The continuing evolution of Robyn Fenty is an absolute thrill to witness, with her latest London show proving just how far she’s come from the Rihanna of Pon De Replay.
Descending onto the stage in an LED-encrusted corset, she immediately captivated her adoring fans with an on point performance of Russian Roulette, which climaxed with a gunshot and a screen projection of an exploding heart. Admittedly this wasn’t the most pleasant of visuals, but if it was dramatic effect she was after, then she gets full marks.
From this point onwards, The Last Girl On Earth tour provided a non-stop rollercoaster of musical thrills. Hard revived the military theme of the track’s music video to great effect, Disturbia saw her flanked by monsters on stilts, while Rockstar 101 saw her strap on a black guitar (the jury’s still out on whether it was actually plugged in, however).
Her stripped-back medley of Unfaithful and Stupid In Love demonstrated that, while she doesn’t quite have the power of Beyonc?, she can more than hold her own vocally, while her acoustic rendition of the Oasis classic Wonderwall was a real crowd-pleaser.
The production values on display during her hour-and-a-half long set were among the best we’ve ever seen. Whether it was the huge pink tank that she straddled during Hard or the trapeze artists dangling from two giant guns during the Latin-flavoured Te Amo, Rihanna demonstrated that she’s got the vision (and the budget) to compete with the likes of Madonna and Kylie.
Also, despite her having a penchant for urban-leaning pop, the show revealed an underlying appreciation for rock’n'roll, with her band providing a much beefier, guitar-led backing than we’re used to hearing on her CDs.
By the time the curtain came down after the inevitable encore of Umbrella, Rihanna had the entire crowd in the palm of her hand. And quite rightly so!
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