By Adrea Cloutier
A tip from a friend led my sister and me to line up at the Danforth Music Hall to score a wristband for the pop-up Rihanna concert at Toronto’s Danforth Music Hall on Thurs., Nov. 15 2012. We returned at 5:30 p.m. to line up for five long hours on a cold Toronto night to enjoy Rihanna’s only appearance in Canada on this leg of her 777-tour. Although admittedly not a huge Rihanna fan, I still looked forward to hearing the pop star in this intimate Toronto venue.
Rihanna took the stage for a short concert to promote songs from her upcoming album, Unapologetic, as well as sing past hits. The Barbadian native normally puts on a polished performance with carefully-choreographed moves and smooth vocals; however, last night, her voice sounded raspy and her dance moves were repetitive. At certain points in a few of her songs, she appeared to lip-sync. In fact, it appeared to me that the Grammy-Award-winner had had a few.
Rihanna’s set did feature cool effects including steam rising throughout her show; however, the venue’s blinding light system did not enhance her performance and the sound system was cranked too loud. Illuminati images splashed across the screen.
My general impression of the Rihanna concert was that it lacked energy and creativity; however, judging by the reaction of the audience, Rihanna did captivate the crowd.
I will give props to a very cool move by Rihanna when she exited the stage.
