoring crowd.
A quick costume change moved us into the shows second act, as Kylie returned in a red leather outfit. The cavalcade of hits continued with On a Night Like This, the euphoric Better the Devil You Know, Shocked – which included Kylie delivering the Jazzy P rap – and I Believe in You.
The Things We Do For Love, another track from her latest release, gave the shows three backing singers a real moment to shine, and after Minogue chatted sharing that how much she loved the thrill and challenge of live performances.
A lighthearted and fun take on The Locomotion followed which saw Minogue and her crew working their way through the crowd to a second smaller stage set up deeper into the auditorium. Here they delivered Hold on to Now, before the debut of a brand-new song released just a day earlier.
Kylie explained that she was due to head into the schedule on day, when she awoke that morning, she’d had a dream that she’d found love. Hence her new collaboration with Alok, Last Night I Dreamt I Fell In Love.
As fans handed the singer belated Valentine’s Day roses, she sang a snippet of her Nick Cave duet Where the Wild Roses Grow, before asking the crowd what other songs they’d like to hear? An impromptu version of Breathe followed and then came I Should Be So Lucky.
Kylie spoke about how the world changed in 2020 when she was in the middle of recording her Disco album, a venture that started in the studio and ended up being made at home.
The singer thanked fans for embracing the album, before singing an acoustic version of lead single Say Something. The mellow vibe soon transformed back into the disco party as cut-out-hearts rained down from the roof and a giant mirror ball descended created a heart-stopping moment.
The succession of songs followed including Supernova, Real Groove, Monday Blues and Where Does the DJ Go?
After another costume change the action returned to the mainstage with an epic performance of Confide in Me, and a mesmerising take on Slow. Kylie dropped the long dark cape she was wearing for those two numbers revealing an emerald dress and ratcheted up the party vibes to another level for Timebomb and recent hit Edge of Saturday Night.
The final section saw Minogue and her team perform Padam Padam, Can’t Get You Out My Head, and signature tune All The Lovers.
An encore soon followed with Tension and the closing song Love at First Sight. The cheers, hollers and applause were thunderous as fans celebrated a truly epic night.
The tour has 70 dates and will end in Mexico City in late August. After touring Australia with shows in Adelaide, Melbourne, Brisbane and Sydney, the tour will head to Thailand, Japan, Canada, USA, United Kingdom, Germany, Poland, Lithuania, Estonia, Finland, Sweden, Denmark, France, Belgium, The Netherlands, Switzerland, Germany, France, Spain, Portugal, Greece, Argentina, Urugay, Brazil, Colombia, and finally Mexico.
