Pink Sydney concert proves to be a balancing act

Pink Sydney concert proves to be a balancing act

Pink needs a parachute. Surely that's the only way she could top her energetic opening sequence to her song Raise Your Glass which included a trapdoor, bungy cords and the singer hanging off an apparatus with some half-naked men. (For her next concert she's going to have to parachute in, I thought, a little too smugly). But by the time Pink's show was finishing with a thrilling high wire act, which appeared to involve her flying across much of the breadth and width of the Sydney Entertainment Centre while singing So What (one of the most extraordinary closing sequences you're ever likely to see at a pop show) to be honest, even a parachute seemed a little lame by comparison. Alecia Moore, aka Pink, is no longer just a singer or a brattish pop punk but also an all-spinning, all-flying, all-dancing entertainment machine. She has clearly come to believe the fans expect nothing less, but she might be surprised. Because despite the genuine thrills, it's starting to feel a little like her choreography - and the use of stage characters, such as an odd, sleazy clown named Rubix von Fukenhurtz to anchor her show - is over-compensating. Pink performs at Sydney Entertainment Centre to a full house. Click for more photos Pink in concert Pink performs at Sydney Entertainment Centre to a full house. Photo: Lisa McMahon Pink performs at Sydney Entertainment Centre to a full house.Pink's show was a hit with the Sydney crowd.The stage set-up boasted nine video screen, including a large loveheart screen.Pink performs at Sydney Entertainment Centre to a full house.Pink's Sydney show on Tuesday night was one of 45 on here Australian tour.Pink performs at Sydney Entertainment Centre to a full house.Pink performs at Sydney Entertainment Centre to a full house.Pink performs at the Sydney Entertainment Centre.The opening sequence for Pink's song Raise Your Glass.Pink, aka Alecia Moore, is known for her energetic show.Pink performing in Sydney on Tuesday night.Pink performs at Sydney Entertainment Centre to a full house.Pink performs at Sydney Entertainment Centre to a full house.View all 14 photos Despite her incredible popularity (this show was one of 45 on the tour) is Pink trying too hard? For when she is singing with just her backing band, without her bag of tricks constantly on show, in anthems such as Trouble, she is truly at her best. Advertisement Just when she seems to connect, there's another whiz bang, whirly, twirly, up-in-the-air, upside down sequence. Her stage set-up alone boasted nine video screens (including a large loveheart screen) plus two giant ones belonging to the venue, so at times it was a dizzying visual overload. And yes, Pink can spin and sing - well, it's hard to tell just how well, because her back-up singers were sometimes clearly holding the floor (with their mics up louder than hers) in songs such as Try and Sober. But none of Pink's fans seemed to mind too much. And isn't that indeed the the truth about love, well the ardent love of pop fans anyway? They didn't balk when Pink occasionally had a hoarse edge to her voice (very unusual for such a highly polished singer) and when she charmingly joked about forgetting some lyrics - she restarted her piano song The Great Escape. Because it's easy to love Pink when she's real, when she laughs off her occasional faults. But in a large-scale concert such as this, the balancing act between art and artifice is a fine line to tread. Especially when people go home talking about high wires, not high notes.




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