Rihanna has had her ups and downs of the public spotlight. In less than 6 years, it is amazing how many chart topping hits Rihanna has accomplished in a short period of time. You can tell by the well established fan base that has turned out for her sell out concert.
Brisbane packed themselves inside the Entertainment Centre at 9:29pm, all psyched and ready to go. The craziness that follows when the lights go down and the stadium goes to pitch black, with the stage screens flickering and sending us through a Matrix-like sequence of effects and imagery, sending us a message that Rihanna is ‘The One’ who could save us from destruction. While we’re mesmerised by the visual feast on display, a huge gust of smoke blows out from the front middle stage, with our hero Rihanna appearing from out of nowhere – what an entrance!
With all her hits performed (a magical homage of Pon De Replay & Don’t Stop The Music mashup sounded wicked) the choreography and dancing displays made up for Rihanna dancing around, costume changed every 3 songs, and allowing her to concentrate solely on singing her lungs out at full capacity. With a full rock band behind her, Rihanna could easily make the transition from pop-dance to full rock, making her a full “Rockstar” (no pun intended).
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Crowd interactivity was down to the standard “Hello (insert city here)! I love you all! Thank you for coming!” and enticing the crowd to yell her name during What’s My Name?, while Rihanna strutted her stuff up and down the catwalk, occasionally touching the close crowd member. With about a minute pause during costume changes, the crowd was entertained by a video or a band member having a jam session, which melted into a segue way into the next song.
The finale exploded with a terrific and powerful Umbrella, with the crowd going into meltdown when Rihanna’s platform rose in the middle of the final chorus, and red confetti exploding throughout the stadium. Rihanna showed her passion in the music, and we showed the passion in her.
Highlights:
An emotional rendition of Unfaithful, The partial rock mashup of Pon De Replay and Don’t Stop The Music, Rihanna owning a guitar solo during Rockstar 101, even attacking her own drum solo in the middle of the stage.
Lowlights:
Being blinded by the high beams being shone in your eyes while Rihanna ‘rode’ a pink army tank on the side of the stage. Twice.
