Rihanna

Live Nation presents… Rihanna with special guest A$AP Rocky at the Air Canada Centre on March 18, 2013 in Toronto, Canada.

With the Diamonds tour touching down in Toronto for two nights, the near sold out crowd filled into the Air Canada Centre, anxiously waiting for arrival of opener A$AP Rocky. About 20 minutes after expected arrival, A$AP took the stage as the crowd left their seat. Dressed in black and white, A$AP took the stage and started with his opening album track, ‘Long.Live.A$AP’. Accompanied by a band of a drummer, guitarist, two DJ’s, and a hype man, A$AP touched on hits such as ‘Goldie’, ‘Jodye’, and ‘Fashion Killa’ as well as touching on Schoolboy Q’s ‘Hands on the Wheel’ which features the party sample ‘Pursuit of Happiness’. A$AP ended his set to a crowd in lust of A$AP’s style, walk, and of course, rhythm as he ended with single ‘F*ckin’ Problems’.

As I expected a slight delay in between sets due to A$AP’s tardiness, I was evidently wrong. It wasn’t until over an hour later that Rihanna hit the stage, to an unimpressed crowd. Of course it was not long before the crowd forgave and forgot, as Rihanna broke into song.
She hit the stage with ‘Mother Mary’, and started off her set with tracks off of her latest album, Unapologetic. The multi-tiered stage was filled with a 4-piece band (consisting of 2 keyboardists, a guitarist, and a drummer), as well as 2 back up vocalists, and a heavy load of dancers. Blending right in Rihanna brought her in sync dance moves, with her hefty amount of sex appeal which just left both genders in awe. The visuals consisted of numerous LED screens floating around throughout, as well as about a 10 segment of constant flames shooting up from the stage.

About halfway through the show, Rihanna started with it after hit which touched on singles from virtually every past album. Even if you didn’t think you knew many Rihanna songs, you were proved wrong on the spot, as #1 hit came after #1 hit including ‘We Found Love’, ‘S&M’, ‘Only Girl In The World’, ‘Please Don’t Stop The Music’, and ‘Where Have You Been’ – Just to name a few.

She frequently shouted out to Toronto and her fans, promising she will never forget the city and all it’s done for her. She also made a brief appearance in the audience which led her to swarmed by fans.
An hour and forty five minutes in, Rihanna’s set ended before coming out for a 2 song encore consisting of her latest single ‘Stay’, and of course the tour title track, ‘Diamonds’. Nearly a two hour set, and approximately 7 or 8 outfit changes later (I just couldn’t keep up!), the first night of two came to an end.

*Note - Photo on the left is from previous tour, and in no way reflects the current Diamonds Tour, nor the Rihanna concert in Toronto on March 18, 2013.

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