2010. A class or so earlier.
Fingersin ears. Eyes closed. Avoid Kylie. Avoid technology. Whispers of atourhave now become screaming shouts all over the place. She`sreleased hertwelfth album and she now plans to make the show aroundthe world asyou do. In its build-up, details of its content start toleak which isonly to be expected as water is obviously a criticalingredient.
hhhhh, I shouldn`t even know about the water stuff. Why doI know this?Already? Ah! I don`t need to know. Fingers in ears andeyes closed. Yousee, ever since I was eight I`ve never known what Iwould end up seeingon stage. The entire thing is a mystery, likeChristmas presents. It`salways been that way. So I shut my eyes andears. I simply don`t want toknow and destroy the surprise. Ever since thatshindig in 1998 at ShepherdsBush Empire (otherwise known as the UK legof Live & Intimatetour)I`ve been bowled over by what Kylie, Steve Anderson and WilliamBakerhave in store. And now, eight tours and concluded a decade later, themomentI know a spell is being arranged, I avoid whispers, comments,discussions and photos.
I suppose I do it for two reasons. Thefirst being that I just don`t need to spoil anything and I love thesurprise factor of it all. It`s like finding out all your presents onChristmas day two weeks before.
1991: Some Rainy Sunday
The moment cause is something more personal. I do it for the eight year old dancing about with his mum in the front room to Turn It Into Passion and Things Can Only Get Better.That`s just how we rocked out in 1991! I think one particular rainySunday we shuffled around, my mum sat down, looked out at me using thesofa as my leg as I disco-diva`d out and told me how she loved thelyrics of those two songs. I had no thought what she was on about. Ishrugged her comments off as I was having far too much fun in my sparklygown made of tinsel from the old Christmas decorations and bed sheetsstolen from our guestroom. She snapped out of it and danced awayreturning to the imagined stage (sofa) as backup singer (of course).For some reason, when I hang the concert and I don`t love what I amabout to see, I find my mum is there with me and those lyrics come tolife. Feb-March-April 2011
Sofingers in ears. Eyes closed. Avoid Kylie. Avoid technology. Thismeans: bye bye twitter, and consequent dinner dates with friends whoknow the picture are interrupted with me going to powder my nose wheneverthe concert comes up or they commune about the setlist by signlanguage and oblique references. They love me by now and see thatthe first I love roughly what is in the show is when I am at the showandnot before. It is my little weird thing I do. I just avoid it all.Absolutely no spoilers.
I imagine not learned the record may alsohave some form of pervasive influence over the result of this review.In that every thing in the record was a mouth opener to me. After a yearof shutting them, my ears and eyes at the point were as clear as theycould be so please forgive me if I forgot anything or occasionally slipinto hyperbole. This isn`t a normal review. It comes from my heart.Thatis both bewildered and amazed. Still.
9th April2011
Sonow it is April and tonight is the night. I feel myself in the Splashzone. I`ve heard this condition being victimized in congress to this Kylie tourbutI`d no thought what it involves. Residents of the space are given anassortment of goodies: towels, books, signed stuff, passes and afetching mackintosh. Everything you ask for a nice picnic on the heath.It also turns out to be an area right at the front of the stage. Closedoesn`t quite describe it.Fingers are remote from those ears andtheeyes start to open_
The exhibit begins with the beautiful Le Carnaval des Animauxby the French romantic composer Camille Saint-Saens` with silk-drapedbodies emerging onto the stage somewhat like Naiads, which in Greekmythology are a character of nymph who look after fountains, streams, brooksand springs or their sisters, known as Nereides who run for the seas.They stand quiet and watch over the water preparing the way for theimpending arrival of Kylie - Aphrodite. Other concerts of this magnitudefeel it essential to overwhelm the eyes with large and brutishchoreography from the offset. Stars and their conceptual musicaldirectors often wish to go the present with fireworks. However,observing the first of Les Folies, it is open that a biggerstart is not ever the better way to kick off proceedings. The show ismore epic, electric and bold simply by having its dancers stand beforeus as if to say "you give no thought what you're about to see so we`re justgoing to abide here and let you get ready!". Consequently, theaudienceare put in a frenzy. Not because of fireworks, explosions andearlyovercomplicated choreography that you might see at other tours.Rather,because they allow the audience time to drive on board theelectricity ofthe spectacle they`re building it up in a more climaticand fun way,instead of a hurry to the top. You can try the energy.
Thestage reveals itself and appears to double-up as Zeus` very ownbeach-house. The Naiads are linked by gladiatorswhile Kylie is flankedby two dancers who`ve clearly taken their fashion tips from Hermeshimself with golden-winged helmets in this deep-sea dive into Greekmythology. I am in rapture. The dancers are strong, bold and incrediblyathletic. If Kylie had opened the first Olympics back in 776 BC inOlympia, this is Just how it would have looked!
When Kylie arrives singing the title tag of her previous album, she appears like Botticelli`s Birth of Venusas well as William-Adolphe Bouguereau`s transportation of Venus fromthe shell. Dressed somewhat like to the legendary Princess of Power, She-Ra,Kylie declares her position as the rough and mighty Aphrodite to the 02and to reward the message her underwater angels burst from poolslocated on the point and appear to dancing in the air. The entire tableau isa total feast for the eyes. The aqua-acrobats soar into the air anddescend back into the water but to pick up more bodies which cling ontotheir fellow athletes' bodies as they're pulled above our heads. It isquite hard to name the work but essentially the athlete bobs upanddown and as he`s lowered back into the pool he pulls out anotherandonce this action is repeated a 3rd person is located andextricatedfrom the pond and attaches themselves so two become three.Very amazing.
WhenKylie says "this is where the fun begins" sheis being coy. This iswhen I begin to see a performer provide a showthat says "follow this".The Aphrodite tour is a picture that will not betopped for many years tocome. It is clearly Kylie`s unique way ofupstaging her fellowperformers, drawing the note in the sand, settingthe bar and makingsure that criterion is so high chart rivals couldn`teven dream ofdevising a picture like this level if they wanted to.
The comer of The Onesee's the story become a call about decadent monotheism in asplendid and hyberbolic delivery befitting a picture that George Quaintancehimself would have painted. Indeed, by the time Wowarrives we step right back into time as the dancers show-off theirgoldshields transforming from Olympic athletes to Roman Guards. Oh, ifGeorge Quaintance were active now he would have been in heaven. In facthe is! Looking down at the picture with a massive grin on his face. Kylieperforms rather tasty hybrid rendering of the album mix and thepoptastic Death Metal Disco Scene Mix. Perfect.
Steve Anderson takes Illusion to the deserts of Arabia as Kylie arrives on her Pegasus. Both the lyrics of Illusionand its interwoven choreography see Kylie exploring that other Greekstory of Sappho.To feverish levels. It becomes clear that this couldbe a massive film from Hollywood`s Golden Era. I`m talking about thoseclassic films that, despite the comer of bulky budgets and specialeffects, will never quite be outshone for their inner warmth. Films likeCleopatra, Ben Hur and The Genius of Oz. Cupid Boysees Kylie either recite the history of Aphrodite`s love affair withNerites or Helen Of Troy's, where incredibly beautiful dancers shimmer,parade and preenlike peacocks on acid,jostling for attention, lustand adoration. She, as Helen, refuses the suitors' stunning advancesforthe vision of the honest love she holds in her heart (and neatlyprojected on the screens behind her). This becomes a testimonial to enjoy aswell as drawing upon glorious inspirations from Bob Mizer`s Physique Pictoral, James Bidgood's Pink Narcissus, and of feed the previously mentioned George Quaintance.
Talking of which, Everything Is Beautifulis the soundscape for a fashion show put on by the gods' owndesigners.Each majestic item of clothing whether it be her dancers orKylie`s ownwardrobe transcends into pure artwork. One is immediatelytaken to thatclassic scene in Funny Facewhen Maggie Prescott (Kay Thompson) celebrates the latest big fashiontrend which in this event is pink! Utterly Hollywood. The point isreinforced with the comer of suited gentlemen wearing distinctivebow-ties. From here we are transported to Paris and Folies Bergere with a rather burlesque re-imagining of Slow. Fans of Polly-Rae`s amazing Hurly Burlyshow will enjoy this. Steve Anderson morphs the slick electronicoriginal to a sexually charged jazz number which sees even the stagebecome rather erect with excitement. Miss Gypsy Rose Lee herself wouldbe bursting with pride. William Baker's direction here also proves hisbrilliant ability of managing to include smaller and intimate moments ina gargantuan tour like Les Folies without them feeling lost. Indeed, Slowis rendered small and yet not swallowed up by the point itself; itremains large and sparkles its own star just as bright as the largernumbers in the concert.
After Slow, Steve flings out a rather excellent re-working of the Big Brother remix of Trust In Me.As Kylie changes, her dancers work the present into a boxing ringthrowing fists into the air followed by flicks, kicks and relentlesspunches. By the sentence of Kylie`s arrival for the consistency of the song sheemerges in a glittering new dress. Next we`re catapulted into some far-awaygalaxy, past beautiful looking azure planets and purple nebulae. Thestrings of Looking for An Angel(my favorite song from the album) soar and what a beautiful flight itis. Kylie shimmers in a gold outfit somewhat like an adapted Doricchiton. Right on cue an actual feathered angel arrives. Here Les Folliesspirals into an utter celebration of fragile opulence.Kylie ridestheangel and actually flies out over her audience immediately raising atoast to Barbarella. With Closer completed Kylie opts for a bombastic cover of the Eurythmics There Must Be An Angel. The three of Looking for an Angel, Closer and this cover seals the care for Les Foliesas it soars way beyond cloud 9 and into bubbles of happiness.Everything here is so beautiful. Into this comes the poptasticfamily of songs Love at First Sight, Locomotion, Better Than Today, Better The Devil You Know and Put Your Hands Up.
And in-between this quintet came If You Don`t Love Me. The comprehension of this ultra rare b-side at this exact moment is pure genius. Originally a Prefab Sprout hit,If You Don`t Love Mewas one of the first Kylie songs recovered after leaving PWL.As Iwatch Kylie perform the somewhat rare Deconstruction song I suddenly feelthat, in some way, Les Folies could be a swan songof sorts. A changeis in the air. Like the gods (and goddesses) are writing a new chapterin the course of Kylie`s music(al) odyssey. I find a tremendous awarenessthat Kylie and her creative team have reached a beautiful summit andthis is the instant they can stand back and be incredibly proud ofthemselves. This evidence is a height that no other act out there willreach for some time to do and as the embers of If You Don`t Love Mefinally go cold I get the notion that the following show Kylie will put onwill be wholly different to the epic spectacular that is Les Folies.
Indeed, making certain the display can`t be topped, Kylie delivers the ultimate in the beloved performance of All The Lovers. Demi-gods soar into the air in an absolute protection to Busby Berkley. Oh he`d be in seventh heaven with Les Folies. To say All The Loversis the ice on the bar doesn`t quite describe what unfolds on stage.All the Lovers is comparable the best dessert to the best dinner partyyou`venever wanted to end. I could save a survey on it entirely and itwould beequally long. To me this seemed a perfect end to the showbut alsoemerged as a terrific book-end to those bone-chillingheart-racingearly moments of Kylie`s Live and Intimate tour during Too Farback in 1998. The part of the tour seems, to me, powerfully linked tothe last song performed at Les Folies. I can`t quite describe what itisexactly that bonds the two especially as they are both incrediblydifferent songs. I suppose it could be the pulsating electricity, the eyesthat pervade the audience, the coiling shadow play or perhaps itcould be the liquidity of both performances. What I do know is this: thespectacle that began with Too far seems to me to have reached a wondrous conclusion with All the Lovers. And, it has left me with the biggest grin on my face.
***
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