Kylie Minogue launches Las Vegas shows and tells fans to 'fasten your seatbelts'
Kylie Minogue had fans in tears as she hugged them and danced on tables at her Las Vegas residency on Friday, bursting on to the stage to announce: “Please fasten your seatbelts… my name is Kylie.”
The 55-year-old pop princess revelled in the intimate party atmosphere as she opened the run of 20 shows – launching into her lively set at The Venetian’s new club, Voltaire, in a fusillade of flashing lasers and starbursts. In a gold fringed dress with matching boots, she drew cheers from the capacity audience of 1,000 fans as she revealed the spectacular had been a year-and-a-half in the making.
And she took a moment to show her appreciation, telling them: “Thank you for helping with the intimacy of this show, just by being as present as possible. It makes a huge difference.” A show insider said: “Kylie didn’t want this residency to feel like any other, hence the name – More Than Just A Residency.
Kylie stuns in gold dress as she opens her Vegas show (Erik Melvin)"She didn’t want fans watching from a distance, she wanted to be with them. It was very much her idea to go out into the crowd and dance, to create a real party atmosphere. She knew that her fans would really love that.” With a 20-track setlist, there were also plenty of costume changes – with fans in awe as she danced on tables in a tasselled rainbow bodysuit and pink fur coat.
At other times she broke off to hug admirers, leaving one man sobbing into a tissue. After selling out 10 shows in minutes in August, another 10 were added – keeping her at Voltaire until May. And she has been working flat out for the past four months with choreographer Ashley Wallen, production designer Rob Sinclair and music director Steve Anderson to perfect the show.
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All but two tracks have been given brand new choreography. For fans filling the cabaret-style lounge, with its hundreds of glitterballs, their efforts had clearly paid off. Beginning with 2000’s Light Years, Kylie’s setlist took in both early and recent hits.
For Vegas High, from new album Tension, she was hoisted in the air by her male dancers and twirled under a spotlight. She later changed into a black latex mini-dress to belt out the album’s title track. And she shared a poignant moment as she introduced another of its tracks, Hold On to Now – telling her audience: “I always feel like a cut-and-paste artist when I say this, because we tend to stand up here and say, ‘This song means a lot to me’.
Raised aloft for track Vegas High (ACES / BACKGRID)“And they all do. But in particular this one means so much to me, and I think it’s something we can all hold on to right now.” The energetic set also celebrated the start of Kylie’s pop career with her first single, 1987’s The Locomotion – with fans roped in by her dancers to be part of the train.
Introducing it, an emotional Kylie said: “I wanted to talk about the eight-year-old me who was playing my dad’s record of Donna Summer’s Bad Girls, who was obsessed with Abba, obsessed with music – and who would have a problem believing all of this.
“The 10-year-old me too. Then 17-year-old me made a demo with three songs and cried in the studio because I was so nervous.” Jolting herself back into party mode, she smiled: “So who’s ready to go back to the 80s?” Soon after, in a red latex mini with matching cloak and thigh-high stiletto boots, she was on a giant platform belting out Padam Padam. As she closed with Love at First Sight, and the audience chanted her name, she laughed: “You’ve all been so very special. But we have to say goodnight. Thank you so much.”
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