Kylie Minogue performs at Chase Center in San Francisco on April 22, 2025. Photos courtesy Chloe Irving and Nick Buckmaster (San Francisco) and Erik Melvin (Australia).

SAN FRANCISCO — Australian Kylie Minogue has been a pop star internationally since the late ’80s and has occasionally made inroads in North America, from the Carole-King-penned early career hit “The Loco-Motion” to 2001’s “Can’t Get You Out of My Head.” Yet the interest in her music here has never matched that of other parts of the world. Her previous tour in the U.S., as well as a Bay Area concert, was all the way back in 2011.

What changed? It was the success of her 2023 album, Tension, and more specifically Grammy-winning dance club hit “Padam Padam.” So after 14 years—other than a recent Las Vegas residency—the 56-year-old artist headlined a near-capacity Chase Center on Tuesday night, blasting through a 1-hour, 45-minute set that resembled a jukebox of her best-known (here and elsewhere) material, with songs often running right into each other without a break, each with a strong, danceable beat.

There was no chance to regain composure and little time for small talk as she and her band, which included three backing vocalists, played out one song after another, breaking only for costume changes.

Minogue made a heck of an entrance, perched on a swing hanging from the rafters while encased in a gigantic diamond formed by laser beams.

Looking like Satine in “Moulin Rouge!” but dressed in skintight bright blue pleather, she sang opener “Lights Camera Action” (from 2024’s Tension II) while dangling airborne. This song blended into “In Your Eyes” (2001’s Fever), “Get Outta My Way” (2010’s Aphrodite) and “What Do I Have to Do?” (1990’s Rhythm of Love). She didn’t waste any time warming up her pipes, belting away from the get-go.

As the cheers intensified after the four-song opener, she pretended to run in place, drawing from the energy of the crowd.

These initial songs also set expectations. While her Tension Tour is named for her most recent two albums, the performance was a celebration of her entire songbook.

Besides her band, Kylie Minogue was accompanied by a group of dancers who changed their outfits more frequently than she changed her own. Costumes included menacing hooded guards, colorful inflatable … stuffed bears? I don’t know; the green ones looked like Gumby, and there was a wide-brimmed figure that would fit in “Dick Tracy.” Their dancing was a bit on the cheesy side, but the general vibe of the San Francisco show was YOLO, so why not?

The star was full of introspection, even as the music was all up-tempo. Even when it let up, such as at the beginning of Fever‘s “Come Into My World,” also a Grammy winner, it didn’t last more than a verse or two.

Between the first and second of five acts, Minogue changed into a more breathable outfit: a sparkly red romper.

Second act highlights included the disco-tinged “Better the Devil You Know,” the ’80s-like power pop of “Things We Do for Love” and “Dancing,” from her 2018 country-influenced record, Golden. The song wasn’t at all country, but she did show off some quick-footed line dancing skills.

Then there was “Shocked,” which had her doing a fast-paced spoken-word verse. After spotting a a fan holding a sign saying it was their 100th show, she polled the crowd to see how many were seeing her for the first time.

“We need to do this more often!” she announced.

“The Loco-Motion” was accompanied by a kaleidoscope of lights, colorful screen images and outfits. Minogue led her dancers on a procession to a diamond-shaped stage at the back of the arena floor, finishing the song off. The following song, a rapidly building, cathartic “Hold On to Now,” was a show-stopper. In fact, much of the newer material proved to be even stronger than her older hits. Tension‘s punchy title track was a standout in the fifth act. Stacked right next to “Can’t Get You Out of My Head,” it more than held its own.

The show also had a bit of planned improvisation. Asking the crowd for song requests, backed by guitarist Luke Fitton, Minogue sang bits of “2 Hearts” (2007’s X), “Your Disco Needs You” (2000’s Light Years), the bouncy “I Should Be So Lucky” (1987 debut Kylie) and “Somebody to Love” (2020’s Disco).

She finished off the acoustic segment with a few lines of Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds’ “Where the Wild Roses Grow,” singing a cappella to a couple of fans she had singled out.

“Each and every one of you is a beautiful blooming flower,” Minogue said to the crowd as a whole, turning in a circle.

As the show rounded third base, Minogue turned the diamond stage into an intimate dance club, sensually turned glitchy, slow-burning “Slow” into a thumper and burned through two handfuls of additional songs, saving the moody, pulsating “Padam Padam” for the encore while dressed in a fit that resembled yellow and orange caution tape with sunglasses that tied it all together.

Earlier in the evening, London pop artist Rita Ora warmed up the late-arriving crowd with a short set of her own dance-pop

Performing to backing tracks, Minogue’s molasses-like voice stood out on uptempo tunes like “Ask & You Shall Receive,” “Ritual” and “Your Song.” For “Praising You,” she reworked version of Fatboy Slim’s 1999 hit “Praise You,” which was a highlight. She also closed out with “For You”—which she dedicated to her late duet partner Liam Payne—with a snippet of Cher’s Believe” while slumped on her knees, as if praying.

Contact editor Roman Gokhman at Bluesky.