Kylie brings her star quality to IconicaFest

This year’s Iconica Santalucia Sevilla Fest went out with a bang, thanks to Kylie Minogue’s thrilling Tension show on 14 July.

The pocket pop princess delighted a crowd of 12,000 at Plaza de España with her unstoppable energy. I’ve never seen anyone dance or smile or indeed move so much on stage, and she looked fabulous in a series of knock ’em dead outfits. It was two hours of sheer joy, a much needed tonic in today’s troubled times.

When I arrived with my gang, celebrating a friend’s 50th birthday, we found the main pista already packed at 10pm, apart from the Front Stage section (closest to the stage).It was a lot busier than in the previous two concerts I went to here, PSBs and Madness, where we managed to get decent spots near the stage. This was because a popular British house DJ, Jodie Harsh, had done a set before Kylie, so most people had taken up their places a good hour before.

I had to fight my way  through from the edge of the crowd to be opposite the stage, but still far back. I am quite used to pushing  through packed crowds at concerts, having attended some major ones (Harry Styles, Taylor Swift) and our local UK festival, Latitude, with my daughter, but these Kylie fans were standing their ground. Fair enough.

I ended up next to the stone fountain which sits midway between the entrance to the plaza and the centre of the canal in front of the building. As a member of the press, I could have requested a Front Stage ticket, but preferred to watch with my friends, although in the end I abandoned them anyway to move closer.

I was keen to push my way through, wanting to soak up the atmosphere in the thick of the crowd, as well as being positioned to take decent photos. While I was successful in the former, the latter mission wasn’t accomplished, as you can see. Holding a phone above my head was the only way to get a shot of the stage.

Before Kylie (she’s one of those first-name-only singers; see headline) had even arrived on stage, there were shouts of “Mi reina, mi reina, mi reina reina reina” (My queen) And “Mi guapa, etc” (My beautiful). Anticipation was high, the tension building (see what I did there?).

The Queen of Pop burst onto the stage in a punk-ish purple rubber trouser mono, slashed on the thighs, with sheer glittery long-sleeved top, matching elbow-length gloves, belt, chains, and tousled wavy blonde hair. 

She looked magnificent, owning the stage, as the queen she is. Although she was undeniably glamorous, in this first of seven stunning outfits, Kylie did not seem distant or on a pedestal – she spoke to the audience with genuine warmth, saying “Estoy muy feliz de estar aquí con vosotros.” (I’m very happy to be here with you.)

Production designer of the Tension Tour, Rob Sinclair, had said of the staging that it would be pared down. "We tried to present her at the centre of everything without distraction. It's a chance for her and her audience to spend time together." Which was exactly how it felt: there were no complex stage effects, just steps in the centre – the big screen showed specially created films and visuals. She did have dancers, though I could barely see them from my position in the crowd.

Kylie also mentioned that it was the last night of the festival, but her first time here in Seville. “Es mi primavera (sic) vez aqui” (It’s my spring [instead of first] time here.) Full marks for effort, though I heard someone say that having had a Spanish boyfriend, they thought she'd have a few more words (Andres Velencoso, and they split 12 years ago).

It was great to see the backstage photos of Ms Minogue at Plaza de España on her social Media channels, enjoying the grand tiled staircase like any other visitor. 

 Kylie unleashed her star power on us with recent hit Good as Gone, a typically poppy, up-tempo number which set the tone.

Soon after – she played snatches of songs in between  – Kylie launched into Spinning Around, one of my personal disco favourites, with its infectious rhythm, heavy beats and singalong chorus. The party had started, and standing still was not an option.

Another number from the same period followed – the early 2000s, peak wedding season for me, in my early 30s, with plenty of dancefloor action. On a night like this was followed by Better the devil you know – “Yes it’s true/What they say…” from my university days.

This is happy music - no hidden subtexts or dark undercurrents, just joyous pop anthems belted out by everybody in the house, caught under the spell cast by this diva extraordinaire who sprinkles sparkly fairy dust with gay abandon.

Kylie is a true performer, who entertains, demanding participation – her mike was pointed our way  for more choruses than I can mention. She looks amazing for her 57 years, and her outfits are fabulous, but what she has in spades that make her such a pleasure to watch is charisma

Kylie is fully aware of the effect she has on her audience – lots of gay groups and couples were positively swooning, and she had them eating out of the palm of her perfectly manicured hand.

The next track was [I wanna go out] Dancing, which I didn’t know but fell instantly in love with.  Thankfully her choruses are easy to learn for the uninitiated.

This was a typically hot July night, low 30C, as Ms Minogue referenced: “When we were looking at tour dates, we always knew that tonight was going to be a hot one, but woahhhh.” In her tight outfits, she really must have felt those temperatures.

One of the most endearing moments was when she tossed three white roses into the crowd. One of them was caught by a young man called Alejandro, who was swooning with excitement and declared “I love you!”

Our pop queen extraordinaire invited an overwhelmed and disbelieving Alejandro on stage, as the crowd chanted his name. She kissed him, sang with him, and then hugged him. I doubt he’ll be washing that T-shirt ever again.

This was all a preamble to performing a snippet from Where the Wild Roses Grow, a dark, lyrical song which she recorded with Nick Cave in 1995. “We can sing this together.” Kylie said.

Then it was time to “Step Back in Time” (we didn’t get that banger) as Kylie asked, “Where did it all start?”, and launched into The Loco-motion from 1998, originally a hit for Little Eva back in 1962.

After Say something , a little light for my taste, our diva changed into a red sparkly ruched minidress with an asymmetric hem, knee high red boots, and fishnet tights. With her blonde hair, she looked as glam as it gets.

There was a snatch of Grandmaster Flash’s The Message (“It’s like a jungle…), followed by Last night a DJ saved my life  by Indeep, both all-time classics, from 1982. I guess this was to show the breadth of her musical influences.

We were treated to a black and white film during her next costume change  - Kylie with starlet hair in waves, like Madonna in her 1990s era.

She emerged in a long, flowing, sparkly black cape with a big flower corsage at the neckline. I got the feeling her costume designer had a ball working on this tour. The sparklier, the better.

Confide in me was dramatic and drum-heavy, with dark lighting and sense of moodiness – then a swish and off came the  cape, to reveal a pink fringed sequinned minidress. That’s our girl.

Then we went to Gangnam Style samples and a heavy rock beat with house piano, and into another recent hit, the rave beats of Edge of Saturday Night, which she recorded with American DJ and producer The Blessed Madonna, who has also worked with Dua Lipa and had a show on BBC Radio 6 Music.

The next video presented us with lots of Kylies in black trousers, white shirt, braces, slicked down blonde hair, sunglasses, and red lips.

Now it was time for outfit number 4: a black sequinned dress with black thigh high boots for the disco remix of Good Like That.

Then came my own personal favourite, Can’t get you out of my head, also mined from that early Millennium vein of pure gold, a preference which was shared by many around me, judging by the enthusiasm and volume of the “lalala, lala lalala”s.

The last of the set’s main sectkion was All the lovers, which also saw hearty singing from the audience.

The two encores featured a new outfit: a yellow and black striped dress with her name “Kylie” printed on it, paired with black boots and black wraparound sunglasses. The whole effect was a bit Debbie Harry, with the golden blonde mop and uber-cool shades.

The penultimate number was Padam padam, the lead single from her Tension album, which has introduced her to a new generation with its simple, catchy heartbeat hook – the singer has more than half a million TikTok followers. 

Kylie thanked us - someone next to me replied, “A tí, bonita!” (Thank you, gorgeous!) - and said “There’s some nice outfits. Appreciate that!"

And the final number was… Love at first sight – what a high note to go out on.

I’ve been watching Kylie Minogue on TV since she acted in Aussie soap Neighbours in the 1980s, performed on Top of the Pops in the 1990s, and has been interviewed countless times on chat shows like Graham Norton. She always came across as fun, charming, and down to earth – and she always talks about how much she loves singing live at concerts, and her fans.

Now that I’ve seen her live, I can confirm that she is indeed a goddess. Seeing a big star like her performing at Iconica, closing the festival here in Seville, was a memorable experience. Yes, I've seen Taylor Swift at Wembley, and that was mind-blowing, but this was also great - it's a much smaller, more intimate venue. Kylie is totally in her element on stage, dancing sexily, throwing seductive glances at the crowd, whooping, spinning, and grinning from ear to ear. “Que maravilla!” (She’s amazing!), said another fan after the show. I couldn’t agree more.

Kylie clearly revels in her job and has winning charm in spades, along with boundless energy. She’s 57 – older than me – and is a breast cancer survivor. To quote a famous film line, I’ll have what she’s having.

Icónica Santalucía Sevilla Festival

Contemporary music and dance festivals in Andalucia