Rihanna
London Greenwich O2 Arena
10th May, 2010

Supported by Tinchy Stryder and a typically perky Pixie Lott, running through effervescent Turn It Up cuts, Rihanna took to the stage at 9:35 and proceeded to dazzle. Even if R&B didn’t – less prevalent tonight than her inner rockstar, in no small part due to Extreme guitarist Niuno Bettencourt, leading her band and dancing ensemble – the sheer spectacle of her 20-song, 95-minute show impressed. Drawing on her four albums, she bowed wearing a light-pulse gown, took to a riser and launched the first of several laser barrages that give Muse a run for their money. Clad in the first of several ever-more revealing outfits for Hard, she took her dancers atop a tank, a car, and through gothic sets with video screens, drawing on travelators, risers, stilt-ghouls and costume changes showcasing her S&M side, as on Rude Boy. An acoustic Wonderwall led to a piano respite of Rehab and the soaring vocals of Unfaithful, before she took a literal high-heel tumble during Te Amo, prefacing the acrobatics of SOS. Dusting herself off, she shimmied through Don’t Stop The Music, Push Up On Me saw a guitar dual (Rihanna donning a Flying V at one point, having already beaten the skins), and Take A Bow was an apt closer. The encore cranked things up for Run This Town and closing, ecstatic Umbrella, ticker-burst and laser finale. Epic.