Kylie - Live At Mardi Gras

When I woke up on Saturday morning and looked out the window, I pretty much decided to skip Mardi Gras. Rain was pouring from the sky faster than Madonna's latest single fell from the charts and the prospect of spending another party crammed in the RHI with an army of drenched gays and smudged trannies didn't fill me with as much excitement as you might expect. But missing Kylie? Not an option. I've seen that woman perform in three different countries and even planned a holiday around her last appearance at GAY. What's a mild downpour, a little discomfort and a lot of dehydration between old friends?

So there I was squashed between 6,000 screaming party people when Ms Minogue took the stage at 2am. There was no air circulating through the packed-to-capacity venue and I'm pretty sure the temperature was pushing 50 degrees. Gays were dropping like flies and one of my friends had to crawl to an exit to get some air but I wasn't about to miss a second. Kylie appeared on stage looking like a glittering warrior princess and kicked off her first official K25 performance with "Aphrodite". It's not my favourite song by a long shot but it works in a live setting and I was extremely impressed with the lights, staging and costumes. The 43-year-old looked gorgeous in her golden headdress and matching high-high boots and sounded brilliant.

That not-quite-an-anthem was followed by "Wow", which struck me as a much better choice. It doesn't get any gayer than this Greg Kurstin-produced hit! I loved seeing the positive fan response to the song after all the flack it received on release and thought it blended into "In Your Eyes" surprisingly well. Again, that wouldn't be my first choice to represent the all-conquering Fever-era but it was a number one hit in Australia and at least she didn't choose "Love At First Sight". Um. Ok, so that was the next song. I prayed she wouldn't end the show with it - as was her habit for about a decade - but she broke into a beautiful version of "I Believe In You" and everything was back on track.

The sentiment of "I Believe In You" was perfect for the night and I adored the choreography but the best was yet to come. Kylie's Samba-tastic take on "Better The Devil You Know" was pure gold. This is the most interesting interpretation of her signature tune I've ever heard. It was vibrant and silly and utterly irresistible. The pop legend actually shook her famous arse instead of hand-dancing and her energy was infectious. She quickly left the stage for a costume change while her dancers performed acrobatic feats to "Slow" before returning to close with her last Australian top 50 hit "Put Your Hands Up (If You Feel Love)". That relatively unknown track went down well but I had a feeling she would be back from an encore. And Kylie didn't let us down. Sure, she re-emerged looking like tranny roadkill - hands down the worst outfit she has ever worn! - but "All The Lovers" sounded as gorgeous as ever and the young and single man's Minogue proved once again why she is the country's most enduring pop export.

10/10

This is not the look.