Pink  Cologne 2006

Details: Written by: Daniela Vorndran; Published: 23 October 2006

König-Pilsner Arena, Oberhausen, Germany
20th October 2006
Pink and Lili

PINK just released a new album and when I heard that she was going on tour I thought I should give it a try and go there. What shall I say... if there is such a thing as "the show of the year", this might have been it. The presented music mix contained something for all different kinds of tastes and the acrobatic show was some kind of revolution. To top it off this perfect entertainment was not presented by one of the stylish mainstream artists but by the Enfant terrible of the pop scene.

Lili

LILI – a girl band from Cologne/Germany – was taking the support slot during PINK’s tour. The 3 quarter girl band – they have a male drummer – makes its album debut on EMI with the release ‘SCHWARZWEISSPINK’ which is the second album in the band career. Line-up: YLVA (vocals), CARO (guitar), DANI (bass) and MARX (drums). http://www.lili-band.com/ / http://www.myspace.com/lilicologne

Music
The band is playing an easygoing Pop-Punk-Rock with clever and nearly consistently funny German lyrics which balance accounts with false boy friends (‘Deine Liebe ist Trash’ – ‘Your love is trash’), obtrusive dazzlers (‘D.I.S.C.O’) or boring casting shows (‘Superstar’). The band is obviously fan of DIE ÄRZTE what you can hear in their music. The set consisted of Punk songs like ‘4 Stunden’ as well as Power-pop hymns like ‘Siehst Du das Meer’. The presented single ‘D*I*S*C*O’ was an absolute pop grenade in typical 80s style. The sound on the evening was not as good as I had expected it in such a venue – at least not where I was sitting. It was a bit tinny and from time to time the lyrics were really hard to understand.

Performance
LILI have quite some experience on stage. So they were already playing as support fort he Dutch Punk rockers De Heideroosjes, FLOGGING MOLLY or the Punk-rock legend BOLLOCK BROTHERS as well as German UDO LINDENBERG who was really excited by the band. Where ever they are on stage, the fans are singing with them loudly. When the three girls and the boy entered the stage in Oberhausen, Ylva first released some pink balloons. Somehow very typical girl. Besides the stage there were two big video screens which showed the band logo during the whole set. A red curtain covered most of the stage (behind was all the stuff for PINK) and so LILI did only have a little space for their performance. But that was enough anyway because there was a catwalk into the audience too which was often used – mainly of course by Ylva but also by the two girls on guitar and bass. Caro and Dani showed a typical rock performance with a lot of posing. There you felt that was not the first time they were doing this – is looked quite experienced. Animating and talking to the audience was also a big issue during the show – like when Ylva let the girls on both sides of the arena sing against each other or asked them to wave their arms. Of course the lights for the support were a bit dimmed, but anyway there were bright spots on all of the band members.

Setlist
01. Rock mich
02. Superstar
03. D*I*S*C*O
04. Siehst Du das Meer
05. ?
06. 4 Stunden
07. Deine Liebe ist Trash
08. Nimm mich mit
09. Selbstfeiermeister

Rating
Music 6
Performance 7
Sound 7
Light 7
Total 6.6

Pink

As we know it, PINK shows herself in a true and battlesome way on her recent and fourth album ‘I’m not dead’ which was released in March this year. Her previous album ‘Try this’ generated several hits like ‘Trouble’ or ‘God is a DJ’ and also the new album has enormous potential. ‘I’m not dead’ contains not only bimbo bashing (‘Stupid Girls’) or pointing critics towards the government (‘Dear Mr. President’) but also one song that PINK recorded together with her father. This song – ‘I have seen the rain’ – is included as a hidden track on the album. During the recordings of the new album, PINK took over the position of an executive producer. Furthermore, the producers and song writers Billy Mann, Max Martin (Britney Spears, 'N Sync, Bon Jovi, Westlife etc.), Luke Gottwald (Kelly Clarkson, Backstreet Boys etc.), singer/songwriter Butch Walker and Mike Elizondo (Christina Aguilera, Gwen Stefani, Eminem, Sheryl Crow etc.) were involved into the album. As it is, a tour had to follow the album release and so we had the pleasure of a great show! http://www.pink-music.de/ / http://www.pinkspage.com/ / http://www.myspace.com/pinkspage

Before the show started, several commercials were showed on the video screens. The mood in the audience was just great and people started clapping and screaming during the songs played in the rebuilding break – ‘We will rock you’ (QUEEN) and ‘Don’t feel like dancing’ (SCISSOR SISTERS). Let me just say a few words about the stage design before we go into the review… The stage was built up on two levels which were combined by two stairs. Besides the stage, there were two big video screens and over the stage three smaller ones. A catwalk was leading into the audience. Just in time at nine, the lights went down and the show started.

Music
The musical teen years are over and Alecia Moore (PINK’s real name) is taking a big step into the future. Debuted with a first album in 2000, she now developed a remarkable richness in her voice. You can hear everything – from wild yells to moody ballads. She elated her fans with her timbre as angry punk singer as well as kittenish chanson singer. Aggressiveness and charm are very close in her chant and can hardly be separated. Musically, she moves in the field on POP mixed with Rock and R&B influences. So she made first experiences in a Gospel choir and later in a Punk band.

For her appearance on stage, she was supported by a great band consisting of guitar and bass player, keyboards, drums and even backing singers. Especially Jason on guitar is very eclectic – playing even Country or Flamenco parts. When PINK performs ballads like ‘The one that got away’ you feel even JANIS JOPLIN’s influences. PINK nowadays not only makes music for the young fans but also for their parents. The song ‘Dear Mr. President’ which followed right after was written together with Billy Mann (Celine Dion, Ricky Martin, Anastacia etc.). It is her personal bill with President George Bush. When she sang words like “Dear Mr. President, what do you feel, when you see all the homeless on the street?” not only PINK had some tears in her eyes. As you can imagine, the recent album was a big topic during the show and so about ten songs out of it have been played. Sound-wise, PINK had to suffer a little form the problems that LILI had before. Well, not really suffering, but partly the lyrics were a bit hard to understand where I was placed.

Performance
While the music was remarkable, the performance was even more. When the lights went down and the intro started – some churchly choral sounds – all people stood up and you could see hundreds of mobile displays of people trying to get a shot. The curtain in front of the stage was illuminated in dark blue light while over the stage some mystic yellow light appeared. Three cloaked persons in monk cowls walked over the catwalk with folded hands and disappeared behind the curtain which fell down just at the beginning of the second song – ‘Cuz I can’ form the recent album – and revealed a stunning stage. PINK appeared in a very lean police uniform. Together with her, dancers in sexy clothes were marching over the catwalk and waved some flags. It went on fast for ‘Trouble’ which made the audience jump for the first time followed by ‘Just like a pill’ where PINK undressed her jacket and showed her nice back not covered by any clothes. She also showed her performance talent when lying down on the floor singing as intense as she can. Light elements glowed between the stage levels during this song.

Before she started ‘Who knew’ – also form the current album – she thanked the audience with her smoky voice and reminded of the show taking place two years ago at the same venue which was the closing show of that tour and was celebrated a lot – “Thanks for coming and playing with us”. On it goes with the title track of the current album ‘I’m not dead’. For the first time this evening, the three video screens above the stage were used. The band is more extroverted now and bass player even banged her head. PINK animated the audience to sing alone during the refrain. Afterwards, PINK left the stage for the first time this evening to change her clothes and the song ‘Lady Marmalade’ was sung by the backing singers who were really great! Videos supported the song in a quite funny way.

And funny we go on. PINK came back to stage for ‘Stupid Girls’ dressed in a long coat, red haired wig and sun glasses. Around her, dancers were jumping over the cat walk wearing pumped up tits. When PINK wanted to remove the wig, we had some laughs because it got stuck in the sun glasses and caused a little dazzle for her. But anyway it did not affect her singing at all. Afterwards an instrumental part followed to lead over to the next song. Jason was playing an acoustic guitar solo and anyone else had left the stage. The sound was in Flamenco style and so soon a female Flamenco dancer appeared on stage. It was somehow a bit like during Spanish bullfight. Bit by bit, the others come back and so PINK did in a new tiny Flamenco-like costume accompanied by two more Flamenco dancers. And so ‘There you go’ started where PINK also performed some Flamenco dance parts.

‘God is a DJ’ from the album ‘Try this’ was the next song in the set. It was something of a night club performance where PINK and some dancers used some chairs for their dance. The next song ‘Fingers’ was one of the highlights of the show – a very acrobatic one. PINK undressed the shirt and stood on stage just in a glittering bra, G-string, nylons and boots. The whole stage was covered in dark red and blue light. PINK wrapped herself into a big fishnet and was pulled up some meters over the stage. High up, she showed her sportiness showing the splits and other acrobatic exercises without any security rope. With a very soothing and seductive voice she sang her song like as she never had done something else. She finished the song hanging upside down over the stage. Enthusiastic applause was her reward.

After so much action it was time to cool down a bit. ‘Family Portrait’ started with a piano passage while PINK was freed from the net. She came back on stage with new shirt and long silver skirt – just incredible how often and fast she changed clothes. She intonated the song with a very clear and intense voice while the video screen showed couples and hearts… which broke at the end. After she left the stage again, Jason started another acoustic guitar part which ended in the BOB MARLEY classic ‘Redemption Song’. This and the following two songs were performed by Jason, PINK and the two backing singers at the end of the catwalk seated on bar chairs. When PINK came back on stage for this song, she wore a long white dress and a pirate headscarf.

The song ‘The one that got away’ was opened with the words “Imagine there’s a barb fire”. And yes, that exactly describes the camp fire mood of that moment. Next song was the government critic ‘Dear Mr. President’ which was supported by several videos showing Mr. Bush, war, poorness and suffering. Together with the lyrics these pictures created a very intense and sad moment. Those three very calm songs were superseded by the 4 NON BLONDES song ‘What’s up’. This song woke the audience up and especially the refrain was sung loudly. The cameras projected pictured from the audience onto the screens and you could see several happy faces. The last part of the song was sung by a guitar playing what was the indication for the next cloth change of PINK.

The next song was the current single ‘U + Ur hand’ which was started by two drummers standing on each side of the upper stage level and hitting some kind of barrels in a rhythm that reminded of QUEEN’s ‘We will rock you’. People started clapping loudly in that beat. The starting guitars sounded like Hard Rock and showed again how diversified the show was. PINK appeared on the upper stage level riding a silver motor bike wearing tiny black leather biker clothes. Two more fast songs – ‘18 Wheeler’ and ‘Don’t let me get me’ – rocked the arena. The main set was ended by the introduction of the band members and the song ‘Leave Me Alone (I'm Lonely)’ which was opened by a funny statement: “Let’s dance. Shall we? This is serious. You have to make serious faces. It is a serious dance. You should look at those guys” and the cameras showed some security guy. After one more thank you the band left the stage.

The video screens showed some digital numbers counting down two minutes. During that time people were yelling and clapping and loudly counting down the last ten seconds until the band came back to stage. ‘Nobody knows’ from the actual album was the first of two songs which PINK sang dressed up in a black and elegant evening dress with golden chains. But then, the skirt was ripped off and ‘Get the party started’ found its place as great final. First with than without dancers PINK was winded into a shawl and pulled up again over the stage. Hanging and rotating in the shawl, PINK sang the last song and the show ended in a confetti rain. Just a perfect show. Everywhere you could see happy faces and people will remember this night for a long time.

Setlist
01. Intro
02. 'Cuz I Can
03. Trouble
04. Just Like A Pill
05. Who knew
06. I’m not dead
07. Lady Marmalade (co-production of Christina Aguilera, lil' kim, Mya, Pink)
08. Stupid Girls
09. Instrumental
10. There you go
11. God is a DJ
12. Fingers
13. Family Portrait
14. Redemption Song (Bob Marley)
15. The one that got away
16. Dear Mr. President
17. What’s up (4 non Blondes)
18. U + Ur Hand
19. 18 Wheeler
20. Don’t let me get me
21. Leave Me Alone (I'm Lonely)
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22. Nobody knows
23. Get the Party started

Rating
Music 10
Performance 10
Sound 8
Light 10
Total 9.7