Since we had reserved seats upstairs, we got special pink stickers to wear that granted us access to the "VIP" area. We got in early -- before the giant line of unfortunates who were waiting for general admission -- and the reserved seating in the balcony turned out to be a church pew right on the railing. Sweet! We also had our own waitress. It rocked, I will never go to HOB to stand with the general admission unfortunates again!
Doors opened at 7, show started at 8, and by 7:20 the whole floor was just packed. It was a sold out show, and I was so grateful to be right over the stage on the balcony instead of fighting for position amidst people who are all taller than I am. At 5'0, I am on normal folks' armpit level, and a crowd like that is exceedingly unpleasant. Not to mention pointless, since I have only a small chance of actually seeing anything.
I sipped my dirty vodka martini and congratulated myself on being able to afford to pay twice the price to be comfortable... while remembering how it felt to be young enough not to care. :-)
It was a really interesting crowd to look at. Lots of pink hair, several mohawks, many many lesbians. Supposedly our friend Craig was there, but we didn't see him.
I told Greg that the opening act was this Matt Nathanson dude, who I knew nothing about, but I was just positive that he would be a less talented, less attractive John Mayer wanna-be. I pretty much called it.
He was funny... not sure that helped. I felt bad for him and clapped a lot.
P!NK came on a little after 9. She wore a short black dress with a wide swingy skirt, big ol' black leather boots, and carried a riding crop (which had quite a narrow head -- more painful, you know). She said that the show was really special to her because the HOB in Orlando was where she played her very first show (as Pink)!
There were three songs I was hoping she would do, but knew she probably wouldn't do all three, and maybe not any. 1) God Is A DJ - this was a single, but not one of her biggest hits. I love it, and think it would be great live! Seemed like a pretty good chance... she didn't do it. 2) Fingers - this is from her new album = good sign. It's not going to be a single, though = bad sign. The song is about her lying next to her sleeping husband in the middle of the night, videotaping herself masturbating. She laughs dirtily several times in the song, and it's not particularly nasty by Pink standards, but I love it. I didn't think she'd do it... She didn't do it. And, 3) Leave Me Alone (I'm Lonely) - sounds very No Doubt 80's-esque, it's boppy, it's about trying to get the person that you love to just go away for a minute and leave you the fuck alone, but also come back. She did do it! Complete with skippy 80's dance! I sang along with every word, and really wanted to get up and dance next to my pew.
She also did Stupid Girls, Just Like a Pill, Family Portrait, Don't Let Me Get Me, There You Go, I'm Not Dead, Who Knew, and Trouble. I kept thinking her backup singer looked familiar, and Greg leaned over and said he was thinking it too, and then she introduced her as "Susie", and Greg and I looked at each other... Oh my God! It was Sweet Susie MacNeil, from Rockstar INXS, what a surprise. Pink even had her sing a little bit of "Bohemian Rhapsody" which the crowd sang along with her. She looked exactly the same, and frankly I think she might be better off as Pink's backup singer than the dude that won the contest.
She came back on for an encore in bare feet, jeans that were too long, and a t-shirt. She did a beautiful acoustic version of a Janis Joplin tribute (not sure of the name) and Dear Mr. President, which she sang with the Indigo Girls on her new album (Susie and Pink's bass player sang it with her live). That song always makes me cry, and I kept trying to get Greg to listen to it because I knew he would like it, but he never did -- what a loser. But live, he loved it too! I think he may have gotten a little weepy. We gave her a standing ovation after that one.
She ended with Get the Party Started, which was just as much fun live as I knew it would be.
I just love Pink's attitude, she cares what people think about her but she doesn't let it stop her from living her own life. I love the way she dates women unapologetically (or did, before she was married). I love the way she is very sexually aggressive, but still really giggly and silly. I love how she is violently independent, yet girly. Most of all, I love her twirly headbanging.
Let's look at P!NK:
