P!nk flies around Eden Park, literally, to our incredulous amazement whilst singing her finale So What. She achieves a big magical hug to fifty thousand people on a perfect evening. Dark clouds threatened but the Gods were enchanted.
Alecia Beth Moore is one of the most successful Pop artists of all time. Her musical idols were Madonna and Janis Joplin. She has got a bigger range vocally than Madonna. She can emulate the soul fire and passion of Joplin.
I first saw her live around 2007 at Spark Arena, when I was taking my pre-teen daughter (Tangerine Peel) to see her favourite artist. Many fathers are still doing that this evening. Mothers too and getting intoxicated with it for good measure.
At that time, I thought she was reasonably good. But I came away that night being a bigger fan than my daughter, boring her at length about the roots of her music.
I am still doing that tonight, and my daughter is also here again at age 28.
Let’s put this in context. This Summer Carnival Tour of Australasia covers 10 cities in 44 days with 20 stadium shows. The biggest tour by any artist in this area.
She has sold over 3.1 million tickets in her touring career to Australasia, another record.
Genuine when she expresses her love for everyone here and does fly around to all in the park to do it. Peenk for the Aussies, Punk for the Kiwis.
The show starts with Get the Party Started, naturally. Mutated Disco Pop with a rhythm line that Nile Rodgers would have killed to have written.
A big entourage of dancers and trapeze artists bounce out, but it is P!nk herself who is aerial bound to extravagant heights.
She is a trained gymnast from an early age. The stunts she can do with her troupe are at the level of a top Cirque Du Soleil.
On the floor and she has the build of a honed professional athlete and carries herself like an MMA fighter. She describes herself as androgynous and was a tomboy as a teen.
She could act the part of David Bowie in a movie.
Raise Your Glass, Who Knew and Just Like a Pill are massive pop songs which continually explode out.
P!nk’s voice is captivating. There is a depth an emotional range which can approach Joplin, but she does not sound like her. She is a contralto with a certain amount of grit and muscle in her delivery. Reminiscent of Linda Ronstadt in the power she can generate with a smooth delivery.
She avoids over-emoting. Consequently, her vocal prowess may be a little under-rated. Has influenced many of the Pop divas in her wake, like Katy Perry and Rihanna.
Try. Has Rock’n’roll covered in a Joan Jett manner and Eva on bass guitar stands out.
What About Us includes a poi dance from the dancers.
She is a practiced stadium artist and has a way of creating intimacy with a huge and raucous crowd. Self-deprecating and casual in her manner. Throwing twizzlers into the front of stage. Iconic American candy, maybe like pineapple lumps are here.
The best way she does this is with the quieter numbers.
Make You Feel My Love is a Bob Dylan cover (off Time Out of Mind) which she makes her own in a beautifully soulful fashion. The inspiration for this came from Adele’s version.
Some of the highlights are with Justin the guitarist. They combine on Don’t Let Me Get Me with a superb Southern Soul Country interpretation. The guitar rings in the Folk Rock style of the early Byrds.
Just Like Fire is the version that segues into Heartbreaker (as done by Pat Benatar). Justin blazes away to take the song out.
Cover Me in Sunshine is the opposite. Pop with a great hook, where her daughter Willow Sage Hart features. She is on stage, and I didn’t realise how young she was when that was released in 2021.
What’s Up is a 4 Non Blonds cover given power with a Rock treatment and becomes a huge stadium anthem tonight.
I pray every single day for revolution/ And so I cry sometimes. Who is the singing female guitarist we see on the big screen? Could it be Linda Perry, from the Blonds, who has been a close collaborator with P!nk for many years.
Tones And I is young singer-songwriter and record producer Toni Watson who comes from the state of Victoria in Australia.
Her career got a huge boost with her single Dance Monkey from 2019, which spent a record 24 weeks on the Australian Singles chart.
She plays this tonight and is a good little Dance Pop rager.
She is a petite blonde dwarfed on the huge stage, but she makes up for this with an energetic and frenetic performance which does capture the already large crowd.
She does start with Forever Young, her own and not the Dylan song, and immediately unleashes a powerful voice. Good Pop Soul and a better song than Monkey, as it is performed tonight.
She can do ballads and hook-filled Pop numbers. A three-piece band of young guys behind her.
Bracketed by her first released song Johnny Run Away, similar in style to Monkey, and Fly Away which is dramatic soulful Power Pop.
I’m pretty sure her image flashes up as a backing singer during one of P!nk’s numbers. We will be seeing a headline show sometime soon.
P!nk plays TRUSTFALL from her most recent album. Pink lips come out to dance. An insistent rhythm and the backing singers go wild.
I Am Here captures my imagination. It seems to be a two-step dance. What sounded like a Ska beat (itself a product of the New Orleans legendary off-beat style) morphs into Cajun with the backing singers providing a Gospel backing.
I know that I’ll be ready when the devil is near/ Naked and laughing with my blood on the ground.
Never Not Gonna Dance Again brings everyone on stage to prove the point of the title. Of course, the engine room powers most of the show but Brian the drummer here demonstrates why P!nk described him as one of the greatest.
He also detonates the finale, So What. Where a P!nk Tinkerbell casts the final magic spell of the night.
Rev. Orange Peel
Photography by Leonie Moreland
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