Photo: Tom Grut
Review - On a beautifully clear early autumn Friday night, Eden Park slowly filled with a sea of misfit millennial mums and their equally excited daughters. Bleached fauxhawks were a dime a dozen, and by 8pm all the rosé at the bar had completely sold out. P!nk - also known as Alecia Beth Moore - was in town and everyone was keen to get the party started.
After some high-quality singalongs from DJ KidCutUp, and a Max Headroom parody introduction video, P!nk was introduced to the audience from high above the stage, between the teeth of a giant LED mouth. Suspended in mid-air, she belted out the lyrics to her 2001 hit 'Get This Party Started' - managing a series of flips, drops, and splits without missing a beat.
The audience let go of their shame immediately, screaming along without hesitation. Despite Kiwi crowds being notorious for lack of concert enthusiasm, P!nk's energy, and possibly the fact that the 44-year-old singer was doing 360 flips in the air, got the crowd on their feet.
Photo: Tom Grut
That set the tone for the rest of the night. The show was chatty throughout, with three "Happy Birthday" shoutouts. At one point, she shared a story about the last time she was in New Zealand, where her husband tried to "kill" her with a golf cart. "This is why I make the songs I do, because of him. I don't write love songs I write warnings". This struck a personal chord with the women in the audience, who let out a loud and supportive cheer.
Act II of the show brought us one of the singers' biggest hits, 'Just Give Me A Reason', featuring FUN frontman Nate Ruess. To make up for him not being there, a pre-recorded video of Ruess singing his parts of the duet was projected on screens. While I'm glad the song wasn't omitted from the setlist, the change from a high-paced display of live music at its peak to P!nk's harmonising to a budget-friendly recording was a jarring change. Replacing Ruess' role in the song with local talent at each stop would feel like a more dynamic and creative solution to his absence.
The most heart-warming moment of the night was when P!nk was joined on stage by her 12-year-old daughter, Willow. The pair sang their duet, 'Cover Me in Sunshine', which they recorded "during the pandemmy". Willow sang with an effortless beauty that had many audience members teary-eyed. Mothers sang along, linking arms or tenderly holding their children, all captured by the moment.
Photo: Tom Grut
The show went out to 'Blow Me (One Last Kiss)' and 'Never Gonna Not Dance Again', as the singer named and celebrated every member of her band and backup dancers. Having convinced absolutely no one that the show was over, she returned to the stage to perform an encore of her smash-hit 'So What'. Strapped to what looked like a giant metal diaper, P!nk flew across the stadium, performing flips and stunts while singing full-volume and waving to screaming fans. While she doesn't need to perform these feats - I mean, come on, she's had 36 songs in the Billboard Top 100 almost yearly since 2000 - I'm glad she did. The acrobatics were truly impressive, and sets her performances well apart from her peers. I don't see Taylor Swift doing flips to 'All Too Well (10 Minute Version)', sorry.
I was sceptical whether having two P!nk shows at Eden Park was worth losing New Zealand's own stop on The Eras Tour, but P!nk proved me wrong. After she played six songs in a row that I innately knew every lyric to, I had to admit I was a fan.
Spending International Women's Day at a P!nk concert surrounded by mums singing break-up anthems as loud as they possibly could felt like the perfect way to wrap up a 24-hour celebration of women. P!nk is a true, seasoned professional and her show is not one to be missed.
P!nk's final show in Aotearoa takes place at Eden Park, Auckland, on Saturday night.
