Confession: P!nk’s had some memorable early singles, but I never really followed her. And when I found out most of the songs I knew weren’t on the setlist, I worried. About two hours after her opener “Raise a Glass,” it’s fair to say I’m a new fan.
American Airlines Center was packed to the ceiling for the pop rebel last night. With a proper mix of grace, edge and dorkiness, she churned out an exciting show that throbbed with energy and lacked any agenda save for getting the party started.
There is nothing more to P!nk than pure entertainment. At least, on stage. The backdrop of several screens with a big central heart was an easily clever way to add excitement to the show that only felt to accessorize the songs rather than distract. The imagery morphed from lush, velvety reds to 16-bit Nintendo-like images (“Walk of Shame”) that made AAC feel like at times burlesque on steroids to a nostalgic video game arcade. And cameras caught the action onstage with varied video effects that added a kinetic energy to an already pulsing show. Even shades of “American Idiot” the musical felt evident during “U + Ur Hand.”
P!nk isn’t restrained by choreography or even by persona. Her opener had sound issues and with no traces of diva-ness, she was visibly calling on the sound guy to fix her mike during “Just Like a Pill.” In turn, she’d chat up her guitarist during vocal breaks or openly admit to tripping a dancer. Whether it’s all by design, or really just that accessible, it made her show feel less like a production and more like the best house party ever, but you know, with like 20,000 people there.
What’s somewhat glorious is her lack of making political statements or pandering to her gay audience (which was there en masse). She does her job, does it well and the audience is thankful for it.
But what she does do well is sing. Lip-synching is such an issue with today’s artists, but that never felt like the case here. She belted out a ballad like “Family Portrait” stunningly and took obvious breaks from vocals like from “Leave Me Alone” just to bust out some dance moves. What she’s good at is having a very organic show that included picking up stuffed animals from her front row fans to admitting her colorful pants make her “feel like I’m 8.”
Don’t let any of that mean she’s not serious about her concerts, because that’s proven in her signature aerial work. Coming out on a jumping bungee cord was a thrill of an opening, but when she and her dance troupe were high in the air on various contraptions, the results were stunning. The caged orb in which dancers spun two stories high for “Sober” felt effortless but for sure, impressive. The ballet-ish moves onstage for her cover “Wicked Game” was elegant even though that sultry song didn’t work as well with her gritty vocals.
She went all out for her penultimate “So What” on lines that hoisted her high up into and then across the arena. It’s an old Garth Brooks trick he did in his heyday, but she, of course, exponentially made it more thrilling by flying across the entire arena giving almost everyone a close-up view of her. Landing on pedestals toward the back gave those seats a fair P!nk sighting and the flinging from all points of the arena showed that this Cirque du Pink show would be a worthy experience.
In short, P!nk was pretty cool.
