Pink Hits the Road
“This is going to be small, intimate and sexy,” Pink says. “Intimacy is what I’m looking for.” Then she cackles: “It’s going to be just a big striptease.”
When it comes to Pink’s first solo headlining tour across North America, bigger is most definitely not better. “The only other tour I ever went on was with ‘N Sync, and that was, like, retarded,” she says. “I got a little intimidated with 70,000 people in the audience — I didn’t feel like I could touch them.” Her new minimalist approach also applies to the stage setup. “I’m going to have a projection screen and some strobe lights. That’s it. And a little bit of smoke; I want it to be smokey, like a club. I hope there’ll be some stage diving, too, as long as it’s not just a bunch of little kids in the front.”
Fans of Pink’s first album, the R&B-heavy Can’t Take Me Home, may be surprised by her new, rocking persona. Pink explains, “When I was thirteen, I was in this punk-rock band, and we used to play these all-ages shows. They were really shitty, dirty and dingy, and usually only thirteen people would be in the audience, but it was so much fun!” Following in the punk vein, Pink has handpicked opening acts such as SoCal thrashers Unwritten Law and San Francisco pansexual pop punkers Imperial Teen. “I hope my audience is confused,” Pink says. “Confusion is always good.”
That confusion might also extend to the set list. “We’re definitely going to do some covers,” she says. “If it rocks, we’re gonna do it. There’s a lot of songs that I love that I always said if I get a chance to get up there, I’m going to fuckin’ do them, whether everybody gets pissed off or not. So I’m making my guitarist learn ‘Sweet Child o’ Mine,’ we’re working up ‘Janie’s Got a Gun,’ and I’m definitely doing ‘What’s Up?’ by 4 Non Blondes,” an old song by Linda Perry, who collaborated with Pink on her current album, Missundaztood.
Pink’s headlining tour isn’t her only summer outing: In July, she goes on the road as the opener for Lenny Kravitz. “I heard Lenny was going on tour, so I called him up and told him to come down to the rehearsal hall,” she says. “He said, ‘What are you rehearsing for?’ And I said, ‘Your tour.’ And then it just happened!”
Pink tour dates:
5/2: Phoenix, Web Theater
5/4: Tucson, AZ, Anselmo Valencia Amphitheater
5/5: Las Vegas, Rain in the Desert
5/7: Salt Lake City, Kingsbury Hall
5/9: Denver, Fillmore Auditorium
5/10: Bernalillo, NM, Santa Ana Star Casino
5/12: Austin, Austin Music Hall
5/14: Houston, Verizon Wireless Theater
5/15: Grand Prarie, TX, Next Stage at Grand Prarie
5/18: Orlando, Hard Rock Live
5/19: Fort Lauderdale, Broward Center
5/22: Atlanta, Tabernacle
5/25: Hershey, PA, Hersheypark Stadium
5/26: Wallingford, CT, Oakdale Theater
5/28-29: New York, Beacon Theater
5/31: Boston, Orpheum Theater
6/1: Upper Darby, PA, Tower Theater
6/2: East Rutherford, NJ, Giants Stadium
6/4: Washington, DC, Nation
6/5: Cleveland, Tower City Amphitheater
6/7: Pittsburgh, Amphitheater at Station Square
6/9: Toronto, Massey Hall
6/10: Detroit, State Theater
6/12: Rosemont, IL, Rosemont Theater
6/13: Minneapolis, Orpheum Theater
6/15: Pasadena, CA, Rose Bowl
6/18: Spokane, WA, Spokane Opera House
6/19: Vancouver, Orpheum Theater
6/22: Portland, OR, Rose Garden Arena
6/24: Santa Rosa, CA, Luther Burbank Center
6/25: San Francisco, CA, Warfield
6/28-29: Los Angeles, CA, Wiltern Theater
6/30: Del Mar, CA, Del Mar Fairgrounds