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THE
FEVER TOUR 2002 FAN REVIEW (THE COLONEL)
ACT I: SILVANEMESIS
To the strains of `The Sound Of Music' chorus lifted straight from
`Moulin Rouge', the curtain rose to unveil a striking industrial
backdrop of steel grilling, with two portals high up on the left and
right, from which perpendicular metal staircases descended, meeting in
the centre and leading on to another central flight of steps down the
stage.
A quartet of
unearthly silver-clad figures strung up like marionettes above the stage
were revealed, to the strains of a brooding, chord-heavy overture.
KyBorg Mark I, a diminutive figure in chrome armour and a neon visor,
rose up through the central staircase. In true sci-fi style, the metal
plating flipped up, section by section, revealing within its crystalline
interior Kylie clad in characteristically scanty silver miniskirt, high
lace-up boots and bikini top - the first of the night's bespoke Dolce
& Gabbana confections. For the duration of the show, her hair was in
tight plaits. Launching into an ambient synth-driven `Come Into My
World', Kylie and dancers carried off a half-speed balletic routine with
style. A break in the track segued into a full-length brooding
drum-&-bass remix of the classic `Shocked', with Kylie taking rap
duties once again. Here and elsewhere, the use of samples and scratches
gave things a trippy, syncopated quality, as the last verse sprung back
in on a looped `I'm high above... I'm high above... I'm high above...'.
The subdued pacing
of this first part of the show worked perfectly - providing
crowd-pleasing spectacle whilst avoiding the pitfall of a subsequent
lull in proceedings. Rosy lighting for a slightly toughened-up and
punchily percussive take on the new single `Love At First Sight' moved
things into feelgood territory as Kylie greeted the audience. Her
`patter' seemed pretty natural and unrehearsed; literally `Light Years'
ahead of certain other stand-offish pop divas we could mention.
Donning a white hood
to create a look somewhere between *that* dress from *that* video and a
bewimpled nun, Kylie and two bouffant blonde-wigged female dancers in
leotards took to bed to writhe their way through `Fever'. The
electro-retro funk stylings and soaring harmonies of the track were
complemented by video footage of cartoon hearts, pulse waves and Kylie's
disembodied and often multiplied lips mouthing the songswords in manic
fashion; the effect being part Samuel Beckett and part Supremes'
`Greatest Hits' cover. Generally, however, the much-hyped video footage
looked as if William Baker had been left to work on PowerPoint for the
last six months, and - perhaps fortunately - seldom did much to distract
from onstage antics.
ACT II: DROOGIE
NIGHTS
As strains of Beethoven filtered through the speakers, and the composer
appeared in bust likeness on the screens, an immense inflatable `K' was
wheeled on stage for a pared-down and funky version of `Spinning
Around'. Wearing a bowler hat, split white suit and chunky gold
jewellery and accompanied by a male dancer in similar attire (with the
addition of a bright red cricket box), Kylie launched into a routine
that was part `Clockwork Orange', part `Cabaret'. This version of the
song was a real departure from the original disco groove, and climaxed
with Kylie grabbing the dancer's black baton from between his legs
(single-entendre phallic imagery, where would we be without it?),
leaving him to collapse - seemingly emasculated. This part of the show
seemed strangely truncated, and would perhaps have worked better with
the inclusion of `Give It To Me' or another `Fever' track to develop the
theme.
ACT III: THE CRYING
GAME
`So why do I still feel this way? Detached and vulnerable... left alone
to face the unknown, with just a wish for what it's worth... Just tell
me everything will be alright'. Over the speakers came Kylie's whispered
monologue from the BIR Soundtrack version of `Where Is The Feeling?',
yet another song no-one would have expected to be resuscitated tonight.
Stunning in a black evening dress with train, Kylie appeared at the top
of the stairs to sing a sultry, note-perfect take on the first verses of
`The Crying Game', against chiascuro video footage of various weeping
male visages. The song cut out into the drum and string loop of Massive
Attack & Liz Fraser's classic `Teardrop' before building back into a
fairly faithful rendition of `Put Yourself In My Place'. Making her way
down the catwalk, Kylie looked and sounded pretty amazing.
She treated us to a
chorus of `Finer Feelings', which led into the vocal tour-de-force
middle-eight of `Dangerous Game'... `the feelings still remain, and the
embers feed the flame... how I hope you feel the same, so our love may
grown again'... before returning to crescendo of `The Crying Game'
theme. Rose-petal confetti was falling from the ceiling and Kylie
vanished as the stage opened up beneath her. This section of the concert
worked beautifully as a bittersweet romantic narrative, as a vocal
showcase and as a foil for the more upbeat leanings of the rest of the
set.
ACT IV: STREET STYLE
On the overhead monitors flashed up `incoming message'... and suddenly
Kylie's head appeared, wearing some alarming make-up and an amusingly
lopsided wig in cyber-geisha style, to mime her way through the studio
version of `GBI (German Bold Italic)', changing colour now and again and
flying around the screens in a fairly lunatic manner. Unsuprisingly,
this left much of the audience bemused, but it was fantastic to hear
what is possibly Kylie's most leftfield moment given such a high-profile
airing.
Then, footage of a
DJ scratching the string riff from `Confide In Me' appeared on the
screens at the top of the staircases. A male dancer armed with a spray
can appeared to tag the `K' logo onto the left-hand screen and then
scribbled it out, as Kylie emerged on the right in a traffic cop outfit
worn over her `Slim Lady' vest and accessorised in dayglo colours. The
song, based around DJ scratching instead of the original breakbeat,
provided a narrative as Konstable Kylie attempted to apprehend the
impressively acrobatic graffiti artist. Her vocals were on top form and
the well-constructed tableau, replete with other dancers watching from
behind the grilling at the street scene beneath them, served the song
perfectly.
A definite high point was
followed with another, as dancers filled the stage for an uptempo
revision of `Cowboy Style', where vinyl scratching, hip-hop rhythms and
funky keyboards replaced the fiddle and live drums of the original
version. With a sterling vocal performance from Kylie, freestyle dance
moves and a detour into Malcolm McLaren's `Double Dutch', this was a
glorious mish-mash where everything came together brilliantly. Like the
rap said, `All this scratching's making me itch'! The sections of the
audience unfamiliar with the song quickly found that resistance was
futile, and the more informed amongst us were reminded that the
so-called indie album `Impossible Princess' actually contains some of
Kylie's most instant pop moments.
Kylie took another few minutes
to talk to the crowd. One young guy who'd come kitted out in a homemade
recreation of the Kraftwerk-style red shirt and visor outfit from the
`...Out Of My Head' video got asked up on stage, where (slightly
shellshocked) he got to show off a bit of the dance routine and take
Kylie's photo... with her back to the audience, so he could prove he'd
been on stage. Such spontaneity from a global superstar really went down
well. A soaring slab of stadium pop-rock in the shape of `Kids' hardly
fitted musically with the rest of the show, but once again performed
with the powerhouse backing singers Lurine and Sherina, it served its
purpose - the entire audience had their hands in the air, singing along.
And once again, somehow nobody missed Robbie too much either!
ACT IV: SEX IN
VENICE
Chandeliers appeared on the overhead screens and - quelle surprise - it
was time for more writhing around from Kylie and the girls, this time
clad in vintage lingerie on top of animal-skin patterned podia. A
curiously lacklustre `On A Night Like This' - propelled by a toughened
trance bassline but ultimately undermined by the distinct lack of a tune
- got people moving, but could have been much better. Male dancers
arrived onstage in dressing gowns, discarded to reveal leopardskin
underpants worn over tights printed with fishnet and suspenders - *so*
not a good look. And so to `The Loco-Motion', which worked surprisingly
well as a sleazy funk track topped off with a conga flesh-fest down the
catwalk.
As soon as those thumping
beats kicked in, `In Your Eyes' upped the pace again, getting a
rapturous reception as Kylie and co - with the guys now wearing long
trains - ballroom danced to the rhythm. Instantly outdoing J-Lo's
half-baked video dance breaks, salsa fever took over as the middle-eight
cut into an brilliant alternate latino-flavoured chorus melody, swiftly
moving into a couple of full choruses of `Please Stay' (yet another
`neglected' song that put in a surprise appearance) and Debarge's `The
Rhythm Of The Night' before kicking back into the original `In Your
Eyes' for the finish.
ACT VI: CYBERTRONICA
It was at this point in the show that the much-anticipated and heavily
reworked space-age version of `Never Too Late' was due to appear, but it
was never to be. Apparently it got bumped out at the last minute due to
problems with the choreography. This was something of a disappointment,
partly because this meant that, of eight studio albums, `Enjoy Yourself'
was the only one not represented. Aside from a credit in the programme,
all that remained from this track was a residual routine in which
dancers in fluorescent bodysuits wielded lightsabres in time to the
beats. Kylie emerged dressed in a hot pink vest top and baggy white
shellsuit trousers with dayglo stripes, launched into a pounding trance
version of `Limbo', which sounded as if it might well morph into `Love
Affair' at any moment (though sadly this wasn't to be). Never my
favourite `Impossible Princess' track, but again, rewired as a slice of
eclectic electronica, it sounded absolutely fantastic. More dayglo
dancers, wearing butterfly-like capes, swept across the stage and you
couldn't help but wonder if - in an alternate universe where `Impossible
Princess' had achieved the success it deserved - this might have been
the kind of show we would have been treated to back in 1998.
Boosted by the soaring Moroder
synths lifted from `I Feel Love' as well as the classic bassline, `Light
Years' effortlessly moved onto a higher plane. In the break, Kylie
actually tackled the Donna Summer anthem herself, instead of the kitschy
air hostess patter from the LP version. She pulled off the operatic
falsetto high notes perfectly to a rapturous reception from the
audience, before returning to her own song and thanking us `for flying
KM-Air'. Somehow this medley (perhaps the most obvious combination
possible?) became rather more than the sum of its parts and instantly
transcended its derivative nature.
Finally, `I Should Be So
Lucky' was rightfully restored as an up-tempo anthem - sort of. Vocally,
it was actually a kind of hybrid between the original pop version and
the more recent torch-song rendition, set against ambient trance
instrumentation and intro bells apparently lifted straight from Cathy
Dennis's `Touch Me'. Yes, really. Kylie didn't do the chorus quite
properly either, so instead of `lucky, lucky, lucky' we got an echoed
`...so lucky'. Slightly disappointing... However, in the break,
something slightly magical occurred. Whispering `nothing's what it
seems... keep believing in dreams', Kylie got to her feet again and
ad-libbed out with the chorus of `Dreams'... `These are the dreams... of
an impossible princess'. As a reaffirmation of her own - recently
neglected? - individual artistic agenda, and a reflection of the show as
a whole, this was perfect.
ENCORE:
VOODOOINFERNO
Against rolling percussion, the lights slowly came up again to reveal
the central staircase draped in flame coloured satin. Figures moving
underneath were apparent (of course, the inability to stay still
properly is an absolute pre-requisite for members of the Minogue dance
troupe), and as the beats gave way to strumming guitar and the first
verse of `Burning Up', Kylie rose through the centre of the fabric - and
kept on going and going, up and up... until she was about fifteen feet
above the stage, with her flaming `dress' billowing out beneath her.
This spectacle was pretty amazing and somehow all the more fitting given
Kylie's normal pint-sized stature. As the spluttering chorus kicked in,
even more funky than on the album, more dancers dressed in body-painted
flesh-coloured bodysuits, loincloths and mohicans took to the stage, as
striking new footage of a flame-coiffured Miss M. dancing away in
bodypaint filled the video screens. Halfway though, Kylie descended to
the main staircase and the `dress' opened up, allowing her to take to
the stage in a fringed black mini-dress. If there was any doubt that
this track is well worthy of single release, it should be dispelled by
this outstanding performance and the ecstatic audience reaction.
A singalong, anthemic `Better
The Devil You Know', very faithful in arrangement to the original mix
but harder and faster - almost in NRGised JX style - kept things going
at frenetic pace with the dozen dancers filling the stage and certain
sections of the audience going loudly beserk. As if there should ever be
any doubt, Kylie has well and truly reclaimed this classic from the
thankfully disbanded Steps - and whilst the tap-dance version was all
well and good... yes, it *is* true, what they say. If it ain't broke,
don't fix it.
Once again the stage cleared,
and for a few minutes the audience were left ga-ga with only their own
la-la-las for company. Finally Kylie reappeared clad in another white
ensemble for a pumping solo rendition of `Can't Get You Out Of My Head'
with added booster power, courtesy of a nice acappella intro and those
`Blue Monday' synths. On the screens, a bouncing `K' logo presented the
lyrics as they were sung (as if anyone wouldn't know them already) and
it was quite amusing to see `WON'T YOU STAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY' up on the
monitors. Needless to say, the arena was buzzing with energy for the
duration of the song. And so to finish... Sweetly, though slightly
strangely for this kind of show, the lights came up again for Kylie and
company to take their bows before heading off.
Overall,
I felt the show was suprisingly light on content from the current album
(only six songs), but as an uncompromisingly comprehensive retrospective
- with a good helping of Deconstruction era material - it was near
perfect. The radical restylings of many songs prevented it being
*simply* retrospective, though, and gave the whole thing a postmodern,
sophisticated style without ever losing Kylie's trademark warmth and
wit. Instantly far more contemporary and adult than last year's `On A
Night Like This' kitsch cabaret antics, I couldn't help that Kylie's
confidence has been boosted by her recent successes and that she has
already left `Fever' some way behind. Here's to the future, then... |
