Kylie Minogue at Hyde Park review: British Summer Time weekend brought to a dazzling close

The Australian brought the first weekend of British Summer Time Hyde Park 2015 to a close with a hit-strewn display that delighted the crowd
Kylie Minogue performs in Hyde Park (Picture: PJP photos/REX)
PJP photos/REX
John Aizlewood25 June 2015

At the ripe old age of 47, Kylie Minogue is finally coming of age as a performer. Beneath a London sunset and a giant glitterball, the Australian brought the first weekend of British Summer Time Hyde Park 2015 to a close with a dazzling, hit-strewn display to the delight of an audience including David Walliams, Jerry Hall, Tom Daley, Graham Norton and an assortment of Delevingnes.

For all her glitz and rictus-grin pleasantness, Minogue has often struggled to command a stage. She has finally shed the little-girl approach which brought such hollowness to her spectacle. I’ve never seen her so convincing. She hurtled through hits, covers (who would have thought Kim Carnes’s wondrous Bette Davis Eyes would be enhanced by a thumping electro backbeat?) and an a cappella trot around the Neighbours theme.

Every song was a set-piece, although some of the moves, backdrops and costume-change interludes owed more than a tip of the hat to conehat-period Pet Shop Boys. I Should Be So Lucky was delivered as Minogue sashayed along the crowd-bisecting walkway; there were jagged new edges to Can’t Get You Out Of My Head and, even without studio partner Robbie Williams, Kids soared to a new level. Between songs she twice spoke of her upbringing in moving fashion as her parents looked on. Where once she celebrated a career spent as a bauble, now the ultimate trouper is simply lauding her durability.

Kylie Minogue: British Summertime Hyde Park concert

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Earlier, Chic featuring Nile Rodgers were joined by U2’s The Edge, Sam Smith and Strictly Come Dancing’s Bruno Tonioli. Grace Jones wore little other than body paint and outlandish wigs. She ruminated upon her perspiring nipples before rolling off stage with a resounding thud during Pull Up To The Bumper. Not all 67-year-old women choose to behave this way, but it’s reassuring at least one does.

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