By Siobhan Divers – Student Journalist
Two decades into her career, there is no doubt that P!nk is still energetic, awe-inspiring and downright amazing – one of the best performers of modern times, no question.
Starting as she meant to go on, P!nk kicked off the sold-out Glasgow show with an early 2000s flashback: Get This Party Started. And of course, in true P!nk style, that’s exactly what she did. The pop icon descended from a pink, glittering chandelier having scaled every inch of the object from as many angles and positions.
Without as much as a water break, P!nk hammered out four of her most iconic tracks (Get This Party Started, Beautiful Trauma, Just Like a Pill and Who Knew) with more dancers, pyrotechnics, and glitter than most artists offer in a whole show.
And the fun didn’t stop there. 2009 track Funhouse followed with P!nk showcasing her athleticism. While wearing a black and pink tailcoat, she worked the stage as the ringmaster with an accompanying on-screen circus sequence and some jaw-dropping Cirque du Soleil style aerial acrobatics. And even more impressively, P!nk’s stunts didn’t actually involve any safety wires and were mostly conducted through her holding some thin pieces of black ribbon.
For her 2017 song Secrets, she was also at least 10 ft in the air – the intricate routine seeing the singer balance precariously on her partner, switching positions every now and again while spinning in frequent clockwise motions, all the while being suspended high above the stage. And despite the constant twists, turns, backflips and spins, what is more astounding is P!nk is singing live. The insanely high-energy performance shows why P!nk is still in her prime, showcasing moves that the rest of us can only dream of pulling off.
And her circus style acrobatics aren’t the only impressive thing about her set. The Pop Princess managed around 8 costume changes throughout her 1 hour and 45 minutes on stage including various glittering leotards, white dungarees and some long cape-like coats.
But despite the numerous costume changes and the fact she can still draw in fans in their thousands, it’s clear P!nk is still grounded and down to earth – she paused her set twice, once to introduce each of her band members and a second time to introduce her talented backing dancers one by one.
With impressive choreography, tracks for days and some absolutely dazzling costumes, P!nk completely rocked Glasgow with her passionate performance of modern anthems. With her set of crowd-pleasing hits, you’d presume she would have no need to cover other artists, but she did anyway, powerfully bringing to life No Doubt’s Just a Girl and Bishop Briggs’ River.
Carrying on with her own hits, show-stopping numbers like Just Like Fire where her backing dancers wore weird but wonderful animal masks and danced whole routines with candelabras, to small, stripped back acoustic sequences – she played a heartfelt slower version of Walk Me Home with nothing but her empowering lyrics, her distinctive voice and her guitarist, Justin – the talent this woman has is unrivaled.
Her realness is apparent throughout her set though as she cracks jokes, signs autographs and interacts with fans. It’s no wonder she can still draw a crowd after all this time.
It’s especially apparent in the links before her hit songs: these include a discussion she had with her daughter about androgynous pop stars and why you shouldn’t change for anyone (her six year old daughter was self-conscious about looking like a boy) and how important it is to recognise, remember and empower the marginalised – What About Us is sung with a backdrop of clips from LGBT and Black Lives Matter marches as well as anti-Brexit and anti-Trump demonstrations.
Maintaining her energy until the last song – she sung So What while flying around the stadium, P!nk captivated fans from start to finish.
If you’re looking for a show, look no further than pop sensation P!nk, she’s without a doubt the Greatest Show(woman).
Book Your Tour Tickets Now!
https://www.ticketmaster.co.uk/pnk-tickets/artist/945171
Author: Siobhan Divers
I'm Siobhan, a Glasgow-based History and Journalism graduate from the University of Stirling. I enjoy writing about a variety of different things including politics, music and arts and I have a blog called Shiv's Show where I review films and TV shows.
