She has come a long way since she was Charlene Robinson in Neighbours, and most of us know the ups and downs of her personal life over the last 30 odd years.
So, she appears like an old friend when we first see her appear on stage. And wow did the Edinburgh Castle audience give her a warm welcome.
From the off this was a special concert – perfect weather, sell-out crowd and a superstar in our midst.
And she is a superstar. She has worked hard and perfected the dance moves and the singing – but it’s more than that – her personality really does shine through. And quite like a lot of her audience she just sparkles.
She engaged with the crowd on a much more personal level than simply shouting ‘Hello Edinburgh’ at the crowd.
I spoke to several people after the show and they all agreed Kylie was just magnificent.
She told the audience :”What a privilege it has been, this is such a historic place. How amazing it is.” She sang directly to a lady in the front row at one point, but also reached the people at the back of the crowd . When they all demanded an encore the noise was deafening.
When she was in full flow with everyone on their feet dancing (that was only the second number I Should Be So Lucky) it had the air of a mass Zumba class. And just like any good exercise routine by the end of the night everyone was upbeat.
Kylie gave it everything on the Esplanade tonight – as did her entourage of dancers, musicians and backing singers. Not every gig can possibly be like this. It was pretty special to be there, enjoying the theatricality of the show with fabulous ever changing backdrops which translated so well to the big screens at the side of the stage.
One thing – I’m not sure the athletic male dancer who opted for the kilt thought it was such a good idea after a while!
She brought on some old chums to join her – the music of the last three decades that some of us in the audience are pretty familiar with. Certainly a couple of guys not far away from us knew all the words and most of the moves.
Akin to Madonna, Kylie only needs one name but has had more personas than you and I have changed our foundation. (ask your women you men in the audience!) She changed outfits tonight five times for a different look yes, but it was a device to split the music into some of the different genres her voice can cover as well as a style matter.
Edinburgh Castle can be such a dodgy venue to play – one day it can be pouring rain and the next it will be sunny and quite beautiful.
Tonight it was simply five star – and so was Kylie.
Haste ye back.
Founding Editor of The Edinburgh Reporter.
Edinburgh-born multimedia journalist and iPhoneographer.
