LIVE – P!NK, Auburn Hills, MI, March 5, 2013

Venue: The Palace of Auburn Hills

City, Auburn Hills, MI

Reviewed by: Chris Balow

P!NK’s ‘The Truth About Love” tour raises the bar for pop genre artists!

Lady Gaga has been watching from the bench with a bad hip, hoping to get off injured reserve and back in the game. In her absence, Pink has been dominating the pop landscape with sold-out performances since the middle of February. It was no different Tuesday night at the Palace in Auburn Hills, Michigan, on her The Truth About Love tour.

Nine semi-trailers engulfed large areas of pavement outside the arena, and that meant that the production and theatrics were going to be through the roof.  There were four large video screens surrounding a fifth larger heart-shaped video monitor in the center, an octet of dancers, comic book style backgrounds, a full backing band including singers, and a master of ceremonies named Rubix whose game show introduction of the 33-year old singer brought the house to its feet. Pink is no stranger to using acrobatics in her set, as she began her song ‘Raise Your Glass’ by bungee-ing from floor to ceiling into the arms of her three male dancers. She employed the use of similar aerial theatrics on the 2009 Funhouse tour.

The highlight of the aerial display came in the encore during the song “So What,” where Pink had a special surprise for the cheap seats.  Donning a gold jumpsuit, her male counterparts connected her by the waist to a metal gyroscope. Pink flew from the heart shaped stage of the VIP section, to the upper deck in Peter Pan like fashion.  She was able to twist 360° on two different axes, floating over the crowd majestically. The crowd cheered her on mightily and reached for their cell phones to capture the amazing display.

The most refreshing part of her show was not all of the Cirque-de-Soleil aerobatics, but the fact that she actually sang her songs.  Despite all the production on stage the vocals were crisp, yet not over produced. In an age of lip-synching, auto-tune, and click tracks, Pink, breathing heavily, apologized to her fans several times for being tired after the song and dance numbers ended. The audience responded jovially and seemed overwhelmingly satisfied that they were receiving a real pop show.

Pink also raised the bar by selecting Swedish garage rock veterans The Hives as her tour opener. She took a risk having the tuxedoed rockers warm up the crowd, as lead singer Pelle Almqvist brings exhausting energy to the room. “We are from Sweden and we know Detroit knows Sweden. We are not famous hockey players we are famous rock and roll musicians!” Pelle belts referring to the many Swedish players on the Detroit’s Red Wings current roster. It’s almost impossible to look away from their show, as the five-piece is thoroughly entertaining.  Guitarist Nicholaus Arson whips his six-string around his back like he plans on hula hooping with the guitar strap, puts his guitar pick on the end of his tongue, and with a flick of his tongue flips it to a fan. Pelle then bolts into the audience, commandeers a beer from an audience member and takes a sip, then moves upward for a handful of popcorn, just in time to pose for a picture with two Hives impersonators. One is holding a sign that reads: THE HIVES ARE LAW. YOU ARE CRIME.  The band then launches into their hit “Hate To Say I Told You So” and Pelle is back on stage scissor jumping off of drummer Chris Dangerous’ bass drum. “I am now going to hypnotize the crowd and everything around us is going to explode,” exclaims Almqvist. The band was very tight and seemed primed to display their songs in front of a new genre of fans.

2013 brings a mixture of Rock and Pop that packed a solid punch to Detroit Rock City!

P!NK’s Setlist:

Raise Your Glass
 – Walk of Shame
 – Just Like a Pill
 – U + Ur Hand
 – Leave Me Alone (I’m Lonely)
 – Try
 – Wicked Game
 – Just Give Me A Reason
 – Trouble – Are We All We Are
 – How Come You’re Not Here
 – Sober
 – Family Portrait
 – Who Knew
 – F**kin’ Perfect
 – Most Girls/There You Go/You Make Me Sick
 – Slut Like You – Blow Me (One Last Kiss)

Encore: So What
 – Glitter in the Air

The Hives Setlist:

Come On! – Take Back the Toys – Main Offender – Walk Idiot Walk – Hate to Say I Told You So – Won’t Be Long – Go Right Ahead – Tick Tick Boom

Category: Live Reviews