Women's Culture Jill

W O M E N ' S C U L T U R E 21 Again The Express said it like it is: "It could have been indulgent, broken the momentum and alienated the other 69,900 of us, but instead we watched in reverence. The mark of a true star." So bells, whistles, flaming chandeliers are terrific but there's so much more to this Grammy Award winner than whizzbangery. On the recent Dublin leg of the tour, not all the accessories were transported, but did it even matter? Hell, no. "With or without giant, swinging chandeliers, she still has the biggest – if not best – live production in recent years, one that was designed by her longtime collaborator, the Irish man Baz Halpin. "As plumes of fire heat up the entire stadium during Just like Fire, Pink’s true purpose reveals itself. She plays the role of the outcast while generously sharing her platform and, through highly charged empowerment ballads, she lends her voice to others," Louise Bruton wrote in the Irish Times. That just begins to touch on the emotion and the sheer entertainment of Pink. How do you quantify passion and endurance? Maybe with a single statistic from the Beautiful Trauma World Tour. It kicked off in Arizona on March 1, 2018. It hasn't always gone to plan. Illness has forced some gigs to be rescheduled. Remember the gastro bug that KO'd Pink when she was in Australia last August? She returned to wow Sydney six weeks later. And there are more dates to come - in Europe and North America. All up it will be a 156-date world tour. Yes, that's right - one- hundred-and-fifty-six days. That's power. That's passion. That’s Pink. It hasn't always gone to plan. Illness has forced some gigs to be rescheduled. Remember the gastro bug that KO'd Pink when she was in Australia last August? N K