KYLIE : AFTER DARK

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FEVER TOUR

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.

SETLIST

COME INTO MY WORLD

SHOCKED

LOVE AT FIRST SIGHT

FEVER

SPINNING AROUND

THE CRYING GAME MEDLEY

GBI (VIDEO INTERLUDE)

CONFIDE IN ME

COWBOY STYLE

KIDS

ON A NIGHT LIKE THIS

THE LOCO-MOTION

IN YOUR EYES MEDLEY

LIMBO

LIGHT YEARS/I FEEL LOVE

I SHOULD BE SO LUCKY/DREAMS

BURNING UP

BETTER THE DEVIL YOU KNOW

CAN'T GET YOU OUT OF MY HEAD

KOOCACHOO*

*Selected tour dates only

TOUR DATES

APRIL 2002
26 Cardiff International Arena

27 Cardiff International Arena

28 Cardiff International Arena

29 Cardiff International Arena

MAY 2002
1 Manchester Evening News Arena

2 Manchester Evening News Arena

3 Manchester Evening News Arena

4 Manchester Evening News Arean

6 Birmingham NEC

7 Birmingham NEC

8 Birmingham NEC

9 Birmingham NEC

11 Manchester Evening News Arena

12 Manchester Evening News Arena

14 Sheffield Arena

15 Sheffield Arena

17 Glasgow SECC

18 Glasgow SECC

19 Glasgow SECC

21 Newcastle Arena

22 Newcastle Arena

24 Wembley Arena

25 Wembley Arena

26 Wembley Arena

27 Wembley Arena

30 Hovet, Stockholm

31 Oslo Sectrum

JUN 2002

01 Copenhagen Forum

03 Munich Olympic Stadion

04 Vienna Gasometer

08 Berlin Velodom

09 Hamburg Sporthalle

11 Frankfurt Festhalle

12 Ahoy Rotterdam

13 Oberhausen Arena, Germany

15 Zenith, Paris

18 Filaforum, Milan

AUG 2002

2 Sydney Entertainment Centre

3 Sydney Entertainment Centre

4 Sydney Entertainment Centre

6 Sydney Entertainment Centre

7 Sydney Entertainment Centre

8 Sydney Entertainment Centre

10 Rod Laver Arena, Melbourne

11 Rod Laver Arena, Melbourne

12 Rod Laver Arena, Melbourne

14 Rod Laver Arena, Melbourne

15 Rod Laver Arena, Melbourne

16 Rod Laver Arena, Melbounre

  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...

REVIEW BY 'THE COLONEL'