When Pink phoned Lenny Kravitz last month, the party starter made sure the reason for her call was not at all missundaztood.
“I was like, ‘You should come down for rehearsals.’ And he was like, ‘What are you rehearsing for?’ And I was like, ‘Your tour,’ ” Pink explained. “I’m like, ‘You would be very smart to take me on tour.’ And then like two or three weeks later he called and we hooked it up. I take what I want.”
She certainly does, especially when it comes to men. For her next video, “Just Like a Pill,” Pink requested that her new boyfriend, motocross star Carey Hart, appear.
“It’s dark and artsy and hallucinogenic,… and he’s my bitch,” Pink said with Hart at her side at the recent ESPN Action Sports and Music Awards. Hart smiled and put his arm around her white leather jacket (which boasted a giant “Hart” patch across the back) as the singer explained how the two met. “I shook his hand at the X Games, and he went on to break 14 bones, so I had a big effect on him.”
It’s safe to say that Pink is a bit of a control freak. So it makes sense that the singer is stoked about her first headlining tour, which precedes the Kravitz tour and kicks off May 2 in Phoenix. Pink had a hand in nearly every aspect of the outing, including picking the opening bands.
Candy Ass – “a four-girl hardcore punk rock [band with] hot, hot girls” – Unwritten Law and Imperial Teen will play on select dates. “I’m taking [Candy Ass] because I always wanted an all-girl band, so they’re my all-girl band, without me of course.”
It’s not all girls, but a band will join Pink during her set, which will feature songs from Can’t Take Me Home (2000) and her latest, Missundaztood (2001). She also plans a few covers, including Aerosmith’s “Dude (Looks Like a Lady)” and 4 Non Blondes’ “What’s Up,” both written by guests on Missundaztood – Steven Tyler and Linda Perry, respectively.
“I have my favorite songs that I always said when I was a little girl, ‘I’m going to do that song just because I want to and who cares what anybody thinks,’ ” Pink explained during a rehearsal for the show a few days after the ESPN Awards. “I love Janis Joplin, so of course there is a small tribute to her. And Mary J. Blige.”
The Party Tour, named after Pink’s “Get the Party Started,” will have little in common with Pink’s first tour, which saw her performing a three-song set opening for ‘NSYNC. The set list will run about 20 tracks and the experience will be more intimate.
“Big productions, to me, are great – like, I love going to Vegas and seeing shows – but I think that sometimes it’s distracting, especially when you are there to listen to the music,” Pink said. “I remember being on tour with ‘NSYNC, and I don’t know if this is appropriate, but it was something like a $5 million stage, and to me that was just like, ‘Man, I will take a box out there and stand on it with a microphone. I ain’t spending that much money.’ I love the shows that are in dingy little dark clubs, smoky, no production whatsoever.”
Like her recordings, Pink’s live show has evolved more from sugary pop to racy rock and roll.
“My stage show is raw and unpredictable. It’s not a lot of choreography this time. There’s practically no sequencing involved whatsoever. It’s just instruments and a voice and incredible music. When there is a lot of sequencing or ProTools or DATs involved, it gets a little strange, so this is going to be definitely more organic.”
The tour, which wraps up June 28 in Los Angeles, will be without a few of Pink’s wishes – including a skateboard ramp and skaters onstage (“That gets a little expensive,” she said) – but she will be able to bring her two most prized possessions with her.
“I’m taking my rats,” Pink said. “Those are my friends for the tour. Thelma and Louise. They’re so cute.”
