Pink to bring acrobatics to Omaha, and a local union is involved in the setup

Video from the end of The Killers concert at Steelhouse Omaha on May 12, 2023. Video courtesy Isaac Neiman, Omaha Performing Arts

Pink comes to Charles Schwab Field on Monday, and it will be a big deal.

The magnitude of the concert is reflected in the setup, which follows last week’s Def Leppard and Mötley Crüe show at the stadium, said Bill Lee, business agent for IATSE Local 42, the Omaha stagehands union.

Workers started setting up for the two-week stretch of performances Aug. 9 and won’t finish until the stage is struck Tuesday evening.

“Pink is a huge call. The last time we did anything of this significance was Red Sky,” Lee said, referring to the short-lived music festival that the Metropolitan Entertainment and Convention Authority put on in 2012 and 2013.

The singer, who launched her career as a teen in 1995, is one of the world’s most successful musicians, selling 40 million albums and 50 million singles worldwide and winning three Grammy Awards.

Her live shows have long been known for their energy and aerial stunts, and Omahans can expect the same, according to recent reviews.

Pink will perform at Charles Schwab Field in Omaha on Monday night. Crowds can expect aerial stunts and acrobatics.

She flew through the air “like a real-life Tinkerbell,” a Detroit News writer said about her Wednesday concert at Comerica Park.

“Her moves included bungee jump rope antics, acrobatics, somersaults and being suspended upside down.” said a croniclelive.com review of a show earlier this summer in the UK. “The crowd loved it.”

Lee said members of the union will fulfill requests from Pink’s production company, G2 Productions, to make sure everything is in place for whatever she does in Monday night’s show. He wasn’t aware of any setups that would be out of the ordinary for union members, though he did say it was “a really large production.”

All told, he said, about 250 people will work on the setup over the next few days. The union has 175 members, but they supplement their ranks with part-timers. It goes by the short acronym, Lee said, because the actual name is a mouthful at 22 words (go to iatse.net and click on “about us” for its official moniker).

Workers built the basic stage for both August concerts about a week ago. On Friday, they were resetting parts of it and started customizing it for Pink on Saturday.

Pink’s tour requires more than 30 trucks, and locals will unload them, Lee said. G2 doesn’t provide a big crew at each stop. Everything necessary to create the show is on board, including audio and video equipment, riggings, loaders, lighting etc.

What it takes just to illuminate the show is impressive all by itself.

“I don’t think we’ve ever done a show with so many spotlights,” Lee said.

Union members also will be on hand the night of the performance to work some of the equipment, including 18 spotlight operators.

Tickets for Pink: Summer Carnival 2023 are still available at ticketmaster.com and range from $76 to more than $369.

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Video from the end of The Killers concert at Steelhouse Omaha on May 12, 2023. Video courtesy Isaac Neiman, Omaha Performing Arts