Pink: Funhouse Tour - Live in Australia

Let me start this off by making it clear that I'm not like most others that would be reviewing a Pink cd or concert video.I am a middle-aged man in my 50s. I'm not exactly her demographic and I'm not a dirty old man either. I'm a retired musician and still make a buck or two as a writer and I wrote Pink off as another of the cookie cutter pop princesses that have littered the music business ever since Madonna first got watered down by Brittany Spears. Then I heard/saw the video for "Don't Let Me Get Me" and realized that she was anything but cookie-cutter. It was her Declaration of Independence from what the music industry wanted her to be. I bought the cd the next day and heard "Family Portrait." From that point on I was a fan. Good music is hard to find and Pink makes some VERY good music.Now, on to the Blu-Ray concert. It doesn't look like Pink knows what she wants to be when she grows up. The first handful of songs she performs are in the standard diva mode we've seen from hundreds of others from Cher on down. With a big flashy stage and a heavily choreographed dance troupe she bounces and bops through some pretty generic modern dance music. In the midst of this is "Don't Let Me Get Me" and another of her big hits, "Just Like a Pill." Although the original rock arrangement sneaks in here and there the songs are designed to get her target audience of teenaged girls jumping and happy. There isn't anything wrong with any of this section if you're in the age group that likes that sort of thing. Understand, it's just not the sort of thing I'm into. It's also the sole reason I docked the video the 1/2 point in my subject header.BUT!No matter how old you are - even if you're an old coot "enduring" this video with your kids or grandkids, DO NOT LEAVE THE ROOM. There is an absolutely gorgeous extended piano movement that is placed to allow Pink time for a costume change. When she re-emerges the pianist (who is also the musical conductor) and the violinist join Pink for a slightly altered and riveting version of "Family Portrait." From this point forward you are in for a rare feast to the ears and eyes. There is a very personal acoustic mini-set in which Pink plays several songs dealing with the heartache of the failure of her first marriage. They are sprinkled with some lengthy banter with the audience that is just a touch too long in parts, but the songs themselves are nothing short of gorgeous. The fact that her voice isn't pure and perfectly pitched makes the emotional tone of them all the more vital and real. As a performer myself, I wondered how she was going to be able to transition back into giving her audience more of what they came to see. She does it by a lesser-known Led Zeppelin song that interweaves gentle vocals with sudden explosions of the heavy metal that made the Zep legendary. She handles the very difficult transitions in vocals extremely well, doing Robert Plant proud, disappearing during the final extended solo for another costume change. From that point forward she and the band kick into high gear. As others have mentioned, she does indeed perform "Bohemian Rhapsody" in its entirety only unlike Queen, she and the band remain on stage and sing through the very difficult operatic central section. The song is subtly enhanced with some of Queen's original vocal tracks but the live singers MORE than hold their own. Just when you begin to wonder if Pink isn't human at all, her voice breaks for a brief moment toward the end. She smiles over at the drummer with a brief, "what can you do" look and then finishes the song perfectly. Almost any other performer would have been finished at that point, knowing they'd taken it as far as they could. Pink is literally still getting warmed up.In addition to kicking up the energy even further, you should keep in mind that Pink also (well harnessed because of insurance requirements) executes a fairly intricate single trapeze act some 25 feet above the floor WHILE SINGING. Although lip synching is rampant amongst female vocalists nowadays, Pink does NONE of it. You can hear her gasping for breath as the songs and athletics progress. She even tosses off a joking threat that she's going to start lip synching so she can do 9 shows a week with matinees.The lady performs for almost 2 solid hours and never once lets up. Her voice only falters once or twice during the entire night and more than once she performs lengthy acrobatics high above the stage and audience. This is a woman at the absolute peak of her performance capacity and she is one of the few people I've ever seen that could pull a show like this off once, let alone for an entire world tour.The extra features range from being valuable glimpses behind the scenes to a somewhat silly explanation of the history of "shredding the nar." (Pinkspeak for playing face-melting guitar) Make no mistake. This lady is an artist at a time when most of her contemporaries are either complete studio-enhanced frauds or so self-obsessed with their own talents that they become intolerable. Pink is the real deal and (despite some four-letter language in her lyrics that might make you a little careful viewing the show around small children) this concert video is worth three times what you will pay for it. I don't care if you're a young teen lion or one of the tame and toothless tabby-cat baby boomers, this blu ray concert joins Stop Making Sense and The Last Waltz as one of the three absolute best concert videos on the market. It is a MUST see.So is Pink a teeny-bop pop icon or a hard-edged rock queen that will help bring back the rock sound that has been dead for well over a decade? I don't think she knows. She shows both personalities at various points in the show.I'm convinced that she doesn't know what she'll be when she grows up.After watching her talent, athleticism and musical diversity in this concert I deeply hope she never finds out.

Pink is quite different than her peers (or those who started their careers about the same time, such as Britney Spears). Her voice is strong and her musical instincts are quite honed. Not only is she strong as a songwriter but also as a performer. Unlike her peers who rely heavily on lip synching in favor of spectacle, Pink delivers both. While not over the top or excessive (to the point of being irritating as some people are) her performance is fun to watch, but listening to her live is where the truth of her talent lies. Anyone can sound great in the studio (and Pink has always sounded great in the studio, using the tools to accentuate (not to fix) her vocals). She's just as great to listen to live. And that's how you can tell when you have a real vocalist and not just a studio fabricated product. Very few artists from when she started to present day even deliver on the "live" promise. Most lip synch (even older artists like Madonna rely too heavily on it.) If I want to hear someone lip synch I'll stay at home and just listen to the cd. or watch the videos but why bother watching someone live if they are not really "performing"? Madonna relies so much on lip synching in order to facilitate her dance numbers that it's more like watching a dance troupe (with Madonna's music as a backdrop) than actually watching a live show. if you try to excuse it by saying that it's because of her on-stage performance that limits her vocally then check out any live show of Prince or Queen and you will see that both can be done simultaneously. However, I do not want this to be a diatribe on how some artists fail their audience as much as I am trying to testify to Pink's genuine strengths.As she says on one of her new songs (not included in this show) "there's nothing fake on me" and well there is nothing fake here. I had never seen her live. and unfortunately I do not live in Australia so I missed this performance. But this blu ray more than adequately makes up for it. The songs are delivered strongly and the performances are fun and shows a bit of athleticism at some parts. Pink tends to think of herself as unglamorous, but she sells herself short. She is quite attractive, and how she bears her soul on some of the songs makes her more appealing, as you tend to find the emotions genuine and raw.Her delivery on the cover versions of "Bohemian Rhapsody" by Queen, and Gnarls Barkley's "Crazy" were awesome as well. Anyone who has seen Queen live or have seen the dvds/blu rays know this is a hard track to do live...and generally most who do queen covers generally come up short. But in their defense Freddie is a hard act to copy, but Pink appears as if she has lived through the angst that's depicted in the song (anyone who has ever used music as an escape from a mood they are in will know what I mean...I used to listen to this song whenever I got depressed as the song has a strangely dramatic melancholy followed by the existential "nothing really matters to me" line that can both let you embrace your depression and be lifted out of it at the same time) Pink definitely nails this song, and her rendition of Crazy brought my attention back to that song, I had forgotten about it, but her delivery brought the lyrics to life and made me realize just why that's such a great song).So the bottom line is, if you love Rock Music, Pink or empowered women who sing honestly and openly then you owe it to yourself to watch this. It is simply a great live show that you must see to believe. In this day of computer generated radio hits it's refreshing to both hear and to see such a great musical performance. it gives you hope for the future of music.