Gut Reactions (post-gig memories and other trips): Day Three: Saturday 24th June, 2023 - P!nk, Summer Carnival 2023, BST Hyde Park, London.

And so we come to the main event, the impetus for heading down to London: P!nk. She wowed me at Hampden on the last tour and Trustfall has been my favourite album of the year so far so I was excited to see what she would do in Hyde Park.

We began the day with an issue in the hotel room: water pouring down the wall and dripping from the air con unit in the ceiling. We reported it to reception and went for breakfast at The Rocket pub across the road. This was another one in the same chain as O'Neills, offering the same breakfast. The app still didn't work properly so we ordered at the bar. The floor was sticky which was offputting but the food was fine. Baps today instead of a fry-up.

Afterwards, we returned to the hotel to discover the engineer had removed the ceiling tiles, left them in the bath, and was using our bin as a water catcher. Concerned, we checked back with Reception that they weren't going to leave it that way. They didn't know but would chase it up. We knew we wouldn't be back till late so hoped it would be fixed and that we wouldn't need to pack up and change rooms in the wee small hours.

We picked up sandwiches and drinks at the local M&S food hall and caught the Victoria Line to Green Road then walked to Hyde Park to queue. The gates for Diamond VIPs opened at 1pm. We sat for a while enjoying the warm day then wandered up early to find our line. We got to hear (not see) P!nk doing her soundcheck, while we ate our sandwiches. She sounded fantastic and it provided a tantalising teaser of what was to come.

By the time, the gates opened, the queue had snaked across the grass for quite a distance and I was so pleased we'd arrived early. We received our wristbands and made our way to the Summer Garden area, noting the many food and drink vendors around the place. I was immediately drawn to the Hard Rock Cafe stall. The drinks prices were cheaper than I expected, a 500ml bottle of Coke Zero only costing £2.50. A trough of water dispensers next to one of the bars provided free cold drinking water, although it was initially put off as it resembled a gents' urinal.

We snagged a couple of deckchairs under an umbrella and settled with a view of the big screen beside the main stage. The sun was baking hot so the cover was welcome. Unfortunately, I'd forgotten the sun does not remain fixed in the sky and our protection got slimmer and slimmer as the day progressed until I was forced to move my chair losing my view of the screen.

GAYLE was the first act on the main stage (we didn't bother with the minor acts on the other stages). She was a bit potty-mouthed but was okay. Not really my thing.

We both went through to see Sam Ryder. He was great, lifting the crowd with his joyous music. In his dressing gown outfit, he looked like an eternally optimistic younger cousin of The Dude from The Big Lebowski. There's a touch of Freddie Mercury about him but probably not enough to front Queen. He did well to lift the crowd and seemed to enjoy himself.

I went off to bring back food leaving my wife to save our spot before Gwen Stefani came on. Lots of jostling occurred, particularly from an elderly Welsh woman with a walking stick who, after striking my wife with it, claimed she didn't know how to use it. The woman was with a younger man, whom I assumed was her son until he fondled her bum and kissed her frequently on the lips. Their Welsh village mustn't have many choices on Tinder (unless, of course, it was incest).

The crowd loved Gwen, singing and dancing along to all her hits. I found her very professional but didn't warm to her. It was a little too much show and not enough substance. Fun though.

Rapping with special guest, Eve.

Then things got really cramped. As the DJ, KIDCUTUP, did his thang, getting the crowd going with his anthem-filled, singalong set, the masses descended on the Diamond VIP standing section. It felt like a cattle market as all the branded heifers pushed into the dwindling space (sidenote: there was more ink on display here than in any Waterstones - P!nk fans love their tattoos).

The only DJ who selects the shade of his hair
from a urine colour chart.

P!nk was simply amazing. From the moment she appeared between the lips of her Summer Carnival sign to the aerobatic finale of So What, she delighted and entertained in equal measure and put on an unforgettable show. She's such a force of nature: good-humoured, bullshit free, and talented in so many ways. Her audience shows their appreciation with many gifts: boxes of Maltesers (for her bath?), lots of drinking cups, loads of toy frogs, including one pair of frog slippers; someone even brought her a giant wheel of cheese (no idea how they got it through security). The best gift on the night, though, was a decorated, long denim shirt which P!nk chose to wear for a couple of numbers as it was more comfortable than the hairy jacket she had on previously. The warmth P!nk shows to her fans is touching.

There were so many highlights (not just the moments when she was suspended in the air): When her daughter came on to sing, the sheer pride on P!nk's face was emotional. During TRUSTFALL, when the dancers fell off the platform and bounced right back up again, using unseen trampolines, that was quite a spectacle. Even just listening to her sing and play the piano without all the pizzazz was special.

I'm not saying everything was perfect (this is me, after all). With the Diamond VIP section only on one side of the stage, inevitably the view was never going to be straight on. It would have been nicer to have been further back in a less cramped space but that wouldn't have been an option without going further to the side.

We walked back to the city centre afterwards, following the masses, and went for a drink at the Shake Shack, where Andrew suddenly became Sandro for identification purposes. Then we caught the tube back to the hotel to discover the air con was out of commission. We slept well though in the warm room, happy to have experienced P!nk yet again.

Ticket price: £299.95 each for Diamond VIP (via AXS BST Presale)

Setlist

Act I

Intro Montage

(includes elements of "Raise Your Glass", "TRUSTFALL", "What About Us" and "Get the Party Started")

Get the Party Started (includes elements of "Sweet Dreams" by Eurythmics and "Gonna Make You Sweat" by C&C Music Factory)

Raise Your Glass

Who Knew

Just Like a Pill

Try

What About Us (Dance remix)

Act II