Kylie Minogue shrugged off the North Sea chill and stripped down to her undies when she returned to Aberdeen in 1991.
Kylie first found fame by playing mechanic Charlene Mitchell in Australian soap Neighbours, before recording her debut single, Locomotion, in 1987.
Her collaboration with British producers Stock, Aitken and Waterman in the late ’80s resulted in I Should Be So Lucky, a worldwide number one.
Kylie often made the long journey to our shores, including judging a fancy dress parade in Inverness in July 1988 before meeting a six-week-old Northern Lynx.
She later went unrecognised when she turned up in Arbroath, where boyfriend Jason Donovan was making a personal appearance at Bally’s nightclub.
By 1990 she was the hottest property in pop music.
Here was a superstar at the top of her game, following hit after hit.
Dedicated mums and dads stayed up all night and braved the elements to get their children tickets when she performed for the first time in Aberdeen.
Tots as young as three were among the 4,500 crowd at the AECC in May 1990 when Kylie brought the house down with her catchy pop songs.
Kylie was now dating INXS singer Michael Hutchence and returned to the AECC to perform on November 3 1991 on the Let’s Get to It Tour.
The show comprised an all-new wardrobe created by John Galliano, although Kylie was accused of copying Madonna’s look from her Blond Ambition World Tour.
Kylie spoke before the Aberdeen concert about having no regrets at swapping her squeaky-clean image “to become a raunchy pop singer”.
She said: “I don’t regret my new look and I knew I was sticking my neck out going for the Bardot sex kitten image.
“I had people telling me it was absolutely the wrong thing to do. ‘Kylie’, they would say, ‘what are you doing? Stay nice. Smile, smile. Be the girl next door’.
“When I started going out with Michael he really brought out the real me, the me that had been supressed for such a long time.
“But obviously, I was growing up too.”
Nomad opened the Aberdeen concert with a set that included the single (I Wanna Give You) Devotion, which got to number two in the UK chart.
The house music duo warmed up the crowd before the pop princess left little to the imagination when she appeared in black fishnet stockings and stilettos.
She kicked off the evening with chart smash Step Back in Time and was joined on stage by musicians, backing singers and dancers.
There was little talk with the audience but she put on a slick and energetic show that featured a mix of chart hits and new material from Let’s Get To It.
Set highlights included Wouldn’t Change A Thing, Tears On My Pillow, I Should Be So Lucky, Je Ne Sais Pas Pourquoi and Hand On Your Heart.
She closed with What Do I Have To Do and club favourite I Guess I Like It Like That, followed by Locomotion, Shocked and Better The Devil You Know.
‘Clingfilm Kylie steps back in time – again’ was the following day’s P&J headline, which highlighted the star’s willingness “to leave the girl-next-door image behind”.
The review read: “Everyone in Aberdeen expected a new-look raunchy act from Aussie superstar Kylie Minogue when she played the Exhibition and Conference Centre – but nothing has really changed in a year.
“We were told that the former Neighbours star’s music now appeals to the parents of the teenyboppers who saw her on her debut visit last May.
“But the only adults in the hall were escorting youngsters.
“There is no doubt that she is desperately trying to shed her cutie-from-next-door image and show the world she has grown up – but once a teenybop heroine, always one.
“Appearing on stage to an electrifying welcome – wearing what looked like a mixture of clingfilm and baking foil hiding a skimpy black leather-look bra along with fishnet stockings and stilettos – she kicked things off with the aptly-named Step Back In Time.
“The 2,500 crowd was willing her on and the pint-sized pop queen, backed by a strong six-piece band and five excellent dancers, put on a first-class show – even if its success was due to the crowd not believing her image has changed.
“The dance routines were slick and professional and, as well as showing that there is a voice there somewhere, she proved she could dance a bit too.
“Sounding rather tired, she ran off a string of chart hits including her first number one, I Should Be So Lucky.
“After a quick exit for some much-needed energy juice she appeared back in a black satin nightdress over a skimpy pair of shorts – definitely the Kylie of old.
“She is going for the Madonna/Cher look but has neither the physique nor voice of either – and dancing on stage in your undies does not make you instantly sexy.
“She might be trying to forget her Charlene days, but for her thousands of hysterical admirers, she’s still the cutie from next door, and will not be allowed to grow up.”
The concert would be the last time Kylie graced the stage in Aberdeen as she went on to release a stream of smash records that helped define their times.
She did return to play in Scotland over the next three decades and also visited the north-east for a wedding in 2009 and to spend Hogmanay here in 2016.
Her 2019 Glastonbury set – in front of a record crowd – was testament to how much love there is for Kylie who remains the highest-selling female Australian artist of all time.
More like this:
Kylie Minogue: Pop princess went unrecognised in Arbroath nightclub
Shirley Bassey: Ultimate Bond girl found her voice again in Aberdeen
