I have been looking forward to Rihanna’s Melbourne performance for months, so it was disappointing to hear reports of a lacklustre start to the Australian leg of her Diamonds World Tour.
Last week the Barbadian singer copped criticism from local media for allegedly slurring her words and displaying drunken behavior. It was also reported that she kept fans waiting a disrespectful hour-and-a-half.
Perhaps it was the energy of the Melbourne crowd or maybe she had a pep-talk from her boss, hip-hop mogul Jay-Z, but whatever the reason Rihanna absolutely killed it on Monday night, giving the crowd at Rod Laver an energetic performance that left them wondering, “what bad press?”
Rihanna performing at Melbourne’s Rod Laver Arena. Source: Nova FM.
Opening with synth-pop-ballad Mother Mary, the songstress was off to a great start, giving Melbourne concert-goers a solid vocal performance. Despite claims of lip-syncing, I had pretty good seats and it appeared the chart-topper was singing live.
Rihanna’s back-up dancers and live band aren’t revealed until the second song in her set, Phresh of the Runway, which sees Rihanna fiercely strutting her stuff, reminiscent of her performance at last year’s annual Victoria’s Secret Runway Show.
A particular lively performance was her fifth song into the set, Pour it Up, which also happens to be the latest single to be released from her current album Unapologetic. Its accompanying controversial music video was released this week and features pole dancing and a girl twerking in the water, which Rihanna – or ‘RiRi’ as her fans dub her – describes as a world-first feat.
There are definitely moments where I question the show’s appropriateness for children, an example of this being the 12-year-olds beside me dancing and singing along to the lyrics of Cockiness (Love It), lyrics which include “suck my cockiness, lick my persuasion”.
But by the same token RiRi regularly stresses that she is not trying to be anyone’s role model and the number of parents I saw on Monday night suggests that many don’t see the harm in letting their kids attend the sexually-charged show.
I do feel for the star, people forget how much time she spends touring. Monday’s performance marked her 79th day of touring for 2013 and she’s been performing basically every two days for the past six months. Anyone with that kind of workload won’t be as enthusiastic as they were when their tour began.
Rihanna kicked ass for the concert’s entirety, but it was an hour into her performance before the crowd really got involved, sparked by RiRi dedicating a section to her reggae-inspired tunes, which included You da One, Man Down, No Love Allowed and Rude Boy.
Of course it was no surprise that the singer’s biggest hits got the best reception from Melbourne fans. Umbrella, We Found Love and Kanye West’s song All of the Lights generated the most screams by far.
I was also impressed that between all the singing and twerking RiRi managed six wardrobe changes in the two-hour performance. Featuring eye-catching designs by Adam Selman, Raf Simmons and Givenchy it’s not surprising why she recently featured on A$AP Rocky’s music video for Fashion Killa.
