At her second Manila concert, Rihanna was sexy—and unapologetically late.
Not even the valiant efforts of Miami-based DJ duo GTA could appease the antsy crowd of couples, families, ladies (and ladies-at-heart) in sky-high stilettos, tweens and local celebs. The chanting soon turned to grumbling, with people looking grumpier and sleepier as the hours passed.
Finally, the 25-year-old Barbados-born singer came out from behind a mobile wall at past 10 p.m. amid relieved whoops. In the flesh, she was indeed larger than life; after all, she’s had seven albums in seven years, six Grammys and 12 Billboard No. 1 singles, not to mention having been hailed by Forbes and Time as one of the world’s most powerful and influential celebrities.
Was she worth the wait?
But was she worth the wait and the whopping ticket prices?
For her “Diamonds” tour, Rihanna performed nearly 30 songs that included past and present hits, plus medleys and solo versions of collab tracks (“What’s My Name” with Drake, “Hate That I Love You” with Ne-Yo, “All of the Lights” with Kanye West). Now, imagine squeezing all these songs into one-and-a-half hours.
No wonder she barely got to interact with her fans, who had waited five years for her to come back.
We were looking forward to seeing RiRi strut her stuff in designer duds that were specially made for this tour. But she sported only one outfit in the entire show—an all-white hip-hop ensemble consisting of a one-piece varsity jacket, baggy shorts, and high-cut sneaks, which looked horribly out of place among her dancers’ Egyptian bodysuits, and did nothing to flaunt her famous curves.
Slow and sensual
She started her set with tracks from the two most recent albums: “Phresh out the Runway,” “Mother Mary” and “Pour It Up” from 2012’s “Unapologetic”; and “Birthday Cake” and “Cockiness (Love It)” from 2011’s “Talk That Talk.”
The first half was mostly slow and sensual; RiRi gyrated with her all-female backup dancers, with the occasional crotch-rubbing and naughty twerking. Rihanna’s dance moves were more languid than sharp, which actually complemented the sensuality of her reggae-inflected R&B pop tunes like “You Da One” and “Rude Boy.”
Scorching riffs
The LED backdrop set the mood by flashing languid smoke, slow-burning fire and images of violence, with guitarist Nuno Bettencourt from the ’80s rock band Extreme dishing out scorching riffs. We could even feel the heat from the giant bursts of flame onstage.
But despite the distraction, it soon became apparent that Rihanna was dancing more than she was singing, relying on prerecorded vocals for the most part.
Mercifully, the crowd seemed to have completely forgiven her by the time the older hits came on. After an emotional mini-set that included “What Now,” “Take a Bow” and a slowed-down arrangement of “Hate That I Love You,” the opening chords of “We Found Love” started playing. That was when the real party began.
The whole SM MOA Arena suddenly came to life as “We Found Love” segued into a medley of her monster chart-toppers “S&M,” “Only Girl (In the World)” and “Don’t Stop the Music,” with the high-energy hit “Where Have You Been” wrapping up the main set.
Vulnerable side
Talk about saving the best for last. Despite the somewhat lackluster first half, Rihanna redeemed herself at the end. No prerecorded shtick this time, she showed her raw, vulnerable side as she belted out the heartrending ballad “Stay,” then capped the night with the radio anthem “Diamonds,” her message of self-empowerment ringing loud and clear through her powerful vocals.
Now that’s the RiRi we know and love. For those two performances, we were actually willing to forgive her for everything else. Well, almost.
Worth it? Yes and no. Mixed reviews aside, it was a real privilege to have seen her perform live. While it was worth the wait, it might not have been worth P27,000—unless you were a diehard fan who would pay almost anything to be meters away from Rihanna, or a hardcore show-biz stalker ecstatic at having spotted so many local stars in one night.