Stunning showcase from an Australian pop icon
Presented by: Frontier Touring
Reviewed: 18 February, 2025
Australia is being treated to the opening dates of Kylie Minogue’s latest tour with Adelaide the lucky second stop of the world Tension Tour.
Perth hosted the debut performance on Saturday with Adelaide’s Entertainment Centre packed out last night to welcome Australia’s ‘Pop Princess’ back to town for her first show here in six years.
The tour comes off the back of Minogue’s October 2024 album release Tension II, the sequel to Tension, which featured the international hit Padam Padam.
The evening was opened by Brisbane singer and rapper Mallrat. The tight half-hour set of soft pop featured new songs along with her nationally successful songs, including Charlie, which placed third in the 2019 Triple J Hottest 100. Mallrat was a fun vibe builder prior to the feature show.
The Tension Tour is a slick performance and a reminder of Minogue’s status as a standard setter in pop concerts. Minogue opened from beneath the stage and rose to float above it and surrounded by a cage of lights in the shape of a diamond.
From the moment Minogue was on stage she belted through what quickly became a pop dance party. There was a perfect balance between her new songs requiring promotion and crowd favourites (of which there are many to choose from within Minogue’s back catalogue). Included were songs from most decades of her pop career right from Locomotion and cap off the evening with Tension.
The concert was sectioned into different vibes and Kylie eras that pay homage to the lead tracks from those album periods. It was back-to-back hits with one brief section when she sampled requests acapella and was joined only by guitar. These moments highlighted Minogue’s impressive live vocals.
Minogue was joined on stage by dancers and a live band. All elements incorporated together to give the experience of being front and centre for a music clip recording. The dancers’ costuming was reminiscent of elements that make immediate connections to imagery when thinking of a Kylie Minogue song.
The full Entertainment Centre was treated via an additional, smaller stage near the back of the venue, giving those crowd members a closer experience of Minogue, her dancers, and backup singers.
The Tension Tour is a joyful, hit-loaded evening with barely enough time to sit for a brief pause before the energy takes off again. A small personal preference bonus was the opener and main event started on the dot, keeping the entire event a tight production that focused on an incredible audience experience.
The Tension Tour was in Adelaide for one night only before moving on to the eastern states and then on to the rest of the world throughout 2025.
Reviewed by Alex Dunkin
Photo credit: Erik Melvin
Venue: Adelaide Entertainment Centre
Season: World Tour, in Australia until 3rd March 2025
Duration: 1 hr 45min plus 30 min opening act
Tickets: $99.90-$299.90
Bookings: www.frontiertouring.com/kylie
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