The Anti Tour was the thirteenth concert tour by Australian recording artist Kylie Minogue, as part of the "K25" project.[1][2] The tour began on 18 March 2012 in Melbourne, Australia at the Palace Theatre and concluded on 3 April 2012 in London, England at the Hammersmith Apollo, consisting of four shows in Australia and three shows in the United Kingdom.
In contrast to Minogue's previous tours, the singer only performed B-sides, demos and rare tracks, on a short strip of concerts in smaller venues, to a reduced crowd and intimate setting.
I've never done anything like that before, something like an anti-tour where there are no dancers, there are no lights. It's just music and doing songs that are much loved by super fans but will never, ever, ever be heard anywhere. [...] I think it would be really cool to be in a tiny, tiny venue, maybe do like a week's run somewhere and just strip everything back—just do songs that uber-fans would cry for.
Because the first two shows in Australia sold out only minutes after the tickets went on sale, Minogue announced that she would perform second shows on both dates.[4] On 25 March, Minogue announced that she would be performing two shows in the United Kingdom during April (including one at the Hammersmith Apollo, where she had previously performed her 2003 Money Can't Buy show).[5] Both UK shows sold out within ten minutes[6] but quickly found their way on resale sites at discounted rates.[7] Due to huge demand, a second show in Manchester was announced.[8]
Critical response
The tour received universal acclaim from music critics. Emily Jupp from The Independent gave the concert a five star review stating that Minogue was "[She's] warm and sassy" and
"Graceful [...] like a magical joy-sharing fairy, sprinkling euphoria across the crowd". About the staging of the show, Jupp said that "There's no choreography and just one slight costume change but she proves she doesn't need theatrics." concluding that "She didn't even need the glitter; she sparkled brightly all by herself."[9] Michael Wilton from musicOMH gave the concert a favorable review, awarding it with four stars, stating that "Backed by a stripped-down, well-rehearsed four-piece band and three backing singers, Kylie had to rely solely on her command of the stage. Although Kylie will not go down in history as one of pop's great voices, her vocal control and delivery has improved dramatically, and for the most part, she exceeded possibly even her own expectations." Wilton said that "even though the show still had a structured sheen, Kylie was completely relaxed, joking with fans, giggling when she forgot the lines to a song, and dancing to the beat of her own drum on stage." He concluded his review by saying that "25 years later, she's still clearly enjoying herself, and more importantly, eternally grateful to her fans."[10] Dianne Bourne of the Manchester Evening News notes that Minogue "has been the undoubted queen of the Manchester Arena over the past 10 years, performing more concerts to more fans than any other female artist", describing her concert as "undoubtedly something magical."[11]
Set list
This set list represents songs performed at all shows.
"Magnetic Electric" (a bonus track on the Southern Asia tour edition of X)
"That's Why They Write Love Songs" (an unreleased track from the X sessions) was performed as the first song of the encore at all Australian shows. On 2 April the song was performed as the last song before the encore.