Kylie – Can’t Get You Out Of My Head

I was watching “Kylie, Live In Sydney” last night, which is a DVD copy of her ‘On A Night Like This’ tour from 2001, which was  pre-Fever album.

I was taken by the fact that nobody even batted an eyelid when she introduced them to ‘Can’t Get You Out Of My Head’ – a then unknown song, which we all know then went on to take the World by storm!

It was really weird to see the song performed without the hysteric reactions that the song draws these days… eerie even!

Britney Spears – Circus Tour 2009

I figured that I’d give reviewing by vlog a chance:

In summary, for those unable to listen in:

• Support acts are very good
• The tech kit on this show, is amazing… I really want the wrap around screen!
• All in all, a great concert
• Few niggles, mainly that there was virtually no audience interaction
• Unsure of whether she mimed or not… it did all sound very ‘clean’ though.
• All-in-all, highly recommended for folk to go see.

Few pics from the show (mainly of the tech, as Britney ones didn’t come out) are at the bottom of this post.

RUNTIME (for all dates at the O2, London):

WEDS/THURS SHOWS:

Doors: 18:30 / Ciara 20:00 – 20:40 / Interval 20:40 – 20:55 / NY Big Apple Circus 20:55 – 21:13 / Britney 21:15 – 22:45

SAT SHOWS (NB – no Jubilee tube line!):

Doors: 18:00 / Ciara 19:30 – 20:10 / Interval 20:10 – 20:25 / NY Big Apple Circus 20:25 – 20:43 / Britney 20:45 – 22:15

SUN SHOWS (NB – no Jubilee tube line!):

Doors: 18:00 / Ciara 19:00 – 19:40 / Interval 19:40 – 19:55 / NY Big Apple Circus 19:55 – 20:13 / Britney 20:15 – 21:45

SETLIST:

MY PICTURES:

Last Fm : My Party Playlist

I spent several days creating and tweaking a Christmas-y/Party music playlist the other week and had my chance to deploy it last night. Just thought that I’d share it as I think that it really shows my music taste as it is at the moment!

The stats are courtesy of my last.fm plug-in which faithfully recorded all of the details and kept track (no pun intended!) of what the media player had played for me. Not all tracks I’d selected managed to get played and recorded via last.fm unfortunately as I ran out of time, however the bulk of them are listed below, some even seem to appear twice  – stupid Windows Media Centre!

Another thing that I noticed whilst on my last.fm page was that P!nk and Kylie are pretty much tied for the number one spot as my most played artist. It’s been a while since I last checked my last.fm stats, so it was quite surprising to see that the lead of these two firm favourites had increased by so much. I’ll feel guilty now though as if I play Kylie twice and miss off P!nk, Kylie will be top, but if I play P!nk but ignore Kylie, she may not reach number one either! WHAT A DILHEMA! Therefore, I think I now have a perfect excuse to listen to both in equal and frequent measure!! hehe

Play listing:

Nelly Furtado – I’m Like A Bird
The Puppini Sisters – Mr. Sandman
Amy Winehouse – Tears Dry on Their Own
Katy Perry – I Kissed a Girl
John and Yoko – Happy Xmas
Duffy – Rain on Your Parade
Kylie Minogue – In My Arms
Bing Crosby – White Christmas
Mud – Lonely This Christmas
Rihanna – Disturbia
Sam Sparrow – Sam Sparrow – Black & Gold
M People – Moving On Up
Take That – Could It Be Magic
The Puppini Sisters – Crazy in Love
Slade – Merry Xmas Everybody
Britney Spears – Womanizer
Gwen Stefani – Early Winter
Cyndi Lauper – Girls Just Wanna Have Fun
Jamelia – Beware of the Dog
Miley Cyrus – 7 Things
Queen – Dont Stop Me Now
Michael Ball – Driving Home for Christmas
James Blunt – 1973
Jennifer Hudson – Spotlight
Adele – Chasing Pavements
Dean Martin – Let It Snow, Let It Snow, Let It Snow
Beyoncé – If I Were a Boy
Kings of Leon – Sex on Fire
Billie Piper – Last Christmas
Ronan Keating feat. Maire Brennan – Fairytale Of New York
Christina Aguilera – Keeps Getting Better
Céline Dion – I Drove All Night
Jona Lewie – Stop the Cavalry
Girls Aloud – The Promise
Alphabeat – Fascination
The Gossip – Standing In The Way Of Control
Band Aid – Do They Know It’s Christmas
The Beach Boys – Little Saint Nick
Fall Out Boy – What’s This
Mark Brown ft Sarah Cracknell – The Journey Continues
Robyn – Be Mine
Scissor Sisters – I Don’t Feel Like Dancin’
Cher – Believe (DJ motiv8 xenomania mix)
The Puppini Sisters – I will survive
Cliff Richard – Mistletoe And Wine
Nelly Furtado – Maneater
Pink – Who Knew?
Backstreet Boys – Larger Than Life
Elton John – Step Into Christmas
Justin Timberlake – Like I Love You
Jerry Springer the Opera – I Just Wanna Fucking Dance (Wayne G Heaven mix)
KT Tunstall – Suddenly I See
Charlotte Church – Call My Name
Girls Aloud – Sound of the Underground
Busted – Year 3000
The Feeling – I Thought It Was Over
Coldplay – Viva la Vida
Alicia Keys – No One
Paul McCartney – Wonderful Christmas TIme
Aled Jones – Walking in the Air
Katy Perry – Hot n Cold
Kate Nash – Foundations
Rachel Stevens – Sweet Dreams My LA Ex
Amy Macdonald – This Is the Life
Basshunter ft DJ Mental Theo’s Bazzheadz – Now Your Gone
Leona Lewis – Bleeding Love (Radio Edit)
Kylie Minogue – Wow
Justin Timberlake – Cry Me a River
Tom Jones with Cerys From Catatonia – Baby, It’s Cold Outside
Pink – Leave Me Alone (I’m Lonely)
Leona Lewis – Forgive Me
Rachel Stevens – Some Girls
Girls Aloud – The Show
Rihanna – Don’t stop the music
Leona Lewis – Better in Time
Same Difference – We R One
Britney Spears – Piece of Me
Kylie Minogue – Your Disco Needs You
Girls Aloud – Call the Shots
Macy Gray – I Try
Alesha Dixon – The Boy Does Nothing
Britney Spears – Toxic
Peter Bjorn and John – Young Folks (Feat. Victoria Be
Chris de Burgh – A Spaceman Came Travelling
Take That – Patience
Feist – 1234
Franz Ferdinand – Matinee
Kylie Minogue – Santa Baby
Girls Aloud – Sound of the Underground
Gnarles Barkley – Smiley Faces
Backstreet Boys – Larger Than Life
M People – Moving On Up
Kings of Leon – Sex on Fire
Ronan Keating feat. Maire Brennan – Fairytale Of New York
Jona Lewie – Stop the Cavalry
Slade – Merry Xmas Everybody
Franz Ferdinand – Matinee
Girls Aloud – The Promise
Leona Lewis – Forgive Me
The Beach Boys – Little Saint Nick
Scissor Sisters – I Don’t Feel Like Dancin’
The Puppini Sisters – I will survive
Amy Winehouse – Tears Dry on Their Own
Macy Gray – I Try
Christina Aguilera – Keeps Getting Better
The Puppini Sisters – Crazy in Love
Cyndi Lauper – Girls Just Wanna Have Fun
Brenda Lee – Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree
Mud – Lonely This Christmas
Madonna – Hung Up
Cliff Richard – Mistletoe And Wine
Will Young – Your Game
Coldplay – Viva la Vida
Girls Aloud – The Show
Britney Spears – Toxic
Eagle-Eye Cherry – Save Tonight
The Saturdays – Up
Nelly Furtado – im like a bird
Rihanna – dont stop the music
Take That – The Greatest Day
Beyoncé – If I Were a Boy
Billie Piper – Last Christmas
Dean Martin – Let It Snow, Let It Snow, Let It Snow
Backstreet Boys – Larger Than Life
Rachel Stevens – Sweet Dreams My LA Ex
Rihanna – dont stop the music
Alphabeat – Fascination
Aled Jones – Walking in the Air
Céline Dion – I Drove All Night
Busted – Year 3000
Charlotte Church – Call My Name

Kylie is officially my all-time favourite artist – WOO!

Just checked my Last.Fm page for the first time this week and I noticed that my charts now show Kylie as my most played artist – woo!

Since I started the profile in February ‘08, Pink! has always dominated my ‘all-time’ favourite artist spot and been a clear leader, however Kylie has shot up from 6th place to 1st this week (probably due, in the main, to me having been to see her concert this week – post to follow!) – hurrah!

Here’s a clip of my favourite Kylie song (Your Disco Needs You) to celebrate!

Last.Fm have recently redesigned their website, with their charts now being in real time, and the option to limit out by week. I really suggest giving it a whirl if you’ve not already done so! D

Position in the Top 20 on the left; Artist in the middle; Total overall plays on the right.

1    Kylie Minogue   102
2    Pink  91
3    Original Broadway Cast   80
4    Jonathan Larson  68
5    Mika  62
6    Elton John  61
7    Michael Ball  57
8    Hairspray  46
9    Madonna  45
10   [unknown]  44
10   Céline Dion  44
12   Metallica  40
13   Robbie Williams  38
14   Westlife  37
15   Shania Twain  35
15   Take That  35
17   Linkin Park   34
17   Eurovision 2008   34
17   Christina Aguilera   34
20   Bon Jovi   33

Kylie @ The O2 – Monday 4th August 2008

A bit of a back-dated post as I’ve been meaning to write one for ages, but have always found myself short of something (namely some good photos!). Although Carlos, Tom, Greg and I were sat three rows from the front, dead centre (hurrah for work!), I decided that I’d much rather watch the concert and enjoy it than spend the whole show taking pictures! Fortunately, Mister Greg obliged to let me pinch a few of his pictures, and so I’ve uploaded those instead ;o)

I really really want her skull thing!! It would be so great to ride that into work each day! hehe.

It was great to see that this concert was also shown at the launch of the digital channel “4 Music” (a rebranding of ‘The Hits’) – if that transpires to be the DVD footage, then that would be awesome!!

I really loved “Flower” (below) – which she only ever does on tour -  along with other gems such as “Your Disco”, “Like A Drug” and “The One” made this an unforgettable night. Her rocky ending to “Slow” made for the only time that I’ve actually enjoyed this song!

I could rave on for ages, however we’d be here for pages and pages and I’d still only be up to the third song hehe!

Instead, I came across this excellent review on Last.Fm which I thought folk may enjoy reading more than my own ramblings hehe!

Enjoy!

SOURCE

I’d heard that Kylie’s team of designers, choreographers and video artists had done well to out Showgirl her last tour and that the widely reported £10 million price tag of the tour suggested we were in for a treat, but it became something else entirely once album track Speakerphone started buzzing ominously through the speakers as the black curtain wrapped around the stage elegantly fell…

What you had for £10 million was the most intoxicatingly bizarre visual resplendence that amount could buy. Most of it would most certainly have been used to design, orchestrate and finally power the enormous visual panels kitted along the far wall and the stage floor itself, as well as a fair amount used to portray the various patterned sequences and scenarios beamed through in digitally-enhanced Technicolour gloss, most featuring Kylie in all variety of cyber-kitten get-ups from Kabuki to space vixen to Night Porter-style rebel. Another sizable chunk would have been spent on the physical setpieces themselves, among which were a black pyramid that rose from centre stage to reveal the titular star wrapped inside a detailed Japanese headdress before the night’s first truly memorable song performance, Come Into My World, and the enormous golden skull she saucily strapped herself onto and that carried her centre stage about thirty feet in the air for Like A Drug. The costume changes were innumerable, even for the intensely acrobatic dancers; a mixture of different pop culture reference points, the most eyecatching being her tiny sky blue cheerleader outfit for Heart Beat Rock and her first costume which most was most probably inspired by the villainous angelic robots that populated her appearance on BBC’s Doctor Who last Christmas, a long flowing black tunic with gold details and a nuts’n'bolts-style chunky halo.

Being a show fronted by an international icon as opposed to a celebrated musician, the event itself was very well-executed, nary a hitch, slip-up or crazy spontaneous moment to be seen or heard. For a show of such galvanizing virtuosity though, one could be forgiven for wondering if maybe the music itself could have afforded to be a little more adventurous in their arrangements, given that so much money was spent to necessitate one keyboardist, one guitarist, one bassist, one drummer, two back-up vocalists and a brass band trio. One of the night’s standout moments was the band finally rocking out in the fade-out to Slow, no doubt inspired by Tricky’s own punk-flavored interpretation on his new album. And fan favorites such as Confide in Me and the new album’s best kept secret Stars could have been added instead of the am-dram tongue-in-cheekiness of the showgirl interlude featuring a spirited-if-displaced version of Barry Manilow’s Copacabana (At the Copa). Understandably, it’s all in an effort to tick boxes for each denomination of Kylie’s huge fanbase, which embraces nursery school children as much as it does elderly party-rabblers, and the sheer glossiness of the whole shebang is pretty much critic-proof. Though Kylie’s own personality and influence on the night yielded some curious results, especially with her more recent work…

The first half was definitely slower and a little more robotic than the second and the influence of Kylie’s present-day peers were highly in evidence. The Gwen Stefani influence that seems to have eaten away at so many female soloists recently was in full swing, quite flagrantly so on the cheerleader atmos on the aforementioned Heart Beat Rock. Björk’s more recent oriental fashions and headgear were referenced for the Kabuki segment on the tour, which still provided some of the night’s better songs. Speakerphone and Nu-di-ty were daringly (and racily) performed in spite of their drawing the latest album’s most critical daggers, the latter especially sounding like a Britney Spears knockoff. And even if she managed to pull it off, the video display of Kylie in digitally spiritual rapture that provided a backdrop for her otherwise moving rendition of No More Rain quite inescapably, maybe even tastelessly, ripped off Madonna’s finest moments from the Ray of Light era. However, whenever Kylie finally gave in to her back catalogue of camp fun and frolics (which, let’s face it, is the single most defining and lovable attribute about her as a pop singer), it was the stuff of pop heaven, especially those that tested her upper register. The relentless bombast of Your Disco Needs You justifiably drew the loudest reaction of the night from the crowd, alongside Come Into My World and On a Night Like This. And thankfully, she knows how to pull off a great encore that quite elegantly traversed her latest (The One and Love at First Sight) and with one last camp gesture embraced the Stock Aitken Waterman days finally with I Should Be So Lucky.

The spit and polish of the whole night was precisely as shiny and calculated as the X album, but to draw a critical line under all of that would be unfair. Though Kylie embraces arty cyber-retro references in all of her songs and videos that allow listeners with a degree of so-called sophistication to enjoy her work, a Kylie album/show is about having a good time first and foremost, and on that level alone the performance last night was a success. It also must be said that her winning vivantism goes a long way in making all of this camp pomposity digestible, if not credible, herself keeping a playful handle on the show with trademark mid-show banter that encourages the audience rather than belittles them. X isn’t the best Kylie album, especially when compared to those indelible dance hits from years ago, but it’s still trussed up in the best possible package a pop star can provide for their fans and Kylie’s European tour ended on a fabulous note last night. If only this whole Gwen Stefani thing would just stop… :^/

Weekend 15 – 17 Feb 08

Crumbs, I can’t believe that it’s Monday afternoon already! I’ve been meaning to post, but simply haven’t had time – bah!

So currently, I’m off work for the week and I am making the most of it by still being in bed! Currently listening to Kylie – Wow (video below). Got my Last.Fm feed working on here last night which is fab, it wasn’t the coding that I had wanted, but it’ll do for the time being! Yes, I am sad and do listen to a very eclectic and strange variety of music hehe!

 

It’s been a bit of a confusing weekend as a few of my personal relationships with people whom I’ve known for a while have turned themselves on their head and I have no idea what people are expecting from me any more. I’m sure that time will tell, and all will become clear. Things have ultimately changed for the better I’m sure, but I am simply a little uncertain of how to act at the moment or what to think or do. Plan is to see how things develop and then take things as they come – open discussion being the most important thing )  Brett will be happy, as it means that I’ll probably take him for lunch or cake or a drink or similar in exchange for him lending me his ear (I am very partial to the right one, the left one is quite positively wonky…. but at least it’s not as bad as his left nipple, which I discovered lactates London Mild whilst at OctoberBASH 2007 hehe).

HURRAH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  I have my new mobile phone!!!! I think I mentioned, but I plumped for the Nokia N95 – 8GB.

           

The mean people at 3 Mobile wouldn’t believe that I was eligible to upgrade, so I had to force them to call their customer service team to get them to confirm it! Pfft! – how dare they try to turn away my business heh! In fairness, had I not been stuck with the diabolical LG U8330 then I may have just left it until May to upgrade and gotten myself a better deal, but desperate times, desperate measures!

A few people think I’ve been swizzed on my upgrade offer, especially as I paid £125 for the handset, but I disagree.

• I am still on my old price plan; 1000 SMS’s, 300 Minutes, 50 MMS, 50 Video Minutes, £5.00 download – £30 per month. (comparatively, a new customer has to spend £30 on 300 SMS/Call Minutes – i.e. a mix of the two! – and a silly video minute pack to get the phone for free… so I think that I’ve done well by getting the phone on my old tariff! No other network could match my plan.
• I have upgraded my contract 3 months early, and have received an offer directly from 3 and not from the 3 store – thus bartering or shopping around probably wouldn’t have gotten me a better deal, as I was in no position to be able to threaten to leave.
• The £125 I paid for the handset works out as £6.70 extra per month for the life of the contract (17/11/09) - part of the interest on just one of my savings accounts alone covers that, so there’s no real cost!
• I get free services such as Live Messenger, Skype, Nokia Maps/GPRS and eBay on my mobile, so I can now stay in bed and chat to folk on my N95! Plus the device can connect to any wi-fi network it has permission too – again at no extra cost!
• It has 8GB of internal storage – so it means that I can have porn on the move!! Yay! P  It also comes with the Spiderman 3 film fully loaded on it and TV output cables!
• It has an excellent quality camera, and so this saves me spending £100 on a new camera….. so the phone has kinda already paid for itself!
• Many other reasons that I can’t think of at the moment hehe!

Was a little short for time on Saturday, so I took the phone with me so that the friend I went out with could have a geek over the technology and so I ended up taking it to the cinema still in it’s box - but I still found time to ring the insurance people and get it insured the second I left the store hehe!!! I’ve learnt from the last time, and I never ever want to see that LG U8330 again hehe!! Cos I was nice and lovely to the rather nice sounding chap who does my insurance, he even offered to waive the policy excess that had come up when he tried to change my phone over – yayness! I’ve not yet had a proper play around with the phone and so may do a proper review at a later date. At the moment it’s like discovering an old friend again as the interface is very similar to my old N73, and thus far I am VERY impressed at what this phone has to offer!!

On Saturday I went to see the film “Jumper” which is being pushed quite heavily on the tube at the moment. Quite a good little film, wouldn’t necessarily say recommended, but it’s certainly watchable. Trailer…

The cinema (the Vue in North Finchley) was full of disruptive and unaccompanied children running about and throwing things etc and frankly they started to get very annoying – thankfully they behaved a little better once the film was on, however going to the cinema when there are children about (especially at half term) seems like a really bad idea!

I also popped down to The Yard (Rupert Street, Soho) for a few drinks with David R and Co. to celebrate his belated birthday – was fun to catch up with everyone – was a lil nervous as it was the first time I’d gone to a group thing on my own, but everyone made a lovely effort to include me in the raucousness, and I had a fab time, despite me not being able to go on to G-A-Y Late with them afterwards. Treated myself to a kebab on the way home from that Dinosaurus place (I know, I know… but I can’t remember it’s real name hehe) and was wowed to find that it was still piping hot when I got home (despite the 30 minute journey home in sub-Arctic temperatures) !! Cor!!

Sunday was a nice and relaxed day with not all that much to report about. Couldn’t sleep again last night though so ended up staying up until 6am – ouch! On Friday night I didn’t go to sleep at all…. surprisingly I was fine all day Saturday. Not sure how that works, but I’m not complaining!

Carlos kindly suggested I join him for tennis on Sunday morning, which I would have loved to have partaken in, as I’ve been saying for years that I want to take it up, but I couldn’t find any of my tight whites for playing in…. not the kind that are suitable for ball games anyway…. well…. hmmm, enough innuendo! At least nobody thought I was silly enough to believe that speedoes or similar were suitable attire for a game of tennis – I am almost dismayed that nobody suggested that now hehe!

Today has been fairly lazy, I didn’t wake up until 11am due to the late sleeping thing. Carlos has been teasing me as I told him that I was planning on getting some cleaning done today. (Tom suggested that I set up garidoesnudehousework4u.co.uk – to which I promptly suggested that he sets up tomroombashiswillynightly4u.ru as another cleaning orientated website – what do we think? Anyone game to host? hehe P). So Carlos thinks that I will leave all of this mess to be cleaned at the end of the week rather than today…. hmm….. I intend to make a decent start on it today but see no harm on spreading it through the week as there are things I need to go and buy – like a desk – and I need someone to give me a lift up to Ikea to get that…offers?? Plus I want to prove a point – to myself as much as Carlos heh.

And on that note, I am going to go pull on my marigolds and get cleaning! I should be at drinks on Tuesday so hopefully catch up with folk then if not during the week (still open to suggestions for fun things to do!)

Thanks for reading xx  

Forthcoming Concerts and Shows!

Forthcoming Concerts and Shows!

‘Ello Pop-Pickers!I’ve a busy few months coming up in terms of going to watch concerts and shows – soooo can’t wait!!Heather Small
Bridgewater Hall, Manchester
3 October 2006

Formerly in the Manchester group “M People” – I really really cannot wait to see Heather perform! Marc and I are 3 rows from the front of this incredibly talented and powerful artist!!!

The Puppini Sisters
The Roadhouse, Manchester
25 October 2006

My current obsession! They take both popular and original songs and turn them into a 40’s war-time girl style of song! Visit their myspace (www.myspace.com/puppinisisters), or their official site – www.thepuppinisisters.com to get a sample of their talent!!! Will prob update my profile song at some point to one of theirs! “Wow!” is all that I can say!!

The Scissor Sisters
The Manchester Evening News Arena, Manchester
6 November 2006

I don’t think that these guys really need an introduction!! I sooooo can’t wait – I have seats right near to the stage and am sooo excited (I went into work especially today even though I’m on annual leave to secure these tix!).

Check out their new song – “I Don’t Feel Like Dancin” for some dancing-around-your-living-room vibes!

Various West End Theatre Shows
London, U.K.
3-5 January 2007

There are lots of shows which I either want to see, or wish to see again!! Marc and I will have to sit down and discuss this one further fairly shortly – whenever we get a free moment!!!

Kylie Minogue
The Manchester Evening News Arena, Manchester
19 January 2007

I SO SO SO CANNOT WAIT!!!!!

I’ve already seen the Showgirl tour when it was in Manchester in 2004, however I simply couldn’t miss out on the opportunity to see Kylie again! Esp after all that she’s been through in the last 12 months – I think that it’s very commendable and thoughtful her making time to add Manchester in at the last moment! Made sure that I purchased tickets for the last ever Showgirl date anywhere in the World, and I have the best public seats in the house – 3rd row back, center, right next to Kylie’s walkway!!!! WOW!!!!

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Clearly a visual and aural treat in store for me in the next few weeks! We will also probably end up taking in some shows at our local theatres too!

If anybody has any reviews of any concerts/shows which they have recently attended/put on, then I’d love to hear about them! I will be posting reviews online after each show and so why not sign up to my MySpace/Personal blog to be automatically notified when each one is posted? You know that you wanna!

Take care folks, and thanks for taking an interest!!

Gari -x-