Rihanna glowed in neon yellow and pink as the opening act for Kanye West’s “Glow In The Dark” tour at Nissan Pavilion in Bristow, Virginia on Saturday, May 10.

Rihanna glowed in neon yellow and pink as the opening act for Kanye West’s “Glow In The Dark” tour at Nissan Pavilion in Bristow, Virginia on Saturday, May 10.

If it’s nearly summer, then the annual Hot 97 Summer Jam can’t be far away.

This year’s concert takes place June 1 at Giants Stadium in East Rutherford and features performances by Kanye West, Rihanna, T-Pain, Ray J & Yung Berg, The Dream, D Block featuring Styles P & Sheek Louch, Public Enemy, and Lil Wayne with Gym Class Heroes. The lineup was announced this afternoon.

Tickets, $40 to $165, go on sale at 10 a.m. Friday through Ticketmaster. Call (212) 307-7171 or visit www.ticketmaster.com and www.hot97.com for tickets or more information.

If it’s nearly summer, then the annual Hot 97 Summer Jam can’t be far away.
This year’s concert takes place June 1 at Giants Stadium in East Rutherford and features performances by Kanye West, Rihanna, T-Pain, Ray J & Yung Berg, The Dream, D Block featuring Styles P & Sheek Louch, Public Enemy, and Lil Wayne [...]

Rihanna in hot pink during Kanye West’s “Glow in the Dark” concert at HP Pavilion on Saturday in San Jose, California. Click here for MQ photos

Rihanna in hot pink during Kanye West’s “Glow in the Dark” concert at HP Pavilion on Saturday in San Jose, California. Click here for MQ photos

Kanye West’s ‘Glow in the Dark’ tour opens in Seattle

Kanye West has tried to keep the design and theme of his new tour shrouded in secrecy, but the cat’s out of the bag now that the nationwide trek opened at Seattle’s KeyArena on Wednesday night. EW.com was on hand for the premiere of the “Glow in the Dark” tour — which also features Rihanna, N.E.R.D., and Lupe Fiasco as opening acts — and can offer a preview of what audiences across the country have in store over the next few months.

It’s as “big” a production as you might have expected from all the anticipation West has been building up, but maybe the biggest conceit is how minimalist it really is, in that West spends his entire 83-minute performance alone on stage. Indulging in metaphorical dialogues with a computerized voice and rapping and dancing in front of a giant LED screen full of star fields and spacey desert landscapes, West is attempting to pull off the hip-hop equivalent of a Broadway one-man show.

More details and — WARNING — spoilers, after the jump.

Read the rest of this entry →

Kanye West’s ‘Glow in the Dark’ tour opens in Seattle
Kanye West has tried to keep the design and theme of his new tour shrouded in secrecy, but the cat’s out of the bag now that the nationwide trek opened at Seattle’s KeyArena on Wednesday night. EW.com was on hand for the premiere of the “Glow [...]

Rihanna, the last of the three openers, can really sing, but she hadn’t found her footing Wednesday, struggling to stay in tune and project in the huge arena. It didn’t help that the bass was so distorted during her set that it shook the floor; Rihanna’s talent is for impressing without ever pushing herself, but when your own band’s amps are tuned to “assault,” you have to fight back.

The noise distracted from her troupe’s cute dance moves and shiny retro-new wave costumes, but that’s the kind of kink a touring artist works out in a few dates.

By the time she and her tour mates hit the Nokia Theatre L.A. Live on Monday, they should be on point and ready to push toward the ridiculous, beautiful heights of West’s heroics.

Source: LA Times

Rihanna, the last of the three openers, can really sing, but she hadn’t found her footing Wednesday, struggling to stay in tune and project in the huge arena. It didn’t help that the bass was so distorted during her set that it shook the floor; Rihanna’s talent is for impressing without ever pushing herself, but [...]

The 2008 Essence Music Festival will resonate with the sound of its host city.

Irma Thomas, jazz trumpeters Terence Blanchard, Nicholas Payton, Irvin Mayfield, Kermit Ruffins and Christian Scott, blues belter Marva Wright, the Rebirth Brass Band, trombonist Big Sam’s Funky Nation and the Preservation Hall Jazz Band’s Gospel Revival are booked for Essence, July 4-6 in the Superdome. They’ll appear on the four “superlounge” stages in the Dome’s corridors.

The festival has also augmented its main stage roster with the Essence debut of Rihanna, the Barbados-born singer whose “Umbrella” ranked among 2007’s biggest hits; R&B diva Keyshia Cole; neo-soul singer Musiq; and rapper LL Cool J.

Rihanna will be performing on Friday, July 4, 2008

The 2008 Essence Music Festival will resonate with the sound of its host city.
Irma Thomas, jazz trumpeters Terence Blanchard, Nicholas Payton, Irvin Mayfield, Kermit Ruffins and Christian Scott, blues belter Marva Wright, the Rebirth Brass Band, trombonist Big Sam’s Funky Nation and the Preservation Hall Jazz Band’s Gospel Revival are booked for Essence, July 4-6 [...]