The Rubens have a difficult job as support act for Pink at her Brisbane show; after all, she is a hard act to precede. There are several shining moments throughout their set, even beyond frontman Sam Margin's shimmy, his all-white outfit, and the light beaming from his guitar.

Highlights include the beautiful falsetto in Lay It Down, the confidence on display in My Gun, and the heavier rock vibe of Hallelujah, accompanied, of course, by red floodlights.

The rest of the band don't get much of a look in when it comes to the spotlight, only lighting up for the first time more than halfway through the set.

As their set nears the end, they bring out the big guns with their recent hit Never Ever featuring Sydneysider Lauren Azar. Azar's perfect pitch, gutsy tone and stripy jumpsuit steals the show, delivering a kind of passion not yet seen. It's a winner, but it can't beat Hoops for the set-closing slot. Complete with harmonies and confidence, the tune has the crowd well onside and singing along.

Pink is much more than a performer; she's a mother, a wife, an activist, and perhaps most refreshingly, a real person. When she takes the stage in Brisbane tonight, it's as if she is meeting a few thousand old friends — telling stories, laughing at jokes, signing body parts and receiving dozens of gifts, all while putting on one hell of a show. It would be impossible to condense all of the action into a few hundred words, so consider these some of the many highlights.

The set design and props are executed brilliantly, from the chandelier in Get The Party Started to the twisted pink lampposts and suitcases used in the recreation of the Beautiful Trauma music video. But nothing is quite as memorable as the huge blow-up version of Eminem, which emerges walking and talking onto the stage for his part in Revenge. The sight is as horrifying as it is hilarious.

The costume changes throughout the show are similarly impressive, and difficult to count, especially since each one is done so quickly it could almost go unnoticed.

Her vocals shine from the beginning, and she manages to show off her incredible falsetto and powerful high notes early in the show with Just Like A Pill, even as she's dragged back and forth by a treadmill a la OK Go. 

Her dancers could not be any more enthusiastic or in sync, and their energy boosts the show even further. A contemporary performance in Who Knew is an unforgettable spectacle, doubling as a distraction from the mopping of the main stage. The band too come into their own with big numbers like I Am Here; their powerful voices, choir-like harmonies, and joyous clapping has the crowd converted, and then there's the guitar solo in I'm Not Dead to remind Brisbane of what it's like to be alive.

The crazy hieroglyphics projected onto the screen add a whole new level to tunes like Funhouse. The dark eeriness of it contrasts beautifully with ballads like Just Give Me A Reason, this being part of what keeps the crowd so enthralled. They never know what Pink will do next, and as she manages to even work a Nirvana cover into the set it became immediately clear that she can probably do whatever she wants. The fire guns in Just Like Fire are only further evidence of that.

Risky acrobatics are part and parcel of a Pink performance, but the acts involved in Secrets are nothing short of death-defying. She is held up by an acrobat's feet alone at one point, executing all sorts of terrifying moves ten metres in the air. She even uses his body as a plank to stand on, suspended by only two sheets of fabric.

Fuckin' Perfect, Raise Your Glass, Blow Me (One Last Kiss), and So What all have the crowd singing out louder than ever. The sweat finally surfaces on her forehead but the show never falters, even as she catapults through the air to the back of the room on a wire.

The beauty of a Pink show is that life-affirming humanity you feel watching someone who has truly come into her own in spite of every challenge, and can see the humour in those challenges. It's a constant battle between lightness and depth, switching from quips about her family life to lines about empowering women and discovering identity. Any one of the last handful of hits could have been the closing number, but it is the very raw Glitter In The Air that ends what will no doubt be remembered as one of the shows of the year, and of Pink's career so far.