It's Kylie - front, left and centre

Spontaneity is rarely a word associated with the enduring career of Kylie Minogue. Throughout her 25 years in the music industry, Minogue has often been seen as nothing more than a puppet for clever business execs who understand the public's love of a catchy chorus.

In front of a sold-out crowd of 2000 in Melbourne's intimate Palace Theatre on Sunday night, the 43-year-old performer threw off the shackles of any previous misconceptions as she went back to basics and delivered the most off-the-wall concert of her career, an "Anti Tour", featuring only B-sides, demos and rarities.

Minogue devised the Anti Tour as a way to give back to her hardcore fan base with a show featuring none of the elements that make her concert spectacles so popular. No hit singles, no dancers, no sets, no costume changes - just the performer delivering left-of-field tracks.

Looking half her age in a form-fitting vintage Vivienne Westwood Marilyn Monroe T-shirt, sexy cut-off Dolce & Gabbana denim shorts and Giuseppe Zanotti high heels, Minogue was ready to rock the house as soon as she entered the stage to jubilant cheers, screams - and even some tears from fans who had flown in from all over the world to attend the shows.

Backed by a four-piece band and three back-up singers, Minogue worked her way through the unusual 22-track set list with a lyric book in front of her, reminding the crowd that these songs have almost never been sung live since they were recorded.

But she performed each and every song, from her tribute to Michael Hutchence (Bittersweet Goodbye) to Tightrope, a bonus track on her best-selling album Fever, as if they were as popular and successful as her mega hits such as Can't Get You Out of My Head.

Halfway through the show, she reminded the crowd of her brush with breast cancer in 2005 and how she wrote many songs during this period that have never been performed. Then she delivered an emotionally candid and powerful performance of one of those tracks, Stars, which! was the perfect example of why Minogue has succeeded for so long in the brutal "pop star" business - she is unique, genuine and refuses to be pigeonholed.

It seemed fitting the first show - well, first two shows, she also played a second sold-out gig at midnight - of the two-date Australian tour would take place in her hometown of Melbourne, in front of her proud mum and dad, Carol and Ron Minogue, with her dad requesting his own rarity, Tears on My Pillow, from her 1992 film, The Delinquents.