Nicki Minaj brings out the inner 14yo girl

How was Missy Miyagi? my sleepy partner said as I tumbled through the front door after midnight.

Nicki Minaj! I replied.

My moral compass swang between concern over exposing kids to such blue language, and immense amusement at their innocent karaoke

I've never even heard of her.

That's because you're not a 14-year-old girl.

And thus goes the capsule review of Nicki Minaj's Pink Friday Reloaded concert it was everything a 14-year-old girl could have wanted.

But what about a cough, cough-year-old woman?

Loud, amusing, a little bit mystifying, with some great boogie-ing opportunities thrown in.

Minaj is a singer and rapper whose frenetic vocal stylings and experiments in electro pop have seen her popularity soar in recent years - she's even done a duet with Justin Bieber.

I took a friend, who also appreciates trashy pop/hip-hop, along to the Brisbane Entertainment Centre where the fans were out in force dressed in a style she described as trannie bingo.

Minaj likes to position herself above sexual norms, even utilitising male alter egos in her some of her songs. Certainly her first appearance peering out of a pink rocket ship singing into a sparkly pink microphone did nothing to dispel that. It was like she was sitting in a penis singing into a smaller, more glittery penis.

But my mental image of Minaj is certainly of someone with a distinct and bold personal style fright wigs, neon, big on booty and skimpy on fabric - so I was surprised that what struck me initially is actually how pretty she is.

Yes that sounds horribly sexist, but as she took the stage, she was confident, self-assured, passionate and fun-loving it was like I'd seen the true Nicki Minaj for the first time, not just the doll.

The strength and depth of her singing during some of the later numbers supported an assertion that Minaj has a career as a torch singer ahead of her.

But then she did start by holding th! at microphone to her crotch and getting the audience to sing along to the line Put my dick in your face from Come on a Cone, so there might be a while to go yet.

I should mention that while I tried to note down the set list, I had to give up when I realised I barely knew any of the songs. But rest assured all the popular ones were there, plus others from her two albums, and recent re-release The Re-Up. I know that because everyone was singing along including two young sisters in front of me - no more than 10 years old, wearing vibrant pink and green wigs and holding a homemade We Love You Nicki sign.

I could barely understand a word of what Minaj was singing, apart from the oft-repeated terms bitches, hoes and motherf***ers. As I watched the youngsters belt out the lyrics, my moral compass swang between concern over exposing kids to such blue language, and immense amusement at their innocent karaoke.

But Minaj did have some useful advice for young ladies. At one point she'd asked how many under-18s were in the crowd, urged them to stay in school and gave them the useful instruction Don't share your cookies with every Tom, Dick and Harry!

I know I'll certainly be watching the Iced Vo-Vos a lot more carefully now.

Va Va Voom, Super Bass and Turn Me On got the crowd pumping, with bass so deep it rumbled somewhere in the pit of your stomach.

Minaj's famous backside made more prominent by her tiny waist got rounds of squeals whenever she shook it in her distinctive up-and-down style, quite the remarkable feat.

My favourite moment was when Minaj adorned in a pink wig and robe combo that made her look like the bastard child of Elizabeth Taylor and a fairy floss machine sang an upcoming single, the ballad Marilyn Monroe. It was a sincere side of Nicki that was a pleasure to see; and her two back-up singers Keisha and Candice were simply stunning.

There was a degree of lip-syncing in the show; but I didn't mind the mix, given that rapping is hugely demanding on! the voic! e, and performers do need time to breathe.

More frustrating were the costume changes that seemed to take an age, leaving the stage bare apart from the odd back-up dancer firing a t-shirt cannon, and an annoying DJ who kept yelling at the three-quarters full arena to put your hands up now!. There was no live band but none of Minaj's fans cared about that, and her seven back-up dancers kept up a steady pace onstage.

Minaj saved the best until last Starships is truly an addictive space dance trance number with a chorus as far out as the galaxy. Wearing her final outfit of a huge tutu and marching girl hat, Minaj brought the crowd together for a final love-in, complete with pyrotechnics.

As I stumbled out into the BEC's maze-like carpark, I had the distinct feeling of being a bit tipsy, which is strange, given I'm a teetotaller. I can only theorise it was the thumping bass that had destroyed my eardrums and with them my sense of balance. My friend and I giggled foolishly as we asked a polite traffic officer for help finding the Toyota.

I realised that for a brief moment, thanks to Nicki Minaj, I'd become a 14-year-old girl again. And as long as that feeling eventually wears off, it can't be too bad.