Bleachers:

 Bleachers was the opener for the Beautiful Trauma World Tour on April 7, 2018 at PPG Arena in Pittsburgh, PA. The band entered the stage with a bang, for as one just looked at their stage set-up, they knew that this band meant business. To further, the band had four individual sections of the stage that were designated for a certain member of the group- with the lead vocalist filling out the center. Each of those sections were lit up to reflect the effects of the piece through which were varied throughout the entire performance. When looking at the background effects of the band, it can be said that the band included various elaborate lightening choices that helped to emphasize the mood of the song that they were playing through. Additionally, as they played throughout the various songs of their set, the lightening would alter to place focus on certain members of the band to help the audience focus on certain instrumental nuances here and there. When looking at the band, the one thing that stood out was their instrumentation. The band brought a normal “band” set-up: vocals, guitar, bass, and set; however, throughout the performance the band utilized two different percussionists, which was a different approach for live music because they have two drum set stations present on the stage at once. Additionally, the band messed with electronics often as they also included a saxophone on various tracks which allowed them to pull from numerous musical genres. To continue, as one listened throughout their set, it was heard that the band mixed a strong modern sound with an alternative one, which produced a sound very close to that of Imagine Dragons; however, as the band included their intricate tone colors, they begin to pull genre influence from the new wave style of music, which gives them a creative edge. Even though their background was elaborate, the band’s stage presence was minimal. This didn’t hurt their performance, but it didn’t make the audience want to get up and sing at the top of their lungs, but their music also didn’t call for such an action either. Furthermore, even though the band didn’t get the crowd’s blood pumping times a thousand, they established a nice beginning groove for the concert, which made the audience all the more excited for P!nk.

P!nk:

The person that everyone was dying to see: P!nk! Up until this point, P!nk hadn’t tour in Pittsburgh for years, so the crowd was more than excited for her set, and she did everything but disappoint, and that’s a fact. This concert was so over the top that it is hard to know where to begin; however, let’s just start with her stage set-up. The staging shifted per song, but the outline for the stage remained in a heart shape throughout the entire concert that lit up with the changing background. The heart was set-up with steps, which gave the performers more area to dance on as the effect of the scene gave the audience more perceptional depth. As mentioned earlier, the other components of the stage would change throughout every selection to fit the theme of that specific song. Some of the most notable ones were: the Eminem blow-up doll that made its way across the stage during “his” portion of that song, the elaborate screen play during “Blow Me (One Last kiss)”, and just every video mix-up that was presented throughout the concert. On top of the various screened videos, P!nk provided several lightening effects that also enhanced the mood of each work she performed. P!nk also used the stage to her advantage. Throughout her concert, she gave the audience at least four outfit changes, but I am certain it was more than that. In order to pull this off without a lot of time passing P!nk would either run quickly behind her elaborate set-up and change, or she would use a trap door system and fall through the floor of the stage. This helped to keep the pace of the concert moving smoothly, and it gave the audience an interesting visual. When one goes to a P!nk show, you know that you are going to be getting elaborate choreography, and that was the same for this show. The dancers provided an ornate dance feature that directly correlated to the music. What was special about these moments was that it was clear that the style of the dance directly relates to the vibe, content, and musical interpretation of the work itself. Oh, and I can’t forget to mention P!nk’s over the top acrobatics that happened to allow her to travel around the entire arena- breathtaking. Taking a shift to the music she played: wow, just wow. Throughout her performance, P!nk played selections that came off all of her releases, which was a pleasant surprise, for a lot of people likely assumed that she would primarily play newer works because that’s the theme for her tour, but when she pulled out songs like “Just Like a Pill”, “I’m Not Dead”, and “Get the Party Started”, the crowd went nuts. Additionally, P!nk included embellished live versions of her tracks by allowing her band to elaborate on their set instrumental lines. This gave each song more dramatic effect, and it made the audience feel the groove of the concert even more. Also, I can’t forget the fact that P!nk covered a Nirvana song after she did a remix of her song “Funhouse” with “Just a Girl” by No Doubt. Who knew everyone wanted to see P!nk go punk? Overall, this was a tear-jerking performance that no matter where you were sitting you were going to have a good time.

Final Thoughts:

 Overall, I would give this concert a 5 out of 5 stars. There isn’t much justification needed for this score because P!nk is an absolutely amazing human being, and her live performances are everything everyone needs and more. So, please, and I mean pretty please, go see P!nk live if you haven’t yet because you’re really missing out.

Man, what an experience. Thanks again, P!nk.