Photography: Jackie Tran
Rihanna’s Diamond Concert Tour started when she appeared almost 90 minutes late and offered no apology. The star arrived to a mixture of cheers and boos before winning back her audience with a string of hits.
The night began successfully enough, with Miami-based production duo GTA opening the concert. Matthew Van Toth (Van Toth) and Julio Mejia (JWLS) were fantastic, keeping the arena pumping like a music festival with their blend of Hip Hop and Salsa-inspired house music. It was quickly evident why GTA have received acclaim by some of the big guns on the electronic scene today such as Afrojack and Diplo.
In the long break between GTA and the appearance of the main attraction, fans started to entertain themselves, beginning with a young blonde lady entertaining the crowds with her dance moves and attracting a pack of gyrators who encouraged more people out of their seats. Pockets of dancers throughout the crowd put on their own shows for the cameras to broadcast on the big screens between occasional chants for Rihanna.
Finally, at nearly 10.30pm, the lights dimmed, the black curtains opened and Rihanna emerged looking powerful and sexy in an oversized black parka with a black and white leather bra, sheer shirt and embellished shorts underneath. Despite unfavourable reports of her condition during the Perth concerts spilling over to her local appearance, Rihanna still managed to impress Adelaide fans with her dancing and stage presence. For many fans, it was clear that all was forgiven and forgotten within minutes.
Her costumes throughout the first half of the show were sexy punk/street wear inspired, moving to a beautiful long, two piece red gown later in the evening.
The show started with “Mother Mary” and Rihanna’s newer music which was closer to her Barbados reggae. Throughout the first few songs, she danced more than she sang, seeming at times to be disinterested and distant, but the crowd seemed unphased and did not let this affect their excitement.
The band and back up dancers played a key role in helping the star shine, particularly until her energy levels improved towards the middle of the night when she sang older hits including “Umbrella”, which had the whole arena singing along, “All of the Lights” and “Rockstar 101”.
Closer to the last set of the night Rihanna performed a range of ballads including “Love The Way You Lie / Take A Bow / Cold Case Love”. Her performance was raw and showcased her beautiful voice.
The night peaked however when Rihanna led into her hit song “We Found Love”. The atmosphere was beyond electric and kept the fans charged through the next few songs including “S&M”, “Only Girl (In the World)” and “Don’t Stop the Music”.
The concert ended with “Stay”, which she sang solo, and “Diamonds”.
Despite the late start and lack of apology, Rihanna performed most of her most popular songs and managed to keep the majority of her fans happy enough, although some chose to leave before the late evening came to an end.
Reviewed by Kim Truong-Tran
Photography by Jackie Tran
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