When P!nk first announced the dates for her beautiful Trauma Tour, I didn't think I was going to be able to see it. Her dates at New York's Madison Square Garden came smack dab in the middle of my trip to Europe, but luckily enough the New York metropolitan area is full of people, and I nabbed a ticket to last night's show at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey and had a kick ass time!
Upon the release of beautiful Trauma, I was as excited as excited could be. P!nk's 2012 The Truth About Love record was a game changer for me. Until that time, I'd been strictly a one diva guy with Madonna for all of these years, but suddenly there was P!nk and this album. I found myself making videos (see here and here), teaching lessons from the songs, and I spread P!nkmania just about everywhere I could.
I should have known that beautiful Trauma wasn't as great as I expected it was going to be. It's really hard to top perfection. Not to say that the record is bad. In fact, it's pretty darned stellar, but it's just not the same as Truth and the same can be said for the show I watched last night. Stellar, absolutely, but this show just doesn't quite capture the same magic as the last one. For what it's worth, here are some highlights:
The Stage and Opening
I absolutely loved the stage and the set for this show! Surrounding the main stage was an abstract heart/ramp, complete with trap doors, steps, and a people mover straight down the middle, all of which got plenty of use during the two hour show.
With great fanfare, the show began promptly at 9 o'clock, and our heroine entered stage top via a grand chandelier and Got the Party Started. As it would be throughout the evening, her voice was magnificent and her moves beautiful and often breathtaking. Check out these notes on the opening from Phoenix New Times' Amy Young:
Her team below created a booming sonic foundation as she twirled about, singing. Their energy was palpable, making it clear they were polished to perfection and ready to deliver the goods on this opening night.
Once she lowered herself and untethered from her sky ropes, Pink utilized as much of the stage as she could – strutting and dancing on and across every space, from a movable walkway to stairs on either side.
Her voice was booming, solid with that combo of rawness and power that sold her to so many fans. Though the backup singers pick up a lot of the slack while she is in continuous motion, she gets major kudos for maintaining singing strength while she’s flying through the air in pretzel-like positions. Her voice never wavered.
Humbleness
Without ever meeting her, it becomes obvious from early on that P!nk is a special kind of star. She's gracious, well-spoken and she seems to realize that her gifts have brought her to a place in life that she treasures.
Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you and you and you and you...
...she was pointedly thanking us all for being there in much the same way we all thanked her for a great evening. Throughout, she interacted with her fans, stooping down for selfies and photographs, acknowledging gifts thrown up onto the stage, and getting as personal as one could get in such a setting. Love her!
Duets
P!nk performed two duets last night, but not in the usual way, First up was her latest collaboration with Eminem, who appeared as a larger than life parade float on the light-hearted, yet seriously serious Revenge. Next up was P!nk's huge smash from Truth About Love, with Nate Reuss appearing on the large screen from the video for Give Me Just A Reason. Both numbers were definite showstoppers!
Madonnaesque
I said in my review of beautiful Trauma that the song Secret sounded a lot like something Madonna might have done. This point was obviously as she performed the tune live. The vocals, the mood, the music...this one's got Madge written all over it!
In the lead up to her latest great track, What About Us?, we see another Madonna-inspired, politically charged introductory video that at times had the audience cheering wildly. I once heard P!nk say that Madonna was one of her inspirations growing up, and I'm happy to see that finally she's beginning to take a page from Madge's book. Approve!
High Flying P!nk
As we've all come to expect, from that beautiful, aerial performance of Glitter In the Air at the Grammys to the spectacular side-of-a-building whopper to the title cut of beautiful Trauma on the AMA's this year, P!nk loves her acrobatics, and there was plenty of it last night, from the opening number throughout. For any of you who saw the Truth About Love Tour, P!nk duplicated the ending with a high-flying, up close and personal performance of So What. I swear I was watching the real Tinkerbell!
All in all, P!nk's beautiful Trauma show was a night full of great music, awesome vocals, fantastic aesthetics and a super duper superstar! Like I said earlier, even though it's not as magical as her previous tour, it's still a great show. You should definitely check it out if you have the chance. I highly recommend it!
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