Hot on the heels of finishing 10 shows in the Australia leg of the Tension World Tour, petite-yet-powerhouse diva Kylie Minogue returned to Bangkok to perform her latest concert — after a 14-year wait — at Siam Paragon's Paragon Hall last Monday.
It was a triumphant return for Minogue, who previously performed at Impact Arena in 2011 as part of her "Aphrodite: Les Folies Tour". While her Impact Arena show in 2008 for the "KylieX2008 Tour" is often reported as her Thailand debut, I came across a tour programme booklet for "Enjoy Yourself Tour", which listed her first Bangkok show at Bangkok Coliseum in 1990. We love a diva with career longevity.
The gays, the girls and their allies showed up for Minogue while some also showed off, donning attires inspired by her iconic music video looks e.g. Can't You Out Of My Head's hooded white jumpsuit and Padam Padam's blood-red ensemble.
Although there was no opening act to warm up the crowd, the playlist with the likes of Beyonce's Break My Soul (The Queens Remix) and Robyn's Dancing On My Own suggested that Minogue would turn the hall into a dance floor for the night. And she did.
The lights were off before beams of light flickered, fluttered and flashed to the beats as screams and cheers grew louder and louder until a single spotlight shone on Minogue who looked ravishing in her disc sequin dress with pointed hem as she kicked off the night with Lights Camera Action, the lead single off her latest and seventeenth (yep, you read that right) album Tension II, on a pulsating note. The light show continued to play supporting roles in her performance as everyone in the audience seemed to be on their feet.
Without a pause, she served In Your Eyes, from her eighth album Fever which saw her renaissance in the early 2000s. Of course, it promptly incited an enthusiastic singalong, of which there were many during the night, from the crowd. Get Outta My Way from her eleventh album Aphrodite kept the dance-pop vibe going, albeit as a shortened version, before Minogue served the first nostalgic dose of the night with What Do I Have To Do, the third single from her third album Rhythm Of Love from 1990.
Then, the hall plunged into darkness except for one lone spotlight on Minogue as she transitioned into Come Into My World, the fourth and final single off Fever, which was performed with a twist instead of its original dance-pop. She sang the first half with a beautiful orchestral arrangement akin to her compilation album The Abbey Road Sessions before she did the latter half in a remix version by Steve Anderson, one-half of the remix/production team Brothers In Rhythm and long-time collaborator.
Minogue paused to greet the fans with "Sawasdee ka" and officially welcomed them to the tour before she performed Good As Gone, from Tension II, as the central video screen showed a world on fire in the background. The first act ended on a celebratory note when she capped it off with self-empowering disco-dance-pop Spinning Around, the first single from her seventh studio album Light Years, while putting a spin on it by containing elements of Cheryl Lynn's Got To Be Real (if you listen closely).
The second act started with a psychedelic video interlude before Minogue reappeared in a glittering red jumpsuit to perform On A Night Like This, the second single from Light Years, but in the shortened British Summer Time 2024 arrangement. She followed it with Last Night I Dreamt I Fell In Love, her electro-pop groovy collaboration with Brazillian DJ Alok, which just dropped last month on St Valentine's Day. The second time travel came with Better The Devil You Know and Shocked, both of which are from Rhythm Of Love.
She paused for chit-chat and invited two young women to come on the stage to show off their fashion and bowed with her before she served Things We Do For Love, a non-single track from her sixteenth studio album Tension. Then, she rewound "back back back" to the 80s positivity with The Loco-Motion, her 1987 debut song that started it all for her, as she moved past the crowd with her dancers in tow to get on the B-stage during the song's extended outro, inciting screams and concluding the second act.
The third act was kicked off with Hold On To Now, the second track off Tension, as her background vocalists joined her on the B-stage and ended it with a beautiful harmony. As she gave out roses to lucky fans, she came across a gaysian couple, who claimed they met because of her (my guess would be on a club's dance floor). Showing allyship, she serenaded them with an acapella snippet of Where The Wild Roses Grow, a murder ballad by her and Australian rock band Nick Cave And The Bad Seeds, while the couple expressed mild PDA.
On audience requests, she obliged with Please Stay, the fourth single from Light Years, and I Should Be So Lucky, the second single from her 1988 debut album Kylie. The latter got the audience across age brackets to join her in a fun sing-along. The kumbaya/mobile phone flashlights moment came when she performed an acoustic version of Say Something, the lead single from her fifteenth studio album Disco, in a confetti rain. A disco ball descended from the ceiling towards the end of the song, signalling the return of party mode. Her dancers sashayed onto the B-stage to join her in performing a medley of Supernova, Real Groove, Magic and Where Does the DJ Go?, all of which are from Disco, which ended on the main stage, concluding the third act.
Act IV started on a sombre note as cloak-wearing Minogue performed Confide In Me, the lead single from her fourth album Kylie Minogue from 1994. The song stands out from her dominantly dance-pop discography due to its Middle Eastern instrumentation and seductress vibe. Minogue showcased her best vocal moments here. For a song released 30 years ago, it strangely feels contemporary.
The mood shifted with her performance of Slow, starting as a sultry slow burn as in its original version before turning bombastic with elements from its Chemical Brothers remix in the end. Timebomb, her standalone single from 2012, kept the party going before Minogue closed the fourth act with Edge Of Saturday Night, her 2024 collab with American DJ The Blessed Madonna.
Tension, the second single and the title track from Tension, kicked off the fifth act before Minogue served some hairography and choreography (and we were almost two hours into the concert at this point) while performing Can't Get You Out Of My Head, the lead single off Fever. All The Lovers, the lead single off Aphrodite, closed the act on a joyous note, complete with a liberal amount of confetti.
The audience didn't have to wait long for an encore. With another outfit change, Minogue returned with Grammy-winning Padam Padam, the lead single and thumping earworm from Tension. The real finale came with her extended performance of Love At First Sight, the third single off Fever, which had the audience enjoying themselves throughout. The rainbow ribbon blast was the icing on the cake for a euphoric finish to the memorable night before Minogue took the final bow.
The Aussie Aphrodite packed a lot into her two-hour concert and isn't afraid to mix her day-one hits with last month's release. She gave the audience the expected hits, including all four singles from her magnum opus Fever, but also added a twist here and there to keep things fresh (and everyone on their feet) and even threw in a deep cut or two for good measure.
Let's hope we don't have to wait another decade for her next concert in Bangkok.
