It was a dream night for teenage music lovers as pop stars Rihanna and Chris Brown hit the stage in Auckland. Reviewer Karen Tay checks them out.

Rihanna & Chris Brown
Where: Vector Arena, Auckland
When: Monday, October 27

The crowd at pop concerts seem to get younger – and tartier – every year.

Take for instance, the teenybopper walking on the stairs at Auckland’s Vector Arena. From the back, she looked all of about 14, and was wearing a skirt the size of a handkerchief, from which almost everyone behind her got a good view up.

Young lady, does your mother know you’re wearing a G-string?

Skirt looker-upper girl gave a glimpse of what the rest of the evening entailed. Even on a school night, the teens – many of which were wearing matching clothes - were out in full force to celebrate the double billing of Rihanna and Chris Brown.

Brown is the kind of good looking brotha that appeals to both 12-year-old boys and 16-year-old girls, who combined to scream in such deafening tones they drowned out a good portion of his first song.

No matter, because what really impressed was the fact that he descended, god-like, from the roof with a team of dancers dressed like ninjas.

They proceeded to rev up the crowd with club favourites (Yo) Excuse Me Miss and With You, which prompted the plenty of girly sobbing.

A group of teens in oversized T-shirts and what looked like bikini bottoms down front nearly fainted when Kiss Kiss came on.

As a nod to the older people in the crowd - like the ones who could actually go to The Lounge later in the night for the after party - Brown also did a quick tribute to Michael Jackson, including a very passable moonwalk.

On an ironic note, Brown got several audience members to come on stage, mostly female – and played Nirvana’s Smells Like Teen Spirit while the teenyboppers went wild.

But it was Rihanna who stole not just the stage, but the night.

She emerged from a moving pedestal dressed in fishnets while belting out Disturbia, and if the chorus of voices for Brown was deafening, the applause for her was a tsunami of sound that relented very little throughout the night.

The show was a combination of burlesque, with girls in corsets – including Rihanna - slinking along the stage, and special effects.

The most spectacular effects were a set of spinning fireworks that showered the stage in sparks. It’s great when musicians say ’screw you’ to their insurance company.

Disco lights attached to the ceiling gave the entire arena a dance party atmosphere, especially during the obligatory “slow song” part of the concert, during which Rihanna introduced two of her backup singers.

Unlike fellow pop stars like Britney Spears, Rihanna can actually sing, and this was one of the few parts of the night which truly showcased her amazing vocals. She crooned out Good Girl Gone Bad, Hate That I Love You - minus Ne-Yo - and Unfaithful, which turned into a crowd sing-a-long.

The biggest shrieks of the night were saved for the end, when she played Please Don’t Stop The Music, complete with fireworks, smoke machines and a blazing finale.

She came back for an encore, which featured Take A Bow and undoubtedly the biggest dance floor song of last year, Umbrella … ella … ella … ella sung partly in conjunction with rumoured boyfriend Brown, who couldn’t resist coming back for another round of teenybopper love.

Rihanna did promise the crowd that she’s coming back, so let’s hope she gets a chance to, before her fans grow up.

Singer Rihanna is holding true to the idea that some CDs are so good they deserve to be released twice. Her “Good Girl Gone Bad” that gave us “Umbrella,” “Hate That I Love You” and “Don’t Stop the Music” is back for a new go-around, with the original CD in its entirety along with bonus tracks “Take a Bow,” a cover of Maroon 5’s “If I Never See Your Face Again” featuring Maroon 5, and “Disturbia.” The bonus DVD features behind-the-scenes footage. (Kevin C. Johnson, pop music critic)

Source: The Village Voice

At the first soldout Los Angeles stop of “The Glow in the Dark Tour,” minus a big thank you, Kanye West said next to nothing to the crowd. That’s because he truly doesn’t have to say a thing to anyone anymore. He just needs to perform. That’s what he does best, and if last night’s show was any indication, West may very well be one of the best. Kanye’s show mirrors a big budget, Sci-Fi flick. In fact, it’s better than that. It’s a full-blown, hip hop space opera, cruising at lightspeed towards being one of those legendary tours few bloggers have had the chance to see. It’s something like when Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg shared the stage for “Up In Smoke,” but Kanye flies this ship solo—with only Lupe Fiasco showing up for his duet with Ye, “Touch the Sky.” In essence, Kanye’s a lone warrior fighting the trends and tides of a dying industry, but proving success lies only a rhyme away.

Despite barely addressing the crowd, Kanye talked a lot to his spaceship, Jane, our tour guide through his “Universe.” The show kicked off with a bang. Kanye crash landed on a desert stage. A screen peered over the universe behind him, and from there, his raps controlled the concert’s narrative. It’s an innovative live approach that’s perfect for Nintendo Wii Nation and those in Help-Me-Quit-MySpace support groups. He began with “Good Morning,” literally waking up from the sandy stage and flowing freely over the beat. A spacey “I Wonder” followed, and West glided across the tilted riser, in a victorious pose. Next up “Champion” only proved his dominance further.

One of the most glorious moments came early on during “Diamonds of Sierra Leone.” The screen projected pristine space travel, as lights shone up from out of craters below our captain. Of course everyone put their diamonds in the sky, without West even asking. With pyro blasting and fire behind him, “Can’t Tell Me Nothing” shook the room with pure, sonic vitality. The audience sang along to every word as the blazes on stage got higher and higher.

“Flashing Lights” perfectly fit the dolled-up LA crowd. As West crooned, “She don’t believe in shooting stars, but she believes in shoes and cars,” he enunciated each syllable clearly. The words resonated immensely. It could be taken as a subtle commentary on romance in Los Angeles. In that latest hit, he dissects materialism mistaken for love—something people all too often fall prey too in this city. But rather than preaching, he spits clever verses as shooting stars fly behind and above him. No doubt, everyone believed in shooting stars in Nokia Theater, no matter how much Louis Vuitton they’ve got. Meanwhile, “Gold Digger” brought him right back to planet L.A., not without a whole lot of booty shaking though.

Before “Jesus Walks,” West talked to the real man in the sky. “God, I promise to stop talking so much shit. I promise to stop spazzing out at award shows.” His words definitely hit the haters, because West has gone contrite, in front of everyone. The most heartfelt and poignant moment came when Kanye did “Hey Mama” a tearjerking new ballad written for his recently deceased mother. It was a prayer for his mother complete with the heartwrenching line, “When I get older, im gonna buy you that mansion we couldn’t afford.” There wasn’t a dry eye in sight. Journey’s “Don’t Stop Believing” blared over the speakers immediately after, as if a message from Mom in Heaven telling her boy to never give up.

West brought a raucous ending with “Stronger,” “Homecoming” and “Touch the Sky.” First telling the crowd it wasn’t over yet with “Stronger,” and then thanking them. However, he didn’t even need to say that much.

Rounding out a phenomenal bill Rihanna’s “Umbrella” provoked the first massive singalong of the night, and her sultry pop on “Don’t Stop the Music” also ensured maximum grooving. N.E.R.D. played a strong set capped by “She Wants to Move,” while Lupe Fiasco’s “Superstar” was the best intro the show could have. However, captain Kanye truly made one small step for man and one giant leap for pop stars of all kinds.

Source: Artist Direct

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.

As stated earlier, no other humans share the stage with West. You might even think he’s rapping to tracks, though you’ll eventually notice that there is a live pit band, a la Broadway, playing in the dark below the lip of the stage. At the beginning of his 83-minute set, West explained that he was lost in space, marooned while on a mission to search for creativity in the universe. “My only companion is my spaceship, Jane, and this is our last mission,” he said. Yes, his off-screen computerized foil has a name: Jane. “Our system has encountered a meteor shower,” Jane soon tells him. The damage is severe and West collapses. “Wake up, Mr. West!… We have crash landed on an unknown planet.” Soon, his spaceship is prompting him for some personal flashbacks: “Mr. West, remember, this is not your first crash.” West does most of his performing on a platform slanted at about a 30-degree angle in front of the giant screen, and the only real prop of the evening is an inanimate female alien that drops in on some wires at one point, looking like a sex doll with a blue anime wig.

Late in the show, “Jesus Walks” is followed by his ode to his late mother, wherein, scripted or real, West drops to one knee and appears genuinely caught up in raw emotion. Then the pit band plays an excerpt from Journey’s “Don’t Stop Believin’” before Jane admonishes West: “We’ve been on this journey so long — we can’t give up now…. We need the brightest star in the universe: You, Kanye. We need you. Only you can bring us home. You can glow in the dark.” At that point, he launches into a rousing version of “Stronger,” the equivalent of what they call “an 11 o’clock number” on Broadway. (It was literally well after 11 p.m., though, since West didn’t take the stage until 10:20.) After one last number, in one of his very few direct addresses to the crowd (as opposed to Jane), West exulted, “You have just experienced the “Glow in the Dark” tour! Don’t act like I never told ya!”There were no encores, which may or may not have had anything to do with the fact that he was already wrapping up 43 minutes past the venue’s curfew, ensuring some hefty local overtime penalties.

General consensus: West is taking himself awfully seriously with this show, and the hubris borders on the ludicrous — and yet the whole thing manages to be fairly galvanizing anyway, thanks to his being fully committed at every step of the way. (Reviews of this first show in the Los Angeles Times and Seattle Times were fairly rapturous.) The audience also adored all three opening acts, each of whom got a half-hour in front of a white curtain.

The oddest moment may have been when Pharrell from N.E.R.D. came out on stage during a lengthy set change, about 15 minutes after they’d finished performing, and issued a public apology for having cursed on stage, since it had been brought to his attention that there was a 5-year-old in the front row. (A few minutes earlier, the crowd had cheered as he’d come out from backstage walked down to the front row, presumably to have a discussion with the offended parent.) It’ll be interesting to see whether future shows will have Pharrell reviving the encouragement to women to chant “I want to f— tonight,” and whether that’ll depend on how many grade-schoolers the N.E.R.D. frontman spies in section A.

For a review of the tour, check out the next issue of EW, out May 2

Source: EW.com

The show got off to a rocky start after Rihanna kept fans waiting 45 minutes after the support act before she graced the stage.

After coming onto Britney’s Gimme More she belted out her hits Pon De Replay, Unfaithful, Shut up and Drive, SOS, Break it Off and Please Don’t Stop the Music although the biggest audience reaction came from Umbrella.

However, I couldn’t help thinking that Rihanna was a bit out of her depth and did struggle to keep the audience entertained.

This obviously comes with practice; after all she is only 19 so not quite a seasoned performed. There was amazing choreography from the dancers and parts of the show were impressive.

Rihanna has an amazing voice which showed during her acoustic set, she just needs to work on her audience engagement during live shows. Some amazing new releases on the way to look out for.

http://www.antrimtimes.co.uk

Source: LX News

The line up was strong, the venue was on James Bond beach in Oracabessa St. Mary, and with Jamaica celebrating Reggae Month and what would have been Bob Marley’s 63rd birthday, it seemed set to be a big show.

But something was missing… organization.

Tedious band changes after each performance punctured the momentum, to which the host Mutabaruka had a hard job keeping the less than substantial crowd entertained.

Artists including as 2Face Idibia, Bunny Wailer, John Legend and Rihanna wet appetites with energetic performances before Jamaica’s ‘royalty’ took charge…

From Ziggy down to Damian, the Marley brothers commanded the stage and paid tribute to their iconic father. After showcasing a catalogue of songs from Exodus to Welcome to Jamrock, Stephen and Damian Marley, tore up the stage with The Mission. The crowd was a sea of flames from the lighters and red, gold and green flags that swayed in the air, while everyone sang in unison.

But high off their performance, the audience was left deflated as they were subjected to yet another tedious band change, which caused many people to call it a day and go home.

The lack of hosts didn’t help and Elephant Man did a guest spot to pre-recorded ‘old’ tracks before inviting special guest Chris Brown on stage. (This further fueled speculation that Brown and Rihanna are a couple.)

Short and sweet is all that can be said for the guest appearances that came after. Tarrus Riley showed his face, as did Etana, Spragga Benz, Lutan Fyah and Richie Spice, before Sizzla extended his set with Capleton, to close a night that had so much potential.

http://www.voice-online.co.uk/

A brief outfit change to even less then she had on before brought with it the slower numbers like the smaltzy ballad ? ? ? Unfaithful? ? !” and ? ? ? Hate that I Love you? ? ? . Though these songs highlight the formidable song writing talents of NeYo, having seen Rihanna perform them elsewhere, I can wholeheartedly say she gave her best renditions of both.

Her smouldering looks grew more and more captivating as she belted through her impressive multitude of hits from 3 albums in 2 years. ? ? !” Shut up and Drive? ? !” was imaginably choreographed with huge steel trolleys and ? ? ? Please Don? ? !” t Stop The Music? ? !” began with Rihanna scratching the record with her elbow. The house track proved to be hugely popular and had everyone in the crowd up on their feet as if they were raving in a discarded warehouse.

Having 1,2 stepped on the scene first with Goodies back in 2004, it must be bitter pill to swallow for Ciara who was brought in as a mere prop to flatter Rihanna? ? !” s superstar – woman of the year – status owing to Umbrella. The ode to friendship that stood at the top of the UK charts for 10 weeks and led to many proclaiming her as a bad luck omen to the UK? ? !” s horrible weather conditions. As Rihanna performed it for her encore at the end of her lengthy 75 minute set, the packed stadium was awash with brollies. So too were her scantily clad female dancers though even the superstitious among you would be hard pressed to see anything unlucky about it.

Rihanna? ? !” s performance was dazzling and the Bajan bombshell has come on in leaps and bounds since her debut album ? ? ? Music of the Sun? ? !” in 2005.She had the audience at her high heeled boots and gave a performance worthy of her fame.(EE)
Source: RWDMag