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Another month, another trip to see Kylie’s Aphrodite – Les Folies spectacle. While the tour juggernaut rumbles on non-stop around the globe (currently in Australia), the UK had a chance to relive the spellbinding blitz of colour and Kylie songs in a one-night only, 3D screening of the show on Sunday. Showing in selected cinemas as well as television channel Sky 3D, Aphrodite – Les Folies 3D really did bring something else to the Kylie event party. And I didn’t think that was possible, seeing as the night out at the O2 Arena back in April was something of a very special evening.

But yet, the film screening offered something spectacularly different, but not necessarily better, to the live night. The 3D glasses worked for a start, and right from the word go, it was easy to see what the multiple 2D and 3D cameras had captured. The titles and overlaying graphics really did seem to float into the auditorium. Working best on wide shots showing the enormous and elaborate stage, the catwalk, and the audience, the 3D elements really did make you think that the cinema screen was sunk into the wall a long way back.

Sweeping and long shots worked especially well, too, and the sumptuous costumes were brought into even more life as they brushed past the cameras. And, as you’d expect from such a screening, Kylie literally was larger than life in front of your eyes, her sparkling costumes even more colourfully radiant than they were on that evening back in April. Filmed over 11 and 12 April at the O2 Arena in London (the week after I saw it), the edit cleverly tricked you into thinking it was one night.

Showcasing a Kylie concert at its absolute best, Aphrodite – Les Folies 3D was a cinematic triumph, but one that missed the atmosphere of the live night (you were never going to get an atmosphere from around 20 viewers). No cuts ensured all the hits were there, too – the TV version had four songs chopped out to fit the broadcast slot. And the water fountain finale was as stunning as it was on the night itself. All in all, a fantastic couple of hours of spectacular escapism – one of the things a Kylie concert is supremely good at.

[Image: Kylie.com]

She didn’t disappoint. But then was she ever going to? I’ve seen Kylie on tour seven different times (and therefore seven different shows) and as Aphrodite – Les Folies was billed as her biggest and most extravagant show of her career, there was a lot to look forward to. I was a little perturbed by having to go to the O2 last night at first, largely because it’s such a big venue, and our seats weren’t near the front by any means. But, there was no reason to be apprehensive – the enormous scale of the stage, catwalk, projection screens and yes, those 30ft high fountains ensured everyone could see what was going on.

Rising from a golden shell, Kylie’s entrance was, as ever, well staged and more than a little camp, but from the moment she put a diamond-encrusted high heel on the vast temple-style stage, she didn’t put a foot wrong. From riding in a chariot pulled by muscled ‘slaves’, to flying on an angel with the most enormous feathered wings, suspended by heavy cables, this show was something else, and unlike anything or any Kylie show I had seen before. Old songs, new songs, tilting stages, coloured feathers, Busby and Berkeley-styled songs, a rock-inspired version of Can’t Get You Out Of My Head (probably the lowest point of the night), it was all there.

But nothing could beat the finale. Bidding the audience the traditional pre-finale goodbye, she returned in a gold bathing cap and matching cape to synchronised swimmer projections and slowly bubbling fountains, which erupted during On A Night Like This (particularly apt, I thought) but really came to life in All The Lovers. Squirting jets high into the arena, their eruptions were actually audible, and with laid down dancers suddenly rising from the small circular pool at the end of the heart-shaped catwalks, it all added up to a most spectacular finish, and one that I’ll remember for an awfully long time.

A fan of more almost 25 years, the spectacular Aphrodite – Les Folies marks a high in the career of Minogue, and rightly so. With the show going to the US, it’s a shame the water elements may be lost due to staging issues. Like a Las Vegas revue, it deserves the full staging and its breathtaking effect, and leaves the audience gasping for more, and leaving with memories of a very, very special evening.

[Image: Jelena Rudi/Kylie: Aphrodite World Tour Facebook page]