Kylie's opening night at the O2, 26 July 2008

After a wild night at the Burlington Club (ending with sending an awfully misspelled text to my boss after way too many drinks at 6 in the morning... seeing as I am a copywriter, do I wish my phone had an alcohol sensitive keypad now!), I didn’t feel absolutely exhilarated at the idea of meeting my friend Andy Morris from GQ in East London for a surprise night out... Man, can women be unfairly grumpy sometimes: I am sure you all experienced one of these foul moods. I should have known better, I always spent amazing evenings with him...

Getting out of the tube at North Greenwich, he’s wearing a beautiful shirt and I begin to suspect there is something serious going on out there. We get in the O2, and he ushers me in the very smart Gaucho Grill that just opened in the heart of the dome: the light is pleasantly dim (especially enjoyable when you have a pounding headache), and crystal chandeliers play with the reflects of sleek glass walls around the rooms, creating an elegant and slightly mystical atmosphere... The food is really divine in this cathedral of Argentinean steak: the first mouthful of fillet is Eucharistic, so tender it melts on the tongue. The wine too is beautiful, with accents of citrus and flowers unravelling in the balloon, and a gorgeous ruby colour in the light. The conversation is of course delightful, the waiters helpful, charming and knowledgeable and the whole dinner makes for one of the most refined meat adventures of my life. And I will tell you, I am French, I know what a good filet de boeuf is... No faux-pas here, I am in paradise. If I had one reserve I would say do not try the dulce de leche desert because it is so strong you cannot taste your wine after a spoon. But their exquisite Malbec and port desert wine makes you forget everything else: I am walking on clouds, and the wonderful thing is that I am still feeling light when the manager escorts us to their private booth, right above the stage of the Arena, where Kylie Minogue is about to give her first concert!

As the first notes of music ring out and a cascade of smoke falls off the stage, I take in the amazing space of the concert hall: it is grand, Kylie seems really small on stage in comparison, even on her 10" high platforms, but the first lady of pop can stand her ground, and the whole evening goes by in a heartbeat. I am a bit ashamed to say I knew the songs and of course I was familiar with Kylie, but I had never made the link between most of them and the singer... I won’t say I found Kylie inspirational in fashion terms: the calf high boots, the world war II cap, the pompom girl outfit, the whole staging was a bit tacky... But it does take some class to enter the stage on top of a giant silver skull... Obviously, from the last Anna Sui pirate belts to Damien Hirst’s diamond skull and Alexander Mc Queen prints, skulls are not getting out of style.