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Review Thu Oct 08 2009
Review: Kylie Minogue @ UIC Pavilion, 10/7
Five months ago when Kylie Minogue's first-ever Chicago performance was announced, it was booked for the Congress. Four days before the concert, it was moved to UIC Pavilion. The reason given was "the sheer scale of the production just won't fit into the Congress, necessitating the upgrade." While standing in a six-block line to enter UIC Pavilion, popular questions among the crowd were, "Why did it take so long for someone to realize that Kylie's spectacle wouldn't fit into the Congress? And why, once the move was announced, were details kept guarded like state secrets?" (No one seemed to have a concrete answer as to when doors opened or the show started.) But in the end, these answers didn't really matter. All that mattered was what happened on the stage.
From the time Kylie was lowered to the stage singing "Light Years" in a sparkling silver dress atop a gigantic chrome skull, minds were mesmerized. For the opening sequence her eight dancers dressed somewhere between Boba Fett and post-Discovery Daft Punk. Through their robotics, the star couldn't hide her smile and the crowd cheered her every move. (Strangely, though, there wasn't a whole lot of dancing in the masses.) This tour features not just her greatest song hits, but also reworkings of the best scenes from previous tours that America never saw. With so much material to get through, excerpts were scattered (e.g. a few lines from "Where the Wild Roses Grow" in "Red Blooded Woman" and the name-dropping verses of Madonna's "Vogue" preceding "Burning Up") and one lively medley included "Shocked", "What Do I Have to Do?" and "Spinning Around" in brilliant 80s kitsch.
Midway through the 2-hour set she performed a dazzling trifecta of "Can't Get You Out of My Head", "Slow" and "2 Hearts" while dressed in a stunning navy-inspired white evening gown and captain hat. Father time remains undefeated, but Kylie is putting up a good fight. At 41, she effortlessly radiates a sex appeal that performers half her age can only dream to possess. Never was this more evident than the burlesque take on her first hit "The Loco-motion" as a stripped-down sultry jazz number. In the past, her biggest fault may have been weak vocals, but there was no indication of that as they shone when necessary. (And, just in case you were wondering, she was singing live with no lip-synching.)
It's clear that the show's designers know their majority audience well. In addition to the fit dancers flaunting for the crowd's howls, during costume changes the screens projected images of the iconic singer along with more barely clad attractive males. Although, it was the blatant homoerotic choreography that unsurprisingly received some of the loudest applause.
Before the evening came to a close, a technical glitch provided a highlight in one of the few unrehearsed musical moments. While an instrument was fixed, cheers for "Your Disco Needs You" prompted Kylie (and the many who requested it) to sing it a cappella. With some of the crowd apparently in a trance, Kylie yelled, "C'mon, you're a part of this", acknowledging that not even all her heavy lifting creates a perfect performance. A rousing "In My Arms" ended the initial set and after a short break she returned for a quick encore of "Better the Devil You Know" and "Love at First Sight." Lasers and confetti filled the arena while the diminutive singer concluded her complete dominance over the Chicago crowd. Hopefully, it won't be the last time she does so.
Steven O g / October 8, 2009 9:22 PM
I was at the chicago concert last night and left after 45 minutes i thought it was a total disaster the sound was awful and the whole venue looked like an old barn dance. I seen her 3 times in europe and she is great but the Chicago concert was a total disaster. I think she moved it to the UIC at the last minute to make extra $ and not gave much thought to the venue.