Rihanna during her loud tour.
The Loud Tour:
The Loud Tour is the current concert tour by Barbadian recording artist Rihanna. Performing in over twenty countries in the Americas and Europe, the tour supports Rihanna’s fifth studio album, Loud. The singer will play at Bergen Calling, V Festival and Rock in Rio as part of the tour. Background:
Rihanna announced on February 9, 2011 that she would embark on a worldwide tour, the "Loud" tour, in support of the album of the same name. The tour kicked off on June 4 in Baltimore and will finish on December 22 in London. The Barbadian artist said about the tour: "We're creating an incredible ride with this tour. I'm excited to get out on the road and share my new music from this album. We are going to have an amazing time and I know my fans are ready to get LOUD!". While on American Idol, Rihanna was interviewed by Ryan Seacrest where she talked about the design of the stage stating: "We've just designed the stage and we have a section that we are building... where the fans can actually be in the show and in the stage and be closer than they've ever been. It's real VIP." Although planned to open all dates on the North American leg of the tour, Neo soul singer Cee Lo Green left the tour citing schedule conflicts for his reasoning. In September, Rihanna will headline four concerts in Brazil, giving the singer her first performances in South America. The tour will also mark the first time that Rihanna has peformed in her home country of Barbados.
Show incidents
On July 8th, in Dallas, a fire broke out after Rihanna performed "California King Bed" . For safety reasons, the audience was evacuated and the concert was forced to end early.
Critical reception
The tour has gained critical acclaim from music critics citing it as "Rihanna's best tour yet". Jane Stevenson of the Toronto Sun commented that " the two-hour, larger-than-life show lived up to the billing. And then some."[5] Bernard Perusse of the Montreal Gazette stated that the tour was a visual spectacle saying, "Pods, dry ice, sparklers, plumes of smoke, a platform raising her from below stage and back down when needed, a moving section of the floor to convey her from one side of the stage to another, videos, writhing dancers, a cannon, arena-rock guitar solos, umpteen costume changes and maybe a record for the amount of times a performer has screamed “Montreal!” in the centre. The fans ate it up." Jon Brean of the Minneapolis Star Tribune remarked, "The Barbadian singer is more visually and vocally dynamic than she has ever been before." Amanda Ash of the Vancouver Sun stated, "Rihanna knows how to throw a party -a sexy, steamy, tightand-bright bash where yesterday's troubles are crushed beneath mile-high stilettos and drowned by intoxicating club beats", and added, "Rihanna turned Rogers Arena into a giant dance club on Friday night." Nation News Barbados commented, "The name of Rihanna’s world tour adequately described the experience at the biggest show to come to Barbados to date. It took a long time in coming, but Rihanna’s first major showing in her hometown was definitely well worth the wait. From the endless hits including S&M, Man Down, So Hard, Pon De Replay and Unfaithful; the spectacular stage and props to her playing a solo piece on drums, the girl who grew up in nearby Westbury Road was awesome."
Opening acts
J.Cole (North America) B.o.B (North America) (select dates) Cee Lo Green (North America) (select dates) DJ Dummy (North America) (select dates) Calvin Harris (United Kingdom) (select dates)
Setlist:
"Only Girl (In The World)" "Disturbia" "Shut Up and Drive" "Man Down" "Darling Nikki" (contains excerpts from "S&M") "S&M" "Let Me" "Skin" "Raining Men" "Hard" "Breakin' Dishes" "The Glamorous Life" Medley: "Run This Town" / "Live Your Life" "Unfaithful" "Hate That I Love You" "California King Bed" "What's My Name?" (contains elements from "Pon de Replay" and "Touch Me, Tease Me") "Rude Boy" "Cheers (Drink to That)" "Don't Stop the Music
Encore: "Love the Way You Lie (Part II)" "Umbrella"
Additional notes: During the concerts at the Air Canada Centre in Toronto, Honda Center in Anaheim, Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia, and MTS Centre in Winnipeg, Rihanna performed "Fading" in lieu of "Cheers (Drink to That)". During the second concert at the Air Canada Centre in Toronto and the second concert at the Bell Centre in Montreal, Rihanna was joined by Drake for "What's My Name?" During the concert at the BJCC Arena, Rihanna performed "Sweet Home Alabama" During the concert at the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum, Rihanna was joined onstage by Kanye West, during the performance of "Run This Town". They also performed "All of the Lights". During the concert at the Izod Center, Rihanna was joined onstage by Jay-Z during the performances of "Run This Town" and "Umbrella."