Hilary Duff kicked off her lucky me Australian tour last night in Brisbane, and not even 60mm of rain, and the threat of floods, were a match for an even greater force that hit Brisbane Entertainment Centre last night.
Millennials, and female millennials at that. They were a sight to behold in sequins, feathers, glitter and matching outfits for groups as large as eight. There were stretch hummers and limousines at the pick-up zone, with many groups putting this tour at the top of their priority list and doing it in style. After all, it’s been 18 years since she played in Brisbane, and these Duff stans weren’t about to sleep on what might be her final Australian tour.
Since Duff teased her new record and the idea of touring in January, this date has been a technicolour beacon that carries more than just hearing a few familiar tracks. For many, they grew up on Lizzie McGuire every afternoon after school, as well as her coming-of-age movies that were released when we were all coming of age too (though none sold out our performances in the Colosseum for most of us).
So here she was, back in Australia and sharing with us the joy she had created with her four children and her Grammy Award-winning songwriter and producer husband Matthew Koma (Winnetka Bowling League), who co-produced and co-wrote every single song with Duff.
The record had considerable success in Australia, with luck… or something debuting at number 1 on the ARIA Albums Chart dated in February, and also topped the ARIA Vinyl Chart. It was her first ever number 1 album in Australia. Duff said, “I just made something I love that debuted number one in this world. That means a whole lot to me. I think when I was thinking about putting a record out, I had to really not compare myself to my old self and my own successes.
“And really just make something with Matt that I loved and adored and cared about, and I felt like it represented me.”
The show began with the audio of an alarm clock which morphed (or metamorphosed, if you will) into the keyboard sounds from Wake Up, which was the perfect note to start the show, as if the audience was not already wide awake and ready to go. It got even better when the second song was So Yesterday, with Duff introducing it by saying “Let’s take a trip back to 2003”.
We returned to that 2003 Metamorphosis era consistently through the night, and the fever response was more and more excited as the show went on. Anywhere But Here, Come Clean, and Why Not had everyone on their feet and screaming the words, and even Duff felt that insane energy coming off the audience, having to tell us many times that we were wild.
Why Not was performed with Duff jumping on a couch and skip dancing around the stage. What Dreams Are Made Of was the only choice for a closing song, and to our delight, hundreds of pink, white and orange balloons fell from the ceiling, as well as bright and sparkling confetti.
Duff had five outfit changes throughout the show - a flowy top, a sparkly top, a silk dress, a sequin dress and our personal favourite - a baggy band shirt (her husband's Winnetka Bowling League band) with wide-leg jeans and bare feet. The large stage was minimally set, with her incredible visible band and the soft pink and blue hues on the screen and stage floor creating an elevated and intimate feeling - despite the sold-out show that it was.
When artists release music after a substantial hiatus, with their longer-standing music enshrined in the minds of many, it can feel like the new music is just the filler that props up a tour that might not have been able to go ahead with just those few iconic songs. That was not the case for the lucky me tour, with Duff’s new music peppered into her cult classics, and her new music was so well received by the audience.
Future Tripping and You, from the Honeymoon, are undeniable earworms from the new record, and were performed with a new energy from Duff. We Don’t Talk was another hit from the album, as well as Holiday Party, although it was certainly an experience to hear Duff singing about things like sex, husbands, and fears of cheating - concepts obviously not explored on her earlier music when she herself was a child and still very much Disney-fied for us all.
Many of the themes of the songs were immediately interrogated when they were released earlier this year, with Holiday Party being a song about her fear that her husband would leave her for a “cool indie songwriter he works with”. Mature is about her regret for dating a much older man; We Don’t Talk was easily deciphered to be about her estranged sister, Haylie Duff, with the two sisters not having spoken or been on good terms for many years.
These performances weren’t the only reminder that time has passed, with Duff on many occasions talking to the audience about who she is now and what has changed, with home-video-style videos covering the screens, giving us an insight into her rise to fame as a child, and then other videos showing her young family and moments from Christmas, football games and home life. She told the audience, “The new record has done something really unexpected. It's made me be able to look back on the past with, like, so much animation and so much love and celebrate those moments that I know mean so much to you guys.”
Duff continued, “Thank you so much for being here. You all have been lovely to me. I've met a whole bunch of people on the street. I saw a really cute girl in the elevator of my hotel today and was telling me and my husband I'm so excited for the show. I hope you don’t vomit. Well, I hope you're having a great time!”
Duff had an easy rapport with the audience, lingering on her audience chatter and even doing a Tim Tam slam, choosing from a whole plate of Tim Tam variations before she took on the challenge with her tea. Naturally, the audience was screaming for a Shoey, which Duff seemed not keen on, but conceding that there were still many more shows to come.
Duff will continue her tour tomorrow in Sydney, before heading to Melbourne for two shows and then Perth. For the shows, she’s joined by special guest La Roux.
