Review: Pink sizzles and soars at Globe Life Field

After two cancellations of her summer carnival dates last year, Pink finally made it to Arlington in North Texas on Wednesday evening. On a cool fall evening, their summer carnival was still in full swing. Is it worth the wait? I’ll leave that up to the fans, but she didn’t disappoint with her onslaught of hits, a high-energy set full of non-stop dancers, musicians and special effects and of course her signature soar into the air.

Performing in four acts to a cheering audience, Pink opened the show with high energy and the appropriate “Get the Party Started” with stage-centered aerials. The mood was set and there was a party atmosphere as she continued with “Raise Your Glass.” Pink was our hostess for the evening of their grand celebratory celebration, providing us with much-needed respite from the life-taking aftermath of Tuesday.

While she joked a lot throughout the concert, she never directly mentioned the election, which seemed a bit ironic for the “Dear Mr. President” singer. Maybe she didn’t mean to pull Dixie Chicks here in Red Texas, but instead she seemed to speak louder through her pictures.

During their piano performance of Bob Dylan’s “Make You Feel My Love,” cameras panned to a series of couples expressing their affection through kisses and hugs. Several queer couples have made it, as have a wide range of people of all ages, races, sizes, and genders. Later in the show, she went to the audience to introduce a man proposing to his boyfriend. Perhaps these images were her way of defying current events.

Plus, they didn’t detract from the good vibes that permeated the venue.

What was distracting was the noise. From where I was sitting, the sound of their microphone seemed too loud. This was more noticeable in her speaking part and a lot was lost in the reverb. Her singing was on point, but her lyrics were difficult to understand if you didn’t know the lyrics – or even if you did. This problem didn’t seem to occur with videos from closer seats (thanks Instagram), but the sound from the back and higher tiers was often distorted.

But Pink’s performance was highly explosive. Her energy was shown tirelessly in complex choreographies and her marathon run across the huge stage. Of course, Pink’s shows are partly Cirque shows, with their sparse aerials in the first two acts and their trampoline dancers in the final act.

She saved the best for the final track of the evening, “So What.” She took off to fly over the entire field. Even though it was expected, the thrill of her taking off and floating was still great. When it’s standing in front of you with just a few steps, even if it’s just a blur, it’s hard not to feel a nanosecond of connection with the size of the pop.

As the lead artist, Sheryl Crow delivered a rock solid performance with her own hits. Pretty straight forward she sounded in top form, just like her band. Their bluesy Americana pop felt fresh without straying from its pure form. If anything, she worked hard to fill the large stage space by running the gauntlet, but her performance felt sincere and light, like she just wanted to have some fun.

–Rich Lopez

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