PINK
Optus Stadium March 1 - 2
★★★★
Despite selling out venues around the globe, winning multiple Grammy Awards and undoubtedly making a truck load of money, Pink is still one of the most relatable and humble superstars to bring their music to Perth.
Taking to the stage for the first of a two-night stint at Optus Stadium on Friday, it was obvious that Pink does something not many other singers can – reach people of all ages, genders and backgrounds.
Pink on stage at Optus Stadium, Perth.Credit: Stu McKay
From kids as young as three, to blokes with their mates and women in their 70s, the audience was the widest demographic likely ever seen at a pop concert.
And there’s a good reason for that, as Pink herself said, they have grown up with her.
Fans once singing her songs with friends on a night out are now singing along to them with their kids in the car on their way to a sports game.
Pink fans waiting for her to go on stage on Friday night.Credit: Stu McKay
The pop icon has been singing to us from our radios now for nearly 24 years and her appeal continues to grow.
Once bringing her feisty bad-girl routine, now she brings her kids and her husband and speaks about them often.
At 44, Pink has lost none of her shine, athletic ability, or her fantastic voice, belting out her own hits, as well as a few covers, including one of Adele’s.
Mesmerising to watch because of her now well-known use of acrobatics and stage theatrics, she took the audience through her mega hits, rarely faltering on the vocals despite at times singing whilst also being suspended from a wire that hung precariously from each side of the stadium, wearing five-inch glitter boots, or whilst a group of giant lips blowing confetti wandered past her.
Pink also delivers that rare quality of making everyone feel like she is a long-lost friend you haven’t seen in ages.
“Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you,” she repeated to the audience at the start of her show on Friday.
“It means the world to me that you are here.”
Her rendition of recent hit Cover Me in Sunshine (2021) brought the audience to a stand still as her daughter Willow joined her on stage for her part in the song.
Pink’s vocal ability is second to none.Credit: Stu McKay
The only downside was the time she spent signing shirts and other items for fans along the front row. While it was nice to see her interact once or twice with the audience and make those connections, it did drag on and leave those of us further back wanting her to move on.
But when she sang, everyone listened. Not many people can command 50,000 people to pay attention, but Pink does it effortlessly.
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