Las Vegas Weekly

Kylie Minogue’s pop spectacle worth the (22-year) wait

Kylie Minogue’s 2009 North American Tour visited only six cities, including Las Vegas.

Photo: George Bekich

Photo: George Bekich

Kyle Minogue has had two hits in the U.S., her 1988 version of "The Loco-Motion" and 2002's "Can't Get You Out of My Head."

“Does anyone know roughly off the top of their head how long it’s taken me to get here?” Kylie Minogue asked the packed house at the Pearl Saturday night, to which the guy next to me responded, “Too long!” That seemed to be the prevailing sentiment among the diehard Kylie-heads who showed up for the second stop on the Australian pop singer’s first-ever North American tour (visiting only six cities). Minogue may have only had two real hits in America, more than a decade apart (her 1988 version of “The Loco-Motion,” and 2002’s “Can’t Get You Out of My Head”), but she’s a massive star in her native country as well as throughout Europe, and her stateside fans were ecstatic to have her finally grace this country.

For her part, Minogue gave as good as she got. The Pearl isn’t an arena, but Minogue put on an arena-sized pop spectacle anyway, descending from the ceiling for opener “Light Years” on a skull-shaped disco ball that set the tone for a bubbly, fun evening of mostly upbeat dance-pop. It’s too bad that Minogue is largely unknown in the U.S., because if she were a star on the level of Bette Midler or Cher, her show would be perfectly at home filling in unused dates at the Caesars Colossuem.

The Details

Kylie Minogue

October 3

The Pearl

Photo: George Bekich

Kylie Minogue on Oct. 3 at the Pearl inside the Palms.

Minogue even put up a Vegas backdrop on a video screen for the ballad “White Diamond,” and it seemed to suit her. As a singer, Minogue has always been more about delivery than vocal prowess, and at times her somewhat unremarkable voice seemed lost in the mix, with the vocal lines carried by the two back-up singers. But when she did place her voice front and center, it was strong, and when audience members shouted out requests during the encore, Minogue capably delivered a verse or so of “Got to Be Certain” a cappella. New song “Better Than Today,” debuting on this tour, fit seamlessly in with the catchy, impeccably crafted songs that Minogue has reliably delivered over the past two decades. She may not be Madonna (although she did sneak in a snippet of “Vogue” at one point), but on this night Minogue validated her superstar status.