Wilde Nights: The Pink Friday Tour

Anthony, West Coast Bureau: It was a balmy summer evening when my gurls and I headed down West Georgia Street to the Queen Elizabeth Theatre. The home of Vancouver Opera and Ballet BC has hosted some unique performances over the years and on this night, we were preparing to see the ferociously fierce, Nicki Minaj.

You’ll probably recognize some of these high profile red carpet fashions that look like a Sister Act/Bride of Frankenstein/Mad Max crossover only a hallucinating rave child could dream up after partying until 9 a.m. The crowd was definitely more reserved at the concert, which is saying something considering the amount of neon I witnessed. Note: people moved quite fast so it was hard to snap proper photos.

As for her stage presence, Nicki’s gear was slightly more tame than her red carpet looks. But let’s be real, this broad is over the top 24/7 and that’s why I love her. From bringing 90s technicolour realness, to a very sexy black dominatrix look that would totally be at home on the set of “True Blood”, to a Marilyn-esque pink and white gown for her serious tunes, the costume changes were sparse but fierce.

There were several highlights of the night but the one that stands out most for me happened just before “Fire Burns”. If you’re not familiar, this is a song about heartbreak that includes the lyrics,

“This is a sickening joke that you play with my emotions/And so I pray you burn in hell and you never find the ocean”

Heavy shit, son. So, before Nicki launched into this track, she gave a quick intro calling out to her “girls that have ever been lied to by a man” which prompted a sixteen-year old girl in front of me to go absolutely bananas, wave her arms and scream, “YOU KNOW IT, NICKI”.

Honey, you’re sixteen – what do you know about life and men lying to you? Talk to me when your man decides a text message from another country that says, “I’m fine. Check your email.” is sufficient communication after three weeks of radio silence.

All in all, I had a great time. I mean, how could four gay men – one of whom is a Nicki drag queen named Peach Cobblah – not enjoy the onslaught of a Nicki Minaj concert? Sure, I may be colour blind when the summer ends. And when fall fashion is nothing but earthy jewel tones with tweed accents, I’ll just assume everything is brown. Then again, I usually stick with plaid and denim so I’ll be fine.