P!nk-Beautiful Trauma World Tour, 2018 [Brisbane, Australia]

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21st August, 2018- Brisbane Entertainment Centre

Before I get into the absolute holy wow concert details, I want to first give some background information on why P!nk [Alecia Moore] is my favourite female artist of all time:

 I have been a fan of P!nk ever since her first album was released when I was just 10 years old.  My brother and I grew up religiously watching Video Hits and Rage on TV every weekend.  Music was a huge part of our lives and a beacon of light in the often dark world we endured as children.
  
The song Family Portrait from P!nk's second album, M!ssundaztood, resonated deeply with both of us.  No matter how many albums and songs she releases, this one will forever remain my all time favourite.  It is so real and raw, exposing the destructive pain of divorce through the eyes of the child.

 Our own family situation was very complex, in light of severe mental illness and domestic violence.  Dad often lost touch with reality during psychotic episodes and was a danger to not only himself, but to all around him.  Despite frequent hospitalisations he, sadly, still could not accept that he had an illness and thus, it would revert to its toxic, untreated form upon his discharge.  In that untreated state, our father's illness  destroyed everything it touched with its potent, manic poison. 

 Life as a whole family unit no doubt would have been even more difficult.  Everything our mother did was only ever to protect us.  Never the less, as a child of divorce, I learned the value of marriage and perhaps that's a lesson I would not have learned if I grew up with two happily married parents.  There is always something to be grateful for in every struggle.
  
I do not want my children to know the agony of a broken home or to be dragged through the Family Courts and fought over like possessions.  I know I will fight until my dying breath to keep my own family whole.

My Mum is also a P!nk fan so when I heard about the Beautiful Trauma World Tour, I decided to surprise her with a ticket for Christmas 2017, tucked inside a copy of the album on CD.  My original plan was to purchase A Reserve tickets for us, however these were all sold out and B Reserve was the same story.  C Reserve, it had to be!

~

We had booked accomodation at The Chermside Apartments in Brisbane- they have a Ferrari for decoration in their reception area! ❤ 


~
Mum and I just through the gates of the Brisbane Entertainment Centre:


~

Our allocated seats in the upper circle- door 7, section 28, row K, seats 1-3:

Photo credit: Tatjana

The Rubens were the first of P!nk's supporting acts, followed by DJ KidCutUp.  After these performances, a Mexican Wave was started to our left and circled around the arena several times before slowly dying off and after what felt like a lifetime of waiting, the star of the show made her grand entrance.  She was decked out in a glittering black bodysuit and swinging from an oversized chandelier sporadically spurting fireworks, to the tune of Get the Party Started.

Beautiful Trauma was next and what an amazing choreographed routine from P!nk and her tribe of incredibly talented dancers!


Following this, after donning a black and purple trench coat, Just Like a Pill was energetically belted out, as our queen danced up and down the runway and around her Wild Hearts Zone within the stage.  It was more than evident she was just as thrilled to be up there, as we all were to be watching her.

Who Knew, from the 4th album I'm Not Dead, had the audience spellbound.  As P!nk stood singing, dancers took turns contorting majestically either side of her before dropping down through the floor of the runway.  At first I'd thought them to be people from the Wild Hearts Zone who'd climbed up on stage but I soon realised it was part of the act.
  
This was and is another song close to my heart.  I listened to it a lot after my best friend, Brad passed away and I still think of him every time I hear it.  For me, there is just so much truth in the lyrics and I'm sure many others can also relate.

~

Spectators were momentarily taken on a journey to a humorous, fictional theme park called Revengeland where the song, Revenge would be fittingly performed.  A hilarious claymation film clip was aired, welcoming us all and when it came to Eminem's lines, a giant inflatable version of him took centre stage while P!nk was sent airborne to go toe to toe (or perhaps more aptly, head to head) with him!  Eminem's lips even had a string attached, pulled by a crew member, to make them move as he rapped!


An unexpected, yet fantastic mash-up came on the heels of our fantasy adventure, kicked off with Funhouse from P!nk's 5th album, morphing into a cover of No Doubt's, Just a Girl, before an epic conclusion of Smells Like Teen Spirit by Nirvana. 


The performance of Secrets was a breathtaking display of acrobatics and strength.  It was the perfect lead up to to Try, from the 2012 album The Truth About Love.  This was one of my favourite performances from the night, commencing with a completely darkened, fog-filled stage, flashing lights and animal sounds.  As the set illuminated, an enchanted forest was revealed and dancers, disguised as an assortment of animals, twisted, twirled and prowled their way around the runway to the beat of a suspenseful intro.  The "moon" rose and the opening bars of Try blended into the forest sounds, as a cloaked figure appeared in the spotlight.  The figure slowly stood and began walking forward as it pushed back the hood of its red cloak to reveal itself as none other than P!nk!  She then ditched the cloak altogether, revealing a gorgeous black dress.
  
The "animals" from the introduction joined P!nk in a mystical combination of choreography and theatrics.  It was just the right blend of eccentricity and beauty, leaving us hungry for more as the stage darkened once more.

Just when we thought it could not possibly get any better, Just Give Me a Reason drove our senses wild anew with a reenactment of the song's original video clip.  The photos I captured of P!nk singing this ballad from a bed suspended in the air, are some of my very favourites from the night:


As I'm Not Dead began to play, the bed was lowered to the stage and P!nk dismounted and walked the heart shaped runway once more, getting up close and personal with the front row and Wild Hearts Zoners.


The entertainment kept coming.  It literally was Just Like Fire, as flames lit up the stage.  From our seats we could feel the heat coming off of them each time they flared at intermittent intervals.  It must have been dang hot up there on stage but it didn't appear to dampen P!nks' spirits as she spiralled about, dancing up a storm in her long, purple coat that had a distinct Alice in Wonderland vibe about it.

~

Before What About Us, a moving social justice clip was played and my eyes welled up, watching and listening to it.  The line from this clip that has echoed in my head ever since Tuesday is,  I don't want there to be "gay marriage", I just want there to be happy marriage and lasting marriage.

~

For Now set the mood in the lead up to a relaxed acoustic rendition of Barbies, which saw P!nk's band assemble centre stage with her at the end of the runway.  I Am Here followed suit but it had nothing on the impassioned Fuckin' Perfect- a song which still tugs at my heart strings.

~

The order of the show was flawless and everything blended together so seamlessly.  The famous, as I call it, "speech for Willow" was aired while the stage was prepared for the next piece.  I had already seen P!nk's VMA acceptance speech on Facebook previously and the first time I heard it, I cried.  I too, was bullied in school simply because I was different.  As long as I can remember I have never been into mainstream things, preferring to dance to my own unique drumbeat.  While bullying did crush a large part of my self esteem, one thing I refused to allow it to crush was my desire to remain true to myself.  I would not bow down and be another sheep for something so trivial as being liked or fitting in.

I love that P!nk's heartfelt message on this subject is being spread like wildfire around the world now.  Every child needs to hear it and believe it and what better song to reinforce these touching words with, than Raise Your Glass?!



P!nk and her dance crew tore up the floor in Blow Me (One Last Kiss), as lips in all the colours of the rainbow zoomed and flashed across the big screen at the back of the stage, between bursts of colourful smoke clouds, polka dots and strobe lights.  But the best was yet to come...

So What would see P!nk quite literally take to the skies!  We were seated in the first row of the upper circle, dead centre and facing the stage front on.
  
"I'm comin' to see y'all in the back!"  she shouted, as her harness and cables were being attached.  Boy, was she ever!  Alecia rose into the air and sang the opening verse before taking off somersaulting directly towards us!  The next thing we knew, she was hovering right in front of us making direct eye contact, as she smiled and waved!  My heart was hammering with excitement and I couldn't contain my squeals of delight!  She then sailed off, taking laps of the arena and pausing either side of the stadium to showcase her astounding fitness level with one handed push ups on metal columns erected in the GA area. The lyrics "you let me fall" precluded a death defying free fall, her cables catching her mere inches above the crowd!

After a few more laps (one being made upside down the entire way), the song ceased as P!nk touched back down onstage.  The crowd erupted in thunderous applause, whistles, shouts and screams. Many spectators began standing to exit, thinking that had been the grand finale... but our queen wasn't done yet!  








The final piece for the night was the lovely ode, Glitter In The Air.  I was still preoccupied by the adrenaline coursing through my veins from our close encounter!  It, undoubtedly, was the best part of the entire show and one of the biggest thrills of my life!  I know I'll never forget it as long as I live.

~

My mother deserved an island for what I put her through growing up.  An island was a bit far out of my price range but I'm fairly certain this experience was the next best thing!

WE LOVE YOU P!NK!  Thank you for being a breath of fresh air and an inspiration to people of all ages, genders and ethnicity all over the world.  You are open minded, honest and down to earth in a world filled with fake, unattainable perfection.  
Long live the QUEEN OF MUSIC! ðŸ‘‘










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Comments

  1. UnknownJuly 1, 2020 at 10:02 PM

    WOW,WOW,WOW what a fantastic tribute to the one & only PINK who's performance was "something else". So blessed to have had the opportunity so see this lady LIVE and share a wonderful experience with "Wonderland Wandress" xxxx

    ReplyDelete

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