Halsey, Kesha, Taylor Swift, Lady Gaga, Demi Lovato — so many of the incredible artists we love would not be the talent we know them as without the influence of Pink. That became blindingly clear as the Grammy Award-winning singer took the stage for the second night in a row at Madison Square Garden to perform the last US show on her Beautiful Trauma 2019 tour. She didn’t let a second go to waste. Kicking off the night by literally swinging from a chandelier to her iconic hit, “Get The Party Started,” Pink’s stage erupted into a fantastical circus of dancing, props, sequins and plaid — exactly what we came for. The punk-pop princess joined several dancers for the opening number and truly slayed the choreography before she was slingshot into the air on bungees. Side note: this girl has got moves.
Next, Pink went into her seventh studio album’s title track, “Beautiful Trauma,” singing while spinning on hot pink street lamps that looked like they came out of a Dr. Seuss film. Donning a sequin bodysuit, the singer took pause to listen to her fans sing back the lyrics while she performed more choreo with the dancers on the prop-filled stage. She went from the new to the classic with her greatest hit (IMO), “Just Like A Pill,” and it was the perfect time to be reminded what a damn icon this woman is. While performing the early hit, Pink took the time to interact with her fans and even nodded a thank you to someone holding a sign in the midst of the song. By song three, the whole crowd was mesmerized and under her spell. She quite literally shrunk the room with her kind eyes, heart-stopping voice and one-on-one interactions with fans. Not many artists have the patience, heart or talent to do that, especially in Madison Square Garden.
Pink continued to sing an emotional rendition of “Who Knew?” before lightening things up with a hysterical graphic of how to put the “penis” back in “Happiness” in your relationship, and other ways to punish your partner for annoying you. It was a fantastic intro to her middle-finger raising collab with Eminem, “Revenge.” The upbeat and lyrically brilliant number was even better with the addition of a big, blown up Eminem puppet, which Pink proceeded to fight as she was lifted into the air on a harness. While Pink literally soared through the air — something she does often throughout the show — neither her voice nor her form wavered. She maintained her strong, stable vocals and delivered the audience the spectacular they came for — it’s not even right to call what she does a “concert.”
The unapologetic star continued to energize the crowd with “Funhouse,” before covering No Doubt’s “Just A Girl,” — really digging into the lyric, “Oh, I’ve had it up to here,” as if to be talking directly to President Trump, himself. She then brought out a song from her latest release Hurts 2B Human, titled “Hustle” — a punchy anthem that she told everyone to let out their frustrations to. This was before Pink really showed off her acrobatic skills by joining one of her dancers, mid-air, on a silk rope. They moved into different formations, balancing on each other, as she sang “Secrets” with impeccable stability.
The beautiful imagery continued with an on-stage woodland scene and dancers wearing animal masks, holding candelabras. Pink reappeared in a bright red floor-length coat, singing “Try,” as her dancers performed the chilling number. She joined them for a few moments of martial-art-inspired choreography. The singer then went into “Just Give Me A Reason,” with Nate Ruess of fun. joining via an old TV set. Pink climbed onto a bed on stage that began to soar overhead while she continued the emotional, chart-topping number. She then went into her stomping single “Walk Me Home,” while draping bed sheets literally held her from tumbling off the side.
After a dominating rendition of “Just Like Fire,” featuring actual blasts of flames on the stage, the singer retreated for an outfit change while a montage of her charity work, her career, and the current issues that plague the country played. Over the graphics was a moving monologue by Pink, who walked the audience through her immovable beliefs that everyone should be treated with love and respect — no matter who they love, no matter their gender, no matter the color of their skin. She declared that she will not be going anywhere and will continue to do the work to make change, before going into “What About Us?”
Pink continued to sing “Mean,” and paid tribute to her opening act Julia Michaels by moving to the front of the stage with her band to sing a largely acoustic set of “Barbies,” which they penned together. After giving a shout out to her mom who was in the audience (and apologizing for flipping the bird a few times that night on stage), Pink went into her defiant anthem “I Am Here.”
Through another quick montage, Pink told the story she revealed during her acceptance speech at the VMAs in 2017, about her daughter expressing concerns about being “ugly.” She went on to make her daughter a Powerpoint Presentation that showed successful, talented, gender-bending artists, like David Bowie, Freddie Mercury and Annie Lennox, and reminded the audience that Pink never once changed the way she looked or behaved based on anyone’s criticism of her. She broke out into “Raise Your Glass,” which finished with a purple-haired Willow, 7, cartwheeling onto the stage to hug her mom.
They danced it out to “Blow Me One Last Kiss” before Pink strapped into a harness to take flight one more time around MSG. Singing “So What,” Pink flipped while she was flung around from section to section. Nobody had a bad seat in Madison Square Garden that night.
To wrap up the show, barefoot and in blue jeans, Pink serenaded the crowd with “Glitter In The Air.” And at that point, no one was sure it would ever get better than tonight.