Kylie Minogue’s latest reinvention has her treading the well-worn, dusty path from pop to country - a journey littered with enough rattlesnakes and banjos to fill the casual listener with dread.
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But where other recent efforts have ranged from underwhelming (Lady Gaga) to unlistenable (Justin Timberlake), Minogue was on firmer, safer ground for the thoroughly enjoyable start to the Australian leg of her Golden Tour.
The Nashville stylings of last year’s No.1 album Golden were on show from the start as she launched into the title track, with dancers in denim and stetsons.
The cowboy stylings dominated the design and choreography in the early acts, and influenced the music at times: Get Outta My Way became more guitar-driven and direct, while the subtlest twangs only lifted the imposing 1994 classic Confide in Me.
The best of the country reinterpretations came late in the piece, with the Aphrodite-era All the Lovers becoming more heartfelt in the verses while breaking into bombastic dance pop for the choruses.
The new material may not have the instant catchiness of her turn of the century hits, but there’s a more personal quality to them. Still, with Minogue these things are relative: she may spend a couple of minutes whispering a murder ballad, but don’t expect too much wallowing in the reflections of a tortured soul. Golden’s singles Dancing and Stop Me From Falling are designed to get your boots scooting, and they do.
Minogue isn’t turning into Tammy Wynette or Dolly Parton any time soon: she left well alone for the guiltiest pleasures from her 30-year career. Better the Devil You Know was an early singalong, while Especially for You and The Loco-Motion were unabashedly frothy.
The show only improved when Minogue leaned towards her dance and disco tendencies. Sure, inflecting some strains of Fleetwood Mac brought new character to Can’t Get You Out of My Head, but the marriage of the Human League’s Being Boiled with the sultry synth-pop of Slow was inspired. Some would have walked out thinking it was the best five minutes of the night.
The dance floor was calling, and by the fifth costume change it arrived with lasers, mirror balls and rainbow glitter for On A Night Like This and Spinning Around. Tamworth can wait: Kylie, the disco still needs you.
