Once again Pink proved, at the Sprint Center last night, what a badass she is

Pink with the Kin
Sprint Center, Kansas City
Tuesday, November 12

The thing about seeing Pink live in concert is that she just makes you feel really bad about yourself.

Not intentionally, of course. For being such a huge international superstar, she actually seems pretty down-to-earth – that might just be her image, but she also handled a brief piano malfunction last night with grace and nonchalance.

But last night at the Sprint Center, on her The Truth About Love Tour, Pink came off as a sort of superhuman performer. She was suspended from the rafters, dangling from ropes and being thrown about by various chiseled Adonis-type dancers, singing (not lip-syncing, mind you) and managing costume changes and all sorts of acrobatics while seeming to hardly break a sweat or her smile. She bared her titanium abs and generously made contact with the dedicated fans pushed up against her stage.

It’s just not the kind of thing normal people can hope to ever achieve. In fact, Pink’s contemporaries would be hard-pressed to pull off the Cirque du Soleil moves she worked into the performance. (I haven’t seen Christina dance like that since her “Dirty” days, and I highly doubt that Selena Gomez’s bubblegum tour includes such naughty risk-taking.) That moment during “Try,” when the stage floor opened up and she was lifted into the sky on ropes, where she sang and writhed about while moving through the air? It’s just not fair.

Anyway, jealousy and bewilderment aside, Pink’s 90-minute set last night went well beyond the expectations of the audience. It wasn’t just the spectacle of it – and believe me, it was quite a spectacle, right from the start.

Before the show officially began and the multiple digital screens lit up the stage with assorted videos, the audience was introduced to Dr. Rubics. He was Pink’s version of a hype man, this clownish ringmaster guy, who was sent into the aisles to lick the heads of bald men and make silly faces. (I witnessed him chug some innocent girl’s beer, and she looked none too thrilled – understandably, because the Sprint Center charges $9 for a pint of Coors Light.)

No, what made Pink’s show truly successful, more so than the extravagant stage setup and complicated choreography, was her apparent enthusiasm for the gig. The Truth About Love Tour has 140 dates in its roster, and Pink has been on the road since just before Valentine’s Day. Yet she took the crowd through everything they could possibly want to hear, with old classics, new favorites and a few acoustic ballads. Pink covers all her bases.

It’s remarkably easy to like Pink. She’s got that rare streak of self-awareness that she uses to her advantage. She has always presented herself as a bit of a misfit, never really running with the Britneys and the Beyonces. Thirteen years ago, when she first arrived on the scene with the R&B-esque “There You Go,” she came across as a deviant personality – an individual with a perspective and a voice entirely her own. She’s had a string of huge pop-rock hits since then, but one thing is certain: Pink is still very much the badass she always was, and the pop world is better off for having her.

Set List:

Raise Your Glass
Walk of Shame
Just Like a Pill
U + Ur Hand
Leave Me Alone (I’m Lonely)
Try
Wicked Game
Just Give Me a Reason
Trouble
Are We All We Are
Sober
The Great Escape
Who Knew (acoustic)
Fuckin’ Perfect (acoustic)
Most Girls/There You Go/You Make Me Sick
Slut Like You
Blow Me (One Last Kiss)
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