REVIEW: Ginelle Cocks / PHOTOS: Shelley Te Haara
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Welcome to the Funhouse.
The sign glows in fuscia pink over Eden Park, with fans in their droves making their way into the stadium for the first of two Auckland shows, as pop powerhouse P!nk brings her 2024 Summer Carnival to Auckland. The record-breaking tour kicked off in Sydney, and will return to Australia following the kiwi shows, the first of which (Dunedin) took place earlier this week.
The Summer Carnival is now around its midway point, and will have hit an incredible 20 stadium shows across 10 cities, playing to over 900,000 fans, at its conclusion. The stats and logistics alone are staggering, and the scale of the stage production is evident. The show employs over 200 touring crew, in addition to over 200 loaders and riggers, who transport, set up, and pack down an eye-watering 42 trucks worth of set and equipment. It takes two jet freighters just to transport the 60 tonnes of gear required to put on this spectacular show, the logistics alone must be mind boggling.
Us Kiwis sure do love P!nk. Her last visit, back in 2018, saw her performing an incredible 6 shows at Spark Arena – breaking records with every visit. With the shows now taking place at Eden Park, close to 90,000 P!nk fans will be “invading the pitch” once reserved for sports heroes only. The stadium has been taken over, completely transformed for the next two nights. Indeed, the Carnival seems to begin as we step off the buses, greeted by stilt walkers, knock-off merchandise, and a sea of pink cowboy hats and tutus all making their way towards the various gates of Eden Park.
Heading in to the Stadium, DJ KidCutUp has the growing crowd dancing and singing along, as he seamlessly blends tracks from the 80s, 90s, and 2000s – a bit of something to appeal to the varying ages of his audience. Effortlessly mixing Adele with Missy Elliott, Guns N’ Roses with Abba, he has a little something for everyone. The crowd are familiar with the majority of the tracks, and respond like puppets when KidCutUp pulls on their strings, singing back to him and filling the deliberate gaps he creates in the tracks.
Supporting P!nk on this tour is Byron Bay’s own Tones and I, best known for the highly infectious “Dance Monkey”, which has been covered several times and across numerous genres. The song holds its own records, as the most “Shazamed” song of all time, as well as being the most streamed song by a Female artist on Spotify. Selling out shows in her own right, with over 10 billion global streams to her credit, there could be no better choice to open for P!nk on this tour.
Right on time, the video screens are taken over by a gloomy forest setting accompanied by atmospheric audio, as Tones (real name Toni Watson) appears on the stage, somewhat understated in her appearance with baggy pants, a blue vest over a long sleeved shirt, and her long blond hair hanging free. Tones kicks off her set with a cover of Forever Young, showing off her impressive vocal range as she skips and twirls across the stage.
While Tones is no stranger to New Zealand, having played numerous festival stages over the years, this is her biggest show here to date, something which she tells the crowd she’s very grateful for. She also comments on the energy of the crowd several times, clearly happy with the reception from the audience as she goes on to play Johnny Runaway, the first track she ever wrote and released. A seamless segway and she’s transitioned perfectly into Rhianna’s Diamonds.
Tones is really showing her vocal prowess this evening as she teases Dance Monkey, launching straight into the vocal accompanied only by drums. The main piano intro kicks in as she sings once again from the top, the audience clearly knowing and loving this song. Tones’ playful personality has the crowd kneeling at one point, only to have them leaping up a moment later as the song reaches its peak.
Wrapping up her set with Fly Away, a song about chasing your dreams, written during one of Melbourne’s several quarantines, Tones farewells the audience as KidCutUp one again returns to the stage to keep us entertained while we wait.
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We don’t have to wait too long as the fans begin to converge on the main Stadium, empty seats filled and those on the ground vying for a spot on the rail, if they can get one. Before long, an AI simulation video takes over the big screens, as an animated version of P!nk addresses the crowd.
As the simulation ends, there is movement on the stage. As Get The Party Started kicks in, P!nk literally “drops” into the stage from the roof, in an aerial display the singer has come to be well known for. The smell of gunpowder fills the air before the pyrotechnics are even let off, starting things off on a strong note. Barely catching a breath, P!nk continues straight into Raise Your Glass, with fans around the stadium raising their plastic cups towards the stage, singing their lungs out. Her athleticism is truly on display as she doesn’t miss a beat, her headset microphone being put through its paces as she darts around the stage.
After slowing things down slightly with Who Knew?, P!nk addresses the crowd for the first time, responding to a sign and wishing one fan a Happy Birthday, before spotting a young baby in the audience. P!nk, asks how old the baby is (11 weeks) before then asking if she can hold the baby.
The concert continues with Just Like A Pill, as the singer comments on her cheeks being numb from smiling too much. Things slow down momentarily as she sings the more somber tracks Try and What About Us?, before striding to the end of the runway for an incredible silks demonstration as she performs Turbulence.
Coming back down to earth, P!nk heads to the piano, joining pianist Jason Chapman as she dives into a bag of candy, pulling out Whittaker’s chocolates before excitedly getting into a packet of Twizzlers, sharing them with the crowd as she quips about also having Security on stage, so her kids can’t get to her – and her twizzlers.
P!nk then relieves Chapman and takes a seat at the piano, launching into a beautiful rendition of Bob Dylan’s Make You Feel My Love. Bringing Chapman back, P!nk then moves to sit atop the piano as they perform Just Give Me A Reason. As the song ends, P!nk resumes running up and down the platform, her bare feet visible under the long flowing skirt she’s placed over the top of her sequined leotard during F**kin’ Perfect. Once this track is over however, it seems she’s had enough of ballads, ditching the flowing shirt for a white biker jacket and hurtling straight into Just Like Fire – a rendition of Heartbreaker woven into the song.
Slowing things down once more, P!nk shows off the talents of her backing singers as she harmonises on Please Don’t Leave Me, her guitarist Justin Derrico joining her at the end of the stage for the next few songs in an acoustic set. Quipping in between songs, P!nk mentions her daughter, before letting the crowd know “the love of my life is here to sing for you all”.
Cover Me In Sunshine, a song written by P!nk and daughter Willow Hart during one of the Covid lockdowns and recorded at home, begins with P!nk singing, before her daughter joins her, sporting a shaved head (Pink mentioning later that she’d previously told her daughter she loved her long hair, so she shaved it off) and a beautiful red dress.
The softer songs continue for a time, as Pink describes writing When I Get There about her late father. The mood doesn’t stay somber for long however as we return to more upbeat tracks, I Am Here followed by a cover of 4 Non Blondes What’s Up, which brought much of the crowd to their feet as they join in with her.
Another costume change and a spoken interlude later, and Trustfall kicks off. Once again strapped into her harness, P!nk is raised onto a platform above the stage, her dancers taking it in turns to fall backwards onto trampolines before bouncing back up and on to the platform.
The carnival returns in full force as the singer puts on a black biker jacket, complete with red lips on the shoulders to perform Blow Me (One Last Kiss). Singers dressed as giant lips on legs follow her along the stage and down the catwalk, mirroring the giant lips above the stage.
Pausing to introduce her band and singers, the party then continues with a very disco-inspired song Never Not Gonna Dance.
Leaving the stage incredibly briefly, the crowd barely had time to get a chant going before P!nk was back to perform her final song and encore, So What. Once again in her harness, P!nk soared above the crowd in all directions, ensuring that fans in all parts of the stadium were able to get a good up close glimpse of the star.
And with that, the Summer Carnival is over, the stadium lights coming on all too quickly to let us all know it’s time to head home. Outside the stadium, it’s a slow shuffle as fans make their way in all directions towards trains and buses, ready to head home, the stilt walkers now replaced by security personnel directing us where we need to go. Auckland has another night of P!nk ahead tomorrow, no doubt some fans will take the opportunity to see her a second time before she heads back to Australia. P!nk is a truly exceptional entertainer; most importantly, she always seems to be genuinely having fun and enjoying herself, from the banter with the crowd, to her clear love of twizzlers, dancing with her team, or performing incredible aerial stunts.
Here’s hoping it’s not so long between visits next time.
P!NK Auckland Setlist:
- Get the Party Started
- Raise Your Glass.
- Who Knew.
- Just Like a Pill.
- Try.
- What About Us. (dance remix)
- Turbulence
- Lost Cause (piano version)
- Make You Feel My Love (Cover – Bob Dylan)
- Just Give Me A Reason
- F**kin’ Perfect
- Just Like Fire / Heartbreaker
- Please Don’t Leave me
- Cover Me In Sunshine (featuring Pink’s daughter, Willow Hart)
- Don’t Let Me Get Me (acoustic)
- When I Get There
- I Am Here
- What’s Up? (Cover – 4 Non Blondes)
- Trustfall
- Blow Me (One Last Kiss)
- Never Gonna Not Dance Again
Encore:
22. So What
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