Reviewers, including the Washington Post, have noted that Rihanna, 25, can seem aloof or bored in live performances. She looks like she’s just going through the motions during certain dance segments or at times singing only half the lyrics and letting background singers or backing tracks pick up the rest.
I’ve come to accept that as her style. A native of Barbados, she’s got that laid-back, island-time manner. What’s undeniable about Rihanna is her charisma, beauty, sex appeal, fashion sense and vocal chops. She’s got the whole package.
She’s a great performer, even when she’s not trying very hard. That seemed to be the case early in the show Monday night, when she marched through some of her newer, lesser known material. But she cranked up the energy later in her 90-minute performance.
Highlights of the show for me included Rihanna performing “You Da One,” “Man Down,” “All of the Lights,” “We Found Love,” “Stay” and “Diamonds.” (See the set list at Setlist.fm.)
You also can check out photos of the show at Rihanna Daily (see above sample) and Voz de America.
I’m glad I got to see Rihanna at this point in her career, with her extensive catalog of hit songs. She’s definitely in her prime now. (See Wikipedia entry on her Diamonds World Tour, which runs for eight months through mid-November.)
However, I feel sorry for parents who let their teenage daughters go to the show (including President Barack Obama), because they had to sit through opening act ASAP Rocky. The farthest thing from a role model, Rocky rapped about the stereotypical thug life.
“Pussy, money, weed. That’s all a nigga need,” he rapped. Very inspiring.
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