P!nk – Westfalenhalle 1, Dortmund; May 13th, 2013

It had been almost four years since the last P!nk concert in Dortmund and I was looking forward to seeing her again. I was not disappointed. Once again her show blew me off my feet. High energy performance somewhere between dance theater and circus entertainment paired with great music.

The lines were long when I arrived, but I still got a good spot behind the pit. The entire stage was visible, but I was still close enough to see expressions. Perfect! The support act Churchill was fun. Very listenable and quite good to pass the time. I would not go out and buy their CD, but I liked what they played.

Around 9 p.m. the real show started with a video on the big screens and the beginning of ‘The Truth about Love’ – as if he had stepped right out of the video a kind of jester or harlequin and told us what the show was all about: Love of course and the truth about it. He was the master of ceremonies and would be seen in different costumes during the course of the night.

The stage had many screens in the back, one heart shaped, stairs, platforms in the center and to the side, as wel as a half circle catwalk going out into the audience. All of these were much used during the show. First, however, the woman of the night was flying high above the stage on some bungee – trapeze construction, twisting and turning, bouncing up and down and being caught and let go by several dancers. She looked amazing and I admired her ability to sing while going through this exercise. Towards the end of he song she was lowered to the stage where she continued to sing, supported by more dancers.

The entire show was a whirlwind of costumes, dance and acrobatics, only rarely slowed down for a ballad. Everyone performed perfectly and there was so much happening at the same time, that it was difficult to take it all in. During her cover of Chris Isaak’s ‘Wicked Game’ P!nk was carried by three dancers while singing and for another song she was high up in the air again in some sort of turning ball along with several dancers. It looked great and she sang flawlessly through all of that.

At one point P!nk told us how her drummer was also a drum teacher and showed us some drumming. A bit later she explained how she had a lot of time on her hands during her pregnancy and thought she’d learn to play a song on the piano. She sat down to play ‘The Great Escape’. It was great, but unfortunately there was some commotion close to were I stood at that time. A girl passed out and had to be carried away. I felt sorry for here and her friend who went out with her.

An acoustic set together with her guitarist was part of the show too. The walked to the front of the catwalk and along the way, P!nk shook hands with fans and commented on the signs they were holding. Almost every time she was out on the catwalk she took the chance to get closer to the fans. One sign read “This is my 39th show, I would love to have a picture” so she leaned down and took a picture with that fan. Another sign said “We made a bet: She gets a hug, I get a new bike” so she hugged the woman and said to the guy “There’s your bike”. It was really sweet. All in all she came across where down to earth. 🙂

For one song she did a “dork dance” and asked us to dance with her. Before ‘Perfect’ she commented it was going to be the clean version because of her daughter. All evening she talked, smiled and sang her heart out. The fans responded, cheering and happily singing along, even those in the seats up on their feet early on.

Whenever P!nk went for a dress change, there were dancers or the master of ceremonies from the beginning to entertain us while she was gone. They were all pretty brilliant. The main set ended with ‘Blow me (one last kiss)’ and for the encore ‘So what’ she was up in the air once more, this time flying across the entire length and widths of the hall on cabled, getting close to the people sitting high up. There were even small platforms built for her to stand on briefly, before she flew back.

After everyone had left the stag and the outtro was still on, he screens showed scenes from backstage, rehearsals and life on the road. Lovely and funny. It was a great show and I’m looking much forward to the next one. 🙂

Setlist

Intro: The Truth About Love
Raise Your Glass
Walk of Shame
Just Like a Pill
U + Ur Hand
Leave Me Alone (I’m Lonely)
Try
Wicked Game (Chris Isaak cover)
Just Give Me a Reason
Trouble
Are We All We Are
How Come You’re Not Here
Sober
The Great Escape
Who Knew (acoustic)
Perfect (clean version)
Chaos & piss (instrumental)
Most Girls / There You Go / You Make Me Sick
Slut Like You
Blow Me (One Last Kiss)
So What
Outtro: True Love