Golden Live in Concert

Kylie Sparkles on the Golden Tour

What do you do when you really miss going to concerts and the concerts you already had tickets for have been postponed?  You bring the concert to your living room.  Kylie Minogue is the perfect choice - she's one of those artists who always puts on a phenomenal live show.  So this past Saturday, I cracked open a bottle of South African wine (a 2013 bottle of Sauvignon Blanc from Groot Constantia), popped in Kylie's Golden Live in Concert DVD and settled in for a night of top-notch entertainment.  The Golden Tour, filmed throughout the UK in 2018, was Kylie's fifteenth concert tour in support of her fourteenth studio album, Golden.  The DVD was released, together with a double CD featuring live recordings from the show, in December 2019.

The concert's opening credits appear against clips of a desert, setting the scene for the Western vibe of the show to complement the country flavour of the album, most of which she wrote and recorded in Nashville.  Cut to cowboy silhouettes as dancers and backup singers take to the stage before Kylie appears, wearing in a rose pink chiffon ensemble and cowboy boots emblazoned with rhinestones and flowers.  The opening song is Golden; the desert projections continue while cowboys in tight jeans (with a K and an M stitched on each cheek) dance around her.  Get Outta My Way and Better The Devil You Know round out the opening scene.

There is a video interlude: a saloon scene from an old Western movie featuring Kylie singing Blue Velvet.  She then returns to stage in a what looks like a white jumpsuit and matching jacket (which she wears as a cape) and a feminine take on a bolo tie (I won't lie, it kinda reminded me of a chic, feminine Colonel Sanders).  This section features Confide in Me, I Believe In You (a timeless favourite), In Your Eyes (the cowboys and cowgirls return for a game of pool) and A Lifetime To Repair (loved the banjo in this one).

Another interlude: a projection of a vintage car which turns out to be a Shelby '68.  Kylie comes out singing Shelby '68, wearing perfectly-fitted flared jeans and a golden ruffled off-the-shoulder top.  This is followed by Radio On (the Shelby is still in the background but with its hood up at a gas station), Wow, Can't Get You Out Of My Head (a more guitar-centric version than the original) which crosses over into Fleetwood Mac's The Chain as Kylie disappears for another costume change.

The next interlude features a group of bad boy bikers (but wearing fabulous "The Lovers United" jackets) before the intro to Slow starts and Kylie emerges wearing a body-hugging leather ensemble (including gloves).  She certainly brings the sex appeal for Slow, in which she moves seductively with her hot dancers clad in biker gear (motorcycles included).  This is followed by Kids (I always miss Robbie Williams in the live versions of the song), The One (one of my all-time favourite Kylie songs) and Stop Me From Falling (which brings the country flavour back to the show).

Kylie's next look is a little disappointing: a simple black slip dress and a flannel shirt tied around her waist.  It felt like she was coming onto the stage for a pre-show soundcheck.  She performs Wouldn't Change A Thing, Especially For You, Lost Without You and concludes with All The Lovers under a shower of confetti (though it's not quite the end of the show yet).

Before the final section starts, the Studio 54 logo appears so you know disco Kylie is on her way.  Indeed, the dancers emerge one by one in 70s attire and then Kylie makes her entrance in a gold sequined dress with a sensational waist-high slit.   The disco starts with New York City (a disco-inspired ode to NYC) followed by Raining Glitter, On A Night Like This, a delightfully camp and bus-stop-inspired version of The Locotion (beep beep!) and Spinning Around (performed under a giant mirror ball, taking me back to my obsession with Kylie's Light Years era).

For the encore, Kylie returns to the stage in an embroidered poncho (serving Elvis realness) and thigh-high rhinestone-covered boots.  First up is Love At First Sight, followed by Dancing - and more boot-scootin' cowboys and more confetti showers.  A fitting end to a fabulous show.