iReview | KYLIE MINOGUE Brings the Tension Tour in NYC MSG

A Pop-Culture Concert Event

The Pop Goddess of Love begins the North American leg of her TENSION World Tour and brings down the house in New York City’s Madison Square Garden! Light Years in the making, the artist shone like a diamond!

If it’s true that good things come to those who wait, then many a music fan finally had their greatest wish come true when the Pop Goddess of Love, Kylie Minogue, touched down on North America, launching her much anticipated TENSION World Tour of 2025, with two sold-out shows at the legendary Madison Square Garden. With a decades-long career, Minogue got our attention in the late 80s with her infectious reboot of Little Eva’s “The Loco-Motion” and has since struck a significant chord with her Euro-pop electronic sound.

Her celebrity rose across Great Britain and Europe, and her music competitively charted. However, stateside pop stardom eluded Minogue until her breakthrough hit of the new millennium, “Can’t Get You Out of My Head,” became an international hit. Suddenly, the pop icon with most of the world’s attention resonated stateside two decades (and some) after the “Loco-Motion” had left the station. Minogue, who had established herself as a draw and a live performance artist on par with the Queen of Pop, Madonna, would have to wait another decade before bringing a live show to the US.

A scaled-down production of her 2011 Aphrodite: Les Folies Tour hit our shores and played smaller venues. A previous five-night stint in New York City, at the Hammerstein Ballroom, in 2009, capitalized on previously produced set pieces and visuals from across her millennial performances, also sold out and drew her most devoted fans. Finally, after four decades, Minogue has ascended to her proper place among pop’s most celebrated artists, bringing North America a staged epic worthy of her career appearances across Britain, Europe, and Asia. The States are finally feeling the tension!

With two sold-out nights in New York City’s Madison Square Garden, Kylie Minogue filled the house with her most devoted fans, old and new, and made several brand new impressions along the way. The artist shared the stage with opening acts, including Romy and Rita Ora. New York City audiences were serenaded to the electro-dance tunes of up-and-comer Romy, who easily won the crowd over, and was especially embraced by the LGBTQ+ peers in attendance, who identified with the inclusive lyrics of Romy’s debut catalog of chart-climbers.

Feeling they were properly excited enough and engaged, the energy shifted as the clock hit 8:59 pm it was evident that the headlining act was about to take the stage…

Baby Break the Tension…

The video monitor backdrop displayed a slowly timed stylized “K” that moved similarly to one of the selectable faces on an Apple Watch. When the band appeared in silhouette against the bright monitor, the crowd enthusiastically cheered; back-up singers waved as instruments were strapped and queued up. The showgirl was about to make her long-awaited Madison Square Garden debut! The monitors went dark, and a series of laser lights arrayed across the stage, shooting out and into the audience, masked the movement of stagehands moving platforms into position.

The familiar tones and opening beats of her latest hit began to coalesce, as a familiar call to action rang across the arena: “Lights, Camera, Action — That’s It!” Kylie Minogue greeted the exuberant audience suspended on high on a platform replicating the cover to her latest album Tension II inside a digitally rendered diamond. With all eyes on her, from what felt like five stories above the mainstage, Minogue commanded immediate attention and slowly descended from the heavens to begin the first act of her two-hour dance opus!

The first act of the show was a mix of brand-new hits and classics that included fan favorites “In Your Eyes”, “Get Outta My Way”, “What Do I Have to Do?”, “Come Into My World”, “Good As Gone”, and “Spinning Around.” A perfect setlist of tracks from across her career that easily appealed to the audience, feeling familiar and ultra-new. Minogue focused on tracks from her last three releases, Tension, its sequel, and Disco, which was celebrated with its section. The album, an ode to one of the most influential musical eras in recent history, inspired a Studio 54-like costume change as Minogue performed a non-stop medley of “Supernova / Real Groove/ Magic / Where Does the DJ Go?”

The evening was also marked by a series of drama moments reserved for the hit “Confide in Me” and the very sexy “Slow.” Minogue’s intention was clear: to keep the energy up. The party went on as she moved from the kinetic bass line of her collaboration with The Blessed Madonna, “Edge of Saturday Night”, into “Tension”, and the effervescent hit “Can’t Get You Out of My Head” while still landing on two club-thumpers for her encore! “Padam Padam” and “Love at First Sight” closed the evening. Minogue mesmerized and left it all on the stage, leaving all the lovers wanting more!

The TENSION WORLD TOUR 2025 | Kylie Minogue | is coming to a city near you! Visit kylie.com for all “Tension Tour” dates and merch.