Kylie live in London review: career-spanning pop-rave euphoria from an age-defying icon 

“It’s just me and my friends reminiscing,” beams pop icon Kylie, midway through her flawless career-spanning return to London’s Hyde Park. Nine years after her last show there, the Australian icon’s statement proves incredibly fitting as she leads 60,000 generation-spanning fans on a thrilling 27-song trip down memory lane.

Having appeared out of nowhere through fireworks and several puffs of smoke, she ascends from the top of the runway wearing red PVC and looking nothing like her 56 years of age. There’s early emotion too, which becomes a regular occurrence throughout the 100-minute show, as she regularly looks out onto the huge sea of cowboy hats, K-branded visors and t-shirts from various eras of her career. 

Moving from all-out pop to country and club, she ensures that her setlist satisfies her large LGBTQ+ following, many of whom aree slugging from their bottles of Kylie wine and Prosecco. While a live debut of ‘Tension’ cut ‘Things We Do For Love’ is met with an extremely camp “about fucking time” response, a mid-song whistle-stop medley of requests makes for some lovely interaction, too. A cathartic ‘All the Lovers’, meanwhile, sees hundreds of white roses waved in the air as a cannon shot paper streamers overhead.

Cleverly split into varying sections, the show’s four different acts represents the different eras of her illustrious career – right from the holiday camp fun of 80s-released debut single ‘The Loco-Motion’ to the heart-racing pulse of viral hit ‘Padam Padam’, recent country hoedown ‘Midnight Ride’ and even her new single ‘My Oh My’, for which she is joined by collaborators Bebe Rexha and Tove Lo; “I’m living my girl band dream” she says before the trio sing it together. 

Elsewhere, the throwbacks mean there is no shortage of singalong anthems, many of which are bolstered by pumping dance beats that prove the perfect fit for such a large stage; The Chemical Brothers’ techno and acid rave remix of ‘Slow’ proves anything but its namesake. 

Kylie’s vocals also remain impressive throughout the entire performance, particularly shining during an a Capella of ‘I Should Be So Lucky and the strings-led ‘Confide in Me’, which conveys a cinematic Bond-like epicness. 

And while the laser-heavy 3D-like neon pink visuals and giant hanging prism helps to create a futuristic utopia, she also brings life to the well-known dance routines from her legendary music videos for ‘Can’t Get You out of My Head’ and ‘Spinning Around’. 

Despite running 10 minutes past BST’s notoriously strict curfew, you get the feeling that – had time allowed – she would have continued dishing out the hits for far longer. Undoubtedly, few artists can hold an audience’s attention as effortlessly as Kylie who, four decades into her career, continues to deliver the ultimate crowd-pleasing pop spectacle. 

This pop queen’s London takeover proves her unchallengeable place atop the throne remains perfectly intact.