Kylie Minogue and the Scissor Sisters rocked Melbourne

Kylie Minogue joined the Scissor Sisters on stage for a surprise slot at their Melbourne Splendour in the Grass sideshow and the crowd went wild.

Scissor Sisters @ Festival Hall, July 26 2010. By Jordana Borensztajn.

After plenty of speculation and hearsay, the rumours turned out to be true.

Australia’s ultimate pop diva Kylie Minogue joined the Scissors Sisters on stage at their Melbourne Splendour in the Grass sideshow for two explosive tracks which sent the crowd spinning and got the entire venue up from their chairs, dancing.

After a surprise appearance on stage at Glastonbury with the U.S. glam rock outfit several weeks ago, the web was crawling with rumours about Kylie Minogue’s guest spot – and luckily, the anticipation and buzz was worth the hype.

Fourteen tracks in, Kylie Minogue joined the one-and-only New York rock glam outfit for a pumped-up rendition of “Any Which Way.”

When the track rounded up, Scissor Sisters female powerhouse and frontwoman Ana Matronic knew she had to pull out the big guns. “There's only one way to follow that up,” she said, kicking off a venue-rocking version of the Scissors’ biggest hit to date, “Don’t Feel Like Dancin.”

A few tracks later, Kylie Minogue reappeared for a sultry, country-infused version of “All the Lovers.” Clearly well-rehearsed, she gallivanted around the stage, hugging Ana Matronic, sweeping her hands across BabyDaddy’s chest and carrying out some pretty impressive dance moves with Jake Shears.

But enough of Kylie Minogue – onto the Scissors! Opening with their title from their brand new album Night Work, the Scissors hit the stage in full glam rock form, decked out in leather, tattoos, see-through shirts, ripped jeans, sexy gloves and so much more.

They launched right into a stripped-back rendition of their classic “Laura” before kicking off a wild version of “She’s My Man.” The NYC outfit brought their animated and flamboyant lyrics to life, holding nothing back in terms of their performance; Ana Matronic was crawling around the stage, Jake Shears was running from front to back and side to side, and they both pulled out exactly the right raunchy and sexy dance moves when the crowd craved them the most.

As the band moved from track to track, Jake Shears kept removing items of clothing until he was bare-chested at the end of the gig -- and Ana Matronic finished the show with a huge tear down the front of her red latex dress, revealing a very sexy black bra.

Highlight tracks included an electro-heavy version of “Tits on the Radio,” and the incredibly upbeat dance track “Running Out” through which Ana Matronic traded her heels for flats so that her and frontman Jake Shears could attack the good old ‘running man’ move.

Classics like “Take Your Mama,” “Numb” and “Filthy Gorgeous” spurred the energy in the room to rise and rise while the band’s slower and more seductive tracks – like the very heartfelt “Fire with Fire” and the uber-sexy and flirtatious “Skin this Cat” highlighted the intimacy and richness of the band’s most recent material – and in their personal opinion, their best album yet.

Despite being incredibly exhausted (Jake Shears told the crowd he felt like a “jet-lagged crack whore”) the Scissors put on a great gig with rocking music, superb dance moves and stunning electric guitar solos, however Festival Hall was too small for them. The Scissors are the UK’s – and arguably the world’s – biggest dance rock glam band but watching them perform at this trashy Melbourne venue didn’t feel right.

The last time the Scissors hit Melbourne they got every single person that packed into Rod Laver Arena out of their chairs, waving their hands in the air and screaming throughout the entire show. This time, it felt like a much harder slog for the band to rouse up the crowd.

Melbourne, the turnout was a little disappointing -- especially considering the Scissors invested time into preparing the very special gift of Kylie Minogue.

GALLERY: Check out the gallery from the Scissor Sisters' Melbourne show

Photo: Jordana Borensztajn