A rebel diva hits a soulful groove

Pink isn’t the first person who comes to mind when the subject is protest music, but there she was at Avalon Hollywood on Wednesday, backed by a couple of acoustic guitars as she trained her sights on the chief executive. “How do you sleep while the rest of us cry?� she sang with a soulful, bluesy rasp. “How do you dream when a mother has no chance to say goodbye?�

Pink’s new song “Dear Mr. President� zeroed in on what it sees as his indifference to the disadvantaged, and when she sang, “What kind of father might hate his own daughter if she were gay?� she got a huge roar from the crowd that seemed to affirm her position as a leading outsiders’ diva.

That’s not where the Philadelphia-raised, Los Angeles-based singer seemed headed a few years ago. But over the course of her four albums, Pink has charted an unusual path, from disposable dance-pop cutie to feisty rock chick with a huge hit on her hands in the 2001 album “Missundaztood� and its upbeat anthem “Get the Party Started.�

Pink then followed her idiosyncratic instincts into a teaming with L.A. punk musician Tim Armstrong, which yielded some interesting music and marked a precipitous decline in popularity. Her new “I’m Not Dead� hasn’t reversed the trend, despite some good reviews and a radio hit with “Stupid Girls.�

So while Pink earns some grudging respect as an unpredictable rebel, it doesn’t translate into the kind of credibility that accrues to “indie� artists.

But in a way, being caught in between like that creates a reinforcing context for the Pink incarnation that prevailed at the Avalon on Wednesday -- the scrappy underdog who’s going to follow her heart, the troubled kid determined not to be a victim anymore.

That’s something that fans can relate to strongly, and spirits were high as Pink ran through an hour-plus set that jumped from power ballads to New Wave-y rock to dance-pop hybrids. She also dropped in a soaring “What’s Up?,� the 1993 hit by her one-time mentor Linda Perry’s old band 4 Non Blondes.

The best songs firmly laid out her agenda, notably the dynamic “Stupid Girls� and the older ballad “Family Portrait,� which details a soul-scarring upbringing.

Pink was engaged from start to finish, but it was her encores that provided the emotional heart, with “Dear Mr. President� preceded by another acoustic tune, “The One That Got Away,� about an infatuation with a singer, which had an element of intimacy and vulnerability that was sometimes missing from the more generic pop pieces.

Whether or not there’s a commercial resurgence in her future, Pink seems to have found some kind of comfort zone. It’s her party, and she’ll do what she wants to.