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“You’re everything I’ve dreamt of for 20 years,” said Australian dance-pop princess Kylie Minogue to the lucky crowd that witnessed the Oakland opening-night performance on her first-ever North American tour. As a platform for a singer who only briefly tasted mainstream U.S. fame with her 1988 cover version of “The Loco-Motion” and her 2001 breakthrough “Can’t Get You out of My Head,” the show provided everything her patient cult would want — except a satisfying sound mix. Minogue doesn’t possess vocal power, but like Diana Ross, her precise yet joyous phrasing sets her apart from lesser, more self-conscious upstarts. Yet throughout a set that mixed tracks from her last three albums, import singles and unreleased material, her band and blankets of reverb often overwhelmed Minogue’s pop-perfect sighs. Several songs early in the evening were rendered almost unrecognizable.
Introduced with an entrance during “Light Years” atop a descending metallic skull, Minogue’s spectacle never relented once. Her silver space vixen costume recalled vintage Labelle and Barbarella outfits with a headpiece featuring a solar system of planets dangling around her extraordinary face. She spread her arms, and the crowd cheered as if visited by a long-awaited visitor from a distant planet. Eight helmeted dancers followed her in tight formation for “Speakerphone” as video screens flashed projections that varied throughout the evening from surreal films featuring the photogenic star to the billboard-friendly artwork of her numerous singles.
When necessary, Minogue can toss her tiny frame around with the agility of a professional dancer. Yet more remarkable was her poise: She made no unnecessary or ungainly movements, and at times seemed to be traveling at a spe...
Article Source: Rolling Stone : Rock and Roll Daily