I can die happy now...

Well, it's been a whirlwind weekend. After buying tickets back in May, it was finally time for Kylie Minogue to come into New York for her first-ever American tour. Honestly, given Kylie's small-ish (but rabid) following, I had never imagined that she would bring her high-end spectaular show to the States, but not only did she prove me wrong, she proved that she can scale down the show just enough so one wouldn't notice, but made it economically possible to pull off. In fact, she sold out the first show at NYC's Hammerstein Ballroom, then sold out a second show, and tonight will be her third. At the venue I heard quite a few people who commented that she could've played Madison Square Garden easily, but the perspective the audience had at the Hammerstein's small intimate settings was a once-in-a-lifetime experience.

Well actually, for me, twice-in-a-lifetime. In my fervor in May, I bought tickets for both Sunday and Monday, and really toyed with getting tonight's (Tuesday's) show, but my somewhat rational self got to me. As I'm sitting here admittedly wishing I was there now, I knew I'd be more than happy with what I've seen.

For Sunday's show I got floor tickets with 3 friends of mine, and I knew I had to be near the stage if this was going to be a general admission first-come first serve thing. I got into the city at around 12:30pm, and went down to the theatre, where a line already had formed from people who were there at least overnight! The line wasn't too long, so we decided to have a little bite, but I couldn't wait and my friend Karl and I went to get into line at around 3pm.

This was our view for the next three hours. By the time we started to actually move, the line had gone to the end of the city block and doubled back. Well it was definitely worth the wait, since after being pat down at the door (for cameras), we rushed in and got up right to the front right, with only four people standing in front of us. OMGOMGOMGOMGOMG!
(I never was good at taking dark cameraphone shots...but this is kinda the idea)

We were very lucky to be in a group of hyped up people with a couple superfans who've seen her in previous shows. We were all so psyched for this that the time waiting wasn't that bad. About a half hour before the show, instead of an opening act, DJ Jason Buckham spinned tunes including Madonna's "Celebration", Salt N Pepa's "Push It", and a little Boston mixed in. His set ended appropriately Frank Sinatra's "New York, New York". The crowd was wild at that point.

and then there was Kylie...



(not my video, this apparently was from the other side...)

She came down from the ceiling on the giant skull from her KylieX2008 tour, to start it off with "Light Years", complete with lasers that filled the venue. That segued into "Speakerbox", which was the opener of her last world tour...



It was hot as all get out, so how her dancers can tolerate the helmuts and full-body suits like in this number amazed me. After "Come Into My World", Kylie took in the crowd going into "In Your Eyes"...



Next was one of the best parts of Kylie's Showgirl tour, a discotastic medley of songs including "Shocked", "What Do I Have To Do", and "Spinning Around", the latter bringing in the backtrack from CeCe Peniston's "Finally"...



(The above's from Vegas...)

After that, the one part I've never seen on the seven live DVDs I have, the preview of her new song from her upcoming album, "Better Than Today"...



I'm really looking forward to her new album, and maybe now she'll have the confidence to swing by her next tour. Kylie followed that with the eerie "Like A Drug", which is the song the skull was used for in the last tour...



That went into her most known song from the crowd there, "Can't Get You Out Of My Head". As expected, we all went ballastic dancing around...



Next, she came out in the outfit on the above poster, but in white, for the seductive "Slow"...



As in her last tour in Europe, she used "2 Hearts" to introduce her band...



and after that, the number that got everybody crazy over the sexy male dancers in her troupe, with obligatory shower scene, for "Red Blooded Woman"...



Well, after that, I'll need a shower, so I'll continue with part two next time, starting with my favorite song of the night, some voguing, and day two in the seats...