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| P!nk at the SAP Center (Photo: Kevin Keating) |
Throngs of fans wearing just about anything pink made their way to the SAP Center in San Jose last night for the return of P!nk’s Beautiful Trauma World Tour - nearly a year after her last performance here in the Bay Area at the Oracle Arena. Joining P!nk on this leg of the tour is Julia Michaels, a singer/songwriter who may be best known for the songs she’s written for the likes of Selena Gomez, Demi Lovato, Gwen Stefani, Britney Spears, and more. Although Julia's making a name for herself since her debut single in 2017, “Issues”, that peaked at #11 on Billboard and received two Grammy Award nominations. In addition to Julia, DJ KidCutUp started off the night warming up the crowd with a mix of anthem-rock songs from the likes of Queen, GnR, Bon Jovi and more.
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| P!nk at the SAP Center (Photo: Kevin Keating) |
With the sold out crowd sufficiently warmed up, the arena lights when out, and one of my personal favorites from the '80's began to blare from the speakers – Whitesnake’s classic “Here We Go Again”. As the song came to a close, a top-hat and tails ring-leader appeared from behind the massive pink curtain that draped the stage, and using a kazoo, signaled the start of the show with a rendition of 20th Century Fox’s opening credits theme.
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| P!nk at the SAP Center (Photo: Kevin Keating) |
It was clear that P!nk had no intention of starting off the night on a slow start, as the curtain dropped, P!nk was joined by not only an 8-piece backing band, but 10 dancers who also doubled as acrobatic assistants as they helped launch P!nk into the air to literally swing from an enormous chandelier hanging from the rooftop rafters during her set opener, “Get the Party Started.” She slowed things down only slightly with "Beautiful Trauma" which was a more traditional choreographed dance number that had P!nk back down on the stage with the rest of the performers, although moving set pieces that included pink warped street lamps that rolled around the stage kept the energy going.
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| P!nk at the SAP Center (Photo: Kevin Keating) |
There was no question that this was going to be one of the largest arena concert productions that I've ever seen -- and it ended up ticking all the boxes: confetti canons, pyrotechnics, a giant video wall, multiple complex set changes, multiple costume changes, an amazing lightshow, giant inflatable characters, choreographed dance numbers, and the previously mentioned aerial acrobatics that only got more impressive throughout the night. I'm dumbfounded thinking of the number of people involved behind the scenes to make this show go off without a hiccup each night on the current 37 city tour. And having said that, all the 'theatrics' that made the night so special only played a supporting role to P!nk's soaring vocals and the musicianship of her backing band. What a package and the presentation was jaw dropping.
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| P!nk at the SAP Center (Photo: Kevin Keating) |
Among my favorite moments of the night, "Try" stood out for its elaborate stage and costume design, complete with a Little Red Riding Hood theme that featured P!nk in a red hooded overcoat surrounded by her dancers dressed as wolves -- and somehow, giant weeping willow trees appeared onstage to create a forest out of no where.
"Walk Me Home," a new single from her upcoming album, Hurts 2B Human (iTunes), had a bit of a country undercurrent to the song, and sounded incredible live.
But overall, it was P!nk's video montage that preceded "What About Us" that made the biggest impact of the night. As you can see from the video below (taken from an earlier show), it's a moment where P!nk discusses the choices she's made, her integrity, and her hopes of the influence that her music will have. It was an extremely powerful segment, and "What About Us" delivered in spades.
Lastly, for the encore, P!nk literally flew around the arena to get up-close and personal with the fans that had packed the SAP Center. Again, reinforcing the tremendous talent that P!nk has as an artist and performer. Check out the video below to see what I mean. With only a few more weeks of the tour left before she heads to Europe, do yourself a favor and catch this show if you're lucky enough to be in one of the remaining cities left on the tour!
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