Jeffrey on Kylie.

Most Americans don't know much about Kylie Minogue, Australia's answer to bubble-gum pop, since her only big hit on U.S. shores was The Loco-Motion, a 1988 single that, in the minds of many Yanks, put her in the same league as Tiffany and Toni Basil. Unbeknownst to us, though, she has since been selling millions of dance CDs in every other country around the world and continues to be hugely popular. On this tour, she will play 17 sold-out shows in the UK and Ireland alone.



First, it's important that you know that we had scheduled our time in Riga BEFORE we found out that Kylie was playing her first-ever show in the Baltics at Arena Riga on our first night in town. The stars were just aligned. Before you could say "locomotion", Steve had found the Arena Riga site and navigated a confusing Swedish banking web site to procure the tickets.

No, Brian, Kylie's sister Dannii did NOT open. We were as disappointed as you are. But should you require more information on what's up with Dannii's "career", visit http://danniisdirtybox.blogspot.com

For our pre-show happy hour, we sampled some local treats.




We love 25% more love!

We also did a Latvian Vodka tasting menu, with typical mixers: Strawberry nectar and Whortleberry juice (apparently another name for Huckleberry).





After killing about 1/3 litre each of vodka, we were sufficiently lubricated to take in Kylie alongside Riga's somewhat sullen population. The arena was a healthy walk from the hotel, so I peed before we left, which turned out to be quite visionary, as Steve was forced to answer the call of nature on the mean streets of Riga.

Or Reeeegeauaer... as Kylie would say. Those Aussies love their extended vowel sounds.



Kylie played for nearly three hours, with a short intermission, which was probably necessary since her dancers even made US tired, watching them gyrating in positions impossible to explain.


When Kylie was lowered onto the stage atop a giant gold skull, we were in heaven. We don't know why, we just were.



The Rigans were well behaved, and did warm up a bit toward the end of the concert, with even a few fans jumping into the aisles to dance. By the time her 4th encore was in full swing, even the silent, staring-ahead types behind us were clapping, though not necessarily dancing.



Kylie's show was one of the best I've seen, in terms of production, choreography, and set. The background was a giant video screen, which allowed for a variety of themes to complement the gauntlet of Jean Paul Gautier designed costumes she wore through the evening. We were very impressed.


"Doo itashimashite."