Kylie Minogue

Rod Laver Arena

20 Feb 2025

Kylie Minogue returns to her hometown in Melbourne with her ‘Tension Tour’ to wow fans for a fun-filled night full of nostalgic and chart-topping hits.

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Mallrat is joined by a DJ to ignite the stage with her energetic hyper-pop full of vibrant energy and emotional depth. She’s just released her brand-new album ‘Light Hit My Face Like a Straight Right’ and performs tracks including ‘Pavement’ and ‘Hocus Pocus’ to warm up the crowd and get everyone up on their feet dancing along.

Strobe lights flash out across the arena as Kylie Minogue makes her arrival on stage and is elevated up to the ceiling. ‘Lights Camera Action’ strikes up and a diamond of laser lights forms around her.

“Melbourne, are you ready?” She shouts, as she’s lifted down from the trapeze and the first act officially kicks off. As she reaches the stage floor wearing a shimmering gold outfit and knee-high boots, she’s joined by an entourage of cloaked dancers with prism covered masks for her danceable hits ‘Get Outta My Way’, ‘What Do I Have To Do?’ and ‘Come Into My World.’

“Good evening, Melbourne! It is so good to be back here we are at Rod Laver Arena. How many of you have seen me here before? Are you ready for tonight?” She chants to hype up the excitement in the audience as she continues with ‘Good As Gone’ and ‘Spinning Around’.

She starts off the second act with ‘On A Night Like This’ in a sparkling red outfit and a colourful visual display to hypnotise our senses. Kylie gets a bit emotional for the track that she released what feels like a lifetime ago back in 2001. “It was like moments ago, right? Long before any of my three nephews were around, and they’re all here tonight,” she shares as she gives a big shout out to her hometown family, friends and fans in the audience.

We go from iconic millennial moments to a song she just released a week ago on Valentines Day called ‘last night I fell in love.’ Her entourage of dancers rejoin for the catchy electro track in a rainbow of coloured outfits with matching bucket hats. The nostalgic fan-favourite hits keep coming with ‘Better The Devil You Know’ and blast from the past ‘Shocked.’

“Let’s take a moment to have a good look at you all. Yes, oh Melbs, you were never gonna disappoint. Just raise the bar!” She exclaims.

“When we piled in here today for soundcheck at Rod laver Arena I was like huh I’ve been here a few times now. It just makes me think of the journey. You know, we’re all here. We’ve all had our lives going on, but much of my life has been on the stage and that makes me think about where it all began. At 17 I made my first demo cassette, no idea what was gonna happen, and then just a couple years later, I released my first single. It was in a time of place called The ‘80s. Anyone there? Some of you were there. Some of you remember. Some of you dreamt about it. Some of you read about it books. But what if I said I could transport all of us back to the ‘80s?” She taunts as we all jump on board ‘The Loco-Motion’ train to join her dancers making their way to B-stage in the middle of the arena for Act 3.

“What I really wanted to do with this tour is have us all here in the moment, all together,” Kylie says before singing ‘Hold On To Now.’ She accepts some flowers from an audience member and hands them out to fans around the B-stage. She chooses to give one lucky fan a rose and serenades them with a chorus of ‘Where The Wild Roses Grow.’

To the crowd’s excitement, Kylie asks the crowd for any requests which they reply by shouting out song titles from her huge back catalogue. She’s overwhelmed and surprised, but without preparation she chooses to sing ‘Did It Again’ for the first time live since 2015.

“Since I was last here and doing a show in Melbourne, a lot has happened and amongst all that I’ve released three albums. The first of those was released in 2020, which, as we all know, was at the most unique time, and I truly have had so many people since then tell me what ‘Disco’ the album means to them. It meant so much then it means so much now, and it really is a time and a place. It started in the studio, and I finished it in my lounge, and somehow, we’ve made it all the way here. So this is a huge thrill to be with you once again,” she shares.

The dancers rejoin and a giant mirror ball hangs from the ceiling to spin around to reflect across the arena as she continues with a ‘Disco’ medley including ‘Supernova’, ‘Real Groove’, ‘Magic’ and ‘Where Does The DJ Go?’. Fans rejoice as they finally get to hear Kylie perform these songs live in her hometown for the first time since they were released during the pandemic.

We focus back on the main stage for Act 4 as the stage is engulfed in smoke as Kylie emerges from the floor in a long black cape ready for the haunting throwback ‘Confide In Me’ which really showcases her ability to hold a note in the moment.

‘Slow’ is delivered with a seductive dance performance that becomes sped up toward the end as her cape comes off to reveal a hot pink outfit ready for another upbeat dance section including ‘Timebomb’ and club-ready anthem ‘Edge Of A Saturday Night’.

Act 5 is stacked with eye-catching visuals to match the bpm of the electropop track ‘Tension’ and fan favourite ‘Can’t Get You Out Of My Head.’ “Long before this next song was done, you’ve always been ‘All The Lovers’, right? Always have, always will be,” she says to her devoted audience as she sings this anthem as a thank you for sticking by her all these years of her incredible career.

For those who have been eyeing previous setlists, tonight’s encore is bit different with ‘Padam Padam’ switching places saving it for a big finale alongside ‘Love At First Sight’. Together both making the perfect final tracks to close out the night with a bang. Kylie proves that she’s still at the top of her game and forever holds the title of Australia’s reining princess of pop.

Words by Michael Prebeg