Friday 7th
October 2011, Liverpool Echo Arena
The best way to
describe both Rihanna herself and her 'Loud Tour' is a hit factory.
In the past 6 years she has released 6 studio albums and a back
catalogue of incredible solo singles and features, released at an
alarmingly relentless pace. Rihanna is far from the greatest singer
or dancer performing today, but with a set list that comprised 16 hit
singles and only 5 album tracks (2 of which were released as singles
over seas) the 'Loud Tour' was an incredible night out and one of the
best concerts I've ever been to.
The night got off to a
fantastic start even before Ri Ri herself appeared. Calvin Harris was
a perfect choice to get the crowd geared up for a night of non stop
dancing. Finishing his set list with his new Rihanna collaboration
'We Found Love' which would later go on to become her biggest
hit worldwide. Surging straight in to 'Only Girl (In the World)',
Rihanna came on stage in a giant Disco Ball, one you would usually
expect to see at a Madonna concert. Surrounded by Dancers, 2 mini
stages at the sides and 4 circular moving screens above, it would be
easy for the performance, and the concert as a whole, to dwarf the
Barbados born singer. But Rihanna manages to take centre stage above
the impressive spectacle around her by oozing the two thing many
popstars strive for but lack, effortless fun and universal sex
appeal.
Its hard to pick a
highlights of a concert in which virtually every song the crowd went
wild. The opening was particularly strong, the colourful outfits
creating a carnival atmosphere that would last the night. Even lesser
hits like 'Hard' and 'Man Down' got reactions from the
crowd most popstars would dream of. The night could only have been
better with the inclusion of 'Russian Roullette' and
'SOS', two of my
personaly favourites, but with 23 solo singles released at this
point, something had to be missed out. The stand out moments
for me where the combination of both 'Whats My Name' and 'Rude
Boy' side by side and the sing a long ending of 'Take A Bow'
before the encore. The audience simply knew every word and didn’t
stop dancing or waving their arms. Which leads me to one the main
points of why this was a successful concert.
Rihanna is a very lucky
lady when it comes to performing, as she seems to find it incredibly
easy to connect with the audience and it seems people find it very
hard not to like her. She was laid back on stage, chatting to the
crowd and generally having fun. Where she may lack the fire and
determination on stage of Beyonce, or the moves of Britney, she knows
her audience arguably better than either and the wall to wall hits
included in the set list show this better than anything else. Her and
her creative team know that songs as big as 'Umbrella' don’t
always need a huge spectacle around them as the audience will create
the atmosphere themselves, dancing and singing to their hearts
content. In short, Rihanna has a huge fan-base because its so easy to
be a Rihanna fan. This tour came back to the UK 6 times, playing
London’s 02 arena 10 times in the process, that is a staggering
achievement and just goes to show how popular, accessible and fun
Rihanna is as a popstar and her Loud Tour was as a night out.
* * * * *
- "Man Down"
- "S&M"
- "Let Me"
- "Skin1
- "Hard"
- Medley: "Run This Town" / "Live Your Life"
- "What's My Name?" (contains elements from "Pon de Replay")
- "Rude Boy"
Encore
- "Umbrella"
Watch The Opening of the Concert here. (Fan Made Video, no professional recording has been released)
