Rihanna @ LG Arena, Birmingham – Monday 17th June 2013
GTA, a two man dance piece began tonight’s show with a set that provided enough material to fill in time for the now commonly late Rihanna. As their hash tag, #deathtogenres, suggests, they blended Daft Punk, Kesha, Bruno Mars, and Prodigy with their own mix of heavy bass and crashing beats to create a huge sound and club atmosphere. Throwing in some Pink Floyd, Nirvana and AC/DC gave their set an interesting twist. They got some of the crowd dancing and clapping along, and caught the audience’s attention by playing a multitude of familiar pop, electro, dance and club classics.
GTA ended their set half an hour after Rihanna was due on stage. They did well to keep the momentum going, playing sample after sample of popular tunes to try and keep the increasingly impatient crowd entertained. Their set was fluid; they kept their energy up and were professional throughout. However, it wasn’t enough to soothe everyone’s frustration.
An hour later than scheduled; the black curtains fell away to reveal a blonde, covered up Rihanna, sitting centre stage. The Diamonds World Tour show finally begins with a dreamy short rendition of “Mother Mary” before her black robe is thrown aside, and the scantily clad Barbadian diva gyrated her way through “Phresh Out the Runway”, “Birthday Cake” and “Talk That Talk.”
The first part of her set showcased her trademark raunchy side, her revealing wardrobe and a well-choreographed performance. She was accompanied by a talented live band led by a guitarist whose solos in particular were superb. Unfortunately the singer took a more casual approach with her vocals than she did her dancing, by not finishing her lines, singing only parts of choruses and leaving the crowd and backing singers to fill in the gaps.
Having left the stage for the first of five wardrobe changes, she returned with a more relaxed look and began her reggae set with “You Da One.” Following strong vocals in “No Love Allowed”, it was “Rude Boy” and “What’s My Name?” that really got the crowd moving. It was only at this point that the show seemed to get going.
The well-thought-out set list both demonstrated the huge catalogue of singles released by the 25 year old; and the variety in her music. Each part was separated into genres showing different sides and points in her career. Going from the 2007 pop/R&B crowd pleaser, “Umbrella” to guitar solos and air guitar moves in “Rockstar 101” then onto sultry ballads such as “What Now” and “Love the Way you Lie”, the set was varied and interesting. The biggest crowd pleaser of the night was “We Found Love” which gave a really fun, energetic party atmosphere.
Down with the crowd on the barrier the superstar addresses Birmingham with “it’s time to get sexy” (like she hadn’t been all night). “S & M” kicked off her final section of the show which takes on a dance-pop vibe. The remaining songs, finishing with “Where have you been?”, gave a vibrant, high energy conclusion to the main part of the night. It was not long to wait (this time) for her to return to the stage for her encore of “Unapologetic” ballads “Stay” and “Diamonds” to conclude the show.
Comments such as “so good” and “amazing” could be heard as everyone milled out of the packed out Arena. Although late, with initial weak vocals; it would appear that Rihanna fans left satisfied by the vibrant staging and an overall energetic, sexy performance.
Set list
1. Mother Mary
2. Phresh Out The Runway
3. Birthday Cake
4. Talk That Talk
5. Pour It Up
6. Cockiness (Love It)
7. Numb
8. You Da One
9. Man Down
10. No Love Allowed
11. Rude Boy
12. What’s My Name
13. Jump
14. Umbrella
15. All of the Lights
16. Rockstar 101
17. What Now
18. Loveeeeeee Song
19. Love the Way You Lie
20. Take a Bow
21. Hate that I Love You
22. We Found Love
23. S & M
24. Only Girl (in the world)
25. Don’t Stop the Music
26. Where Have You Been
Encore:
27. Stay
28. Diamonds
Review by Karen Trenbirth
Photographs by Steve Gerrard