Release Athens Festival 2025 - Kylie Minogue

As I have already explained on my previous post thanks to Morrissey this was my second unexpected (and free) concert of 2025. I had already seen Kylie Minogue back in 2008 at Terra Vibe Park on her X tour. Having the chance to also see Loreen on the same night was an added bonus. Loreen brought dance music to Eurovision by winning the contest in 2012 with "Euphoria" and proceeded to win it again in 2023 with "Tattoo".

When I arrived at Water Square there was a dj set by DJ Antonis Dimitriadis on. I has happy to hear "Forever Young" which reminded me of the Alphaville concert in March, but also "Yellow" which brought back wonderful memories not of the Coldplay concert in June 2024 as you would expect, but of a wonderful night out in Liverpool a month before that.

While I was waiting for Loreen, I went to have my usual meal at Jackaroo. People will probably accuse me of advertising this fast food chain through my blog, but I can't help it, I love their food, and I was happy for their presence in the summer festivals this year.

As I was finishing my meal I heard Loreen announcing "a song that she had lost count of how many times she has played" and realizing that she meant "Euphoria" I rushed back to the stage. She finished with "Tattoo" her second Eurovision winner.

It was now time for Kylie. I found a place next to a big fan of hers. She came on and she didn't disappoint. As her set progressed we were suddenly transported back to Terra Vibe in 2008. She played "Shocked"! Just as she had done back then! And the hits kept on comin'! After "The Loco-Motion" she treated us to a short acapella snippet of "Where The Wild Roses Grow" and then she went into "Disco" mode playing songs from the album of the same name that had come out during the pandemic. I had not expected to hear any tracks from that album as I was expecting her to mainly promote her latest. However she performed an acoustic version of "Say Something" and a medley of "Supernova / Real Groove / Magic / Where Does The DJ Go".  She even performed one song from her "indie" era, namely "Confide In Me". Towards the end there was the ubiquitous "Can't Get You Out Of My Head", my new favourite "All The Lovers" and ending with "Love At First Sight".

It was big party. And all that thanks to Morrissey. Once again all together now: 'THANK YOU MORRISSEY"!

SETLISTS:

LOREEN

01. Jupiter Drive

02. Forever

03. Gravity

04. Euphoria

05. Is It Love

06. Tattoo

KYLIE MINOGUE

01. Lights Camera Action

02. In Your Eyes

03. Get Outta My Way

04. Good As Gone

05. Spinning Around

06. On A Night Like This

07. Better The Devil You Know

08. Shocked

09. Dancing

10. The Loco-Motion

11. Where The Wild Roses Grow

12. Say Something

13. Supernova / Real Groove / Magic / Where Does The DJ Go?

14. Confide In Me

15. Slow

16. Timebomb

17. Edge Of Saturday Night

18. Tension

19. Can't Get You Out Of My Head

20. All The Lovers

Encore:

21. Padam Padam

22. Love At First Sight

Your disco needs you - Kylie Minogue live in Athens in 2008

As I was writing my latest blog spot in the series of "gigs I attended 10 years ago" (the Madonna concert), I realized that there was another pop queen I saw live in that particular year (2008) and I forgot to write a post about it! It was of course Kylie Minogue, who came to prominence in 1988, a bit later than Madonna.

Her concert did not take place at a big stadium but at Terra Vibe Park instead. Now, this was the second time I went to Terra Vibe. The first was for Depeche Mode back in 2006 which was a traumatic experience. The park was filled to capacity (maybe over capacity) and we arrived quite late. The result was that there were so many people and I was at the back and I could not see absolutely anything. You see, Terra Vibe is a park not a proper concert venue so there's no gradual elevation. All I could see were the heads of the people in front of me.

This time, however there weren't so many people and after we walked about 1.5km from the car park for what seemed like ages, we managed to find an elevated area, so if everything went wrong we would still be able to see the stage.

Kylie sang several songs from her current album of that time "X" but did not forget the old hits. My personal favourites were "Shocked", which was one of her last singles with Stock/Aitken/Waterman, presented in my favourite version, the DNA mix as featured in the 12inch single I had bought at the time and "Your Disco Needs You" an amazing song which as far as I can remember was criminally not released as a single in the UK, but I discovered it as a B-side on one of her CD singles.

The ending of course couldn't be anything else than "I Should Be So Lucky".
After that, we had to face the usual Terra Vibe torture: trying to get out of the car park (It is said that this is a procedure that can last longer than the actual concert!)

So 2008, was the year that I saw two pop queens live: Kylie, and, 4 months later, Madonna!

SETLIST:
01. Speakerphone
02. Can't Get You Out of My Head
03. Ruffle My Feathers
04. In Your Eyes
05. Heart Beat Rock
06. Wow
07. Shocked (DNA Mix)
08. Loveboat
09. Copacabana (At the Copa)
10. Spinning Around
11. Like a Drug
12. Slow
13. 2 Hearts
14. Flower
15. I Believe in You (Ballad)
16. On a Night Like This
17. Your Disco Needs You
18. Kids
19. Step Back in Time
20. In My Arms
Encore:
21. No More Rain
22. Love at First Sight
23. I Should Be So Lucky