Belinda Carlisle
Palais Theatre, March 2
★★★

Eighties wisdom holds that girls just wanna have fun. As captured in Go-Go's songs like Our Lips Are Sealed  and We Got the Beat, the feeling remains remarkably fresh and alive in 2019.
As they grow up, at least in Belinda Carlisle's world, it seems they just wanna bliss out in the perfect storybook romance, forever. Which is nice. But in a theatre heaving with real people and more than a few grey hairs … well, we could dream.

The multi-platinum LA pop starlet shimmied onstage pyjama-party comfy in bare feet, loose silky pants and frilly-sleeved mauve top; beach-blonde hair in a slo-mo twirl and chin and cheekbones sharper than ever.

As the first synthetic shimmer slid into the first bombastic chorus of Runaway Horses, her voice was pure and true. A black-clad US-Australian quintet led by longstanding guitarist James Nisbet assembled the Phil Spector-esque wall of pop to order.

Runaway Horses, the 30-year-old hit album that comprises most of this anniversary tour, is a sustained, sky-bound fantasy of dreaming the same dream, against sometimes unfortunate odds, as the moon and stars and sea and summer rain weave all the magic that they do.

At its best, Leave A Light On, a roaring vocal chorus from a besotted audience is a fantastic asset. At its worst, well, there's a story about George Harrison popping in to play guitar on Deep Deep Ocean. Even with so many chords topped by that triumphal chiming synth and so many thwacking two- and four-beats singing with Carlisle's tambourine, the formula held fast for the room of true believers.

The aforementioned Go-Go's flashbacks, especially the new-wave edge of We Got the Beat, made for a welcome shift of energy in the encores. But the inevitable ecstatic romance of Heaven Is A Place On Earth was the climax that reminded us we were dreaming.