As British Summer Time gets closer to its end (seemingly literally as well as at Hyde Park) the crowd gathers itself for another performance by a global megastar, the screens light up bathing the tens of thousands in a warm red light, the pyro goes off and, rising from below the end of the ego ramp, the diminutive pop princess Kylie Minogue launches into Tension, the crowd literally going wild before she follows it up with Come Into my World, with pretty much every arm in Hyde Park raised up, their owners living their best lives. Only after this does Kylie address the crowd, visibly moved by the outpouring of love directed her way, almost in disbelief that all these people are there for her and not the only time this evening where you’d be forgiven for thinking it was Ms Minogue’s first ever gig the amount of gratitude and awe that all of this is for her.
Shortened versions of In Your Eyes and Get Out of My Way follow before the live debut of Things We Do For Love, while the huge screens on stage ever evolve and change adding to the overall effect of what has by now, in the best possible way, become a giant karaoke.
By the time Kylie has performed Slow, complete with a more uptempo finish courtesy of her live band (always a plus) and started Better The Devil You Know Hyde Park has become party central, full of great outfits, sparkles and beaming smiles and it doesn’t stop there.
As the screens full with images of hanging chains, the dancers re-emerge from their own costume change (Kylie herself repackages herself 5 times tonight) as copies of Orville Peck for a rendition of their duet Midnight Ride, Kylie closing it with a request for the crowd to shout hello to him as originally she had hoped Orville would guest but he is away on his own tour.
The giant glitterball spotted above the stage then lowers for a rousing rendition of Spinning Around before Kylie takes us back even further in time for Locomotion, but it is around this point of the night it becomes clear that Kylie isn’t quite sure what to say between songs, often coming across a little awkward, but then as soon as the music hits, bam, she’s straight in the zone nailing every beat and note.
A medley of One More Time, Wow & Shocked and then the crowd goes wild for Padam Padam and it’s clear that Kylie doesn’t need to rely on a classic greatest hits set to headline such a huge event, a point proven even further by the only outing we get of I Should Be So Lucky is a cheeky verse and chorus she chucks out during a crowd interaction.
Ending the main set on All The Lovers is an interesting choice, but the encore hits hard with On A Night Like This before bringing out Bebe Rexha and Tove Lo for latest single My Oh My and as the last notes of Love At First Sight ring out one can’t help but wonder if the pop princess actually stole the Queen of Pop’s crown when no one was really looking.
For more information about BST Hyde Park and to keep up to date with news on next years show, visit the official website.
