Rihanna in Cape Town – Concert Review

Rihanna’s Diamonds World Tour hit Cape Town this past week.

I phucking love Rihanna. I don’t care. She’s badass, and I love it. I love her music and have all her albums…the original CDs. I like being able to touch it and lick it, in this digital age. Kidding, I don’t lick CDs, tastes too weird. Gross.

I was so damn excited that I struggled to fall asleep the night before, so listened to all the CDs and watched all her music videos on YouTube. Not exactly the best method to calm oneself and try to sleep.

The day came. It was RIHANNA DAY!!! Off we went to see RIHANNA LIVE! Can you feel the excitement? (I’d say “shame” because I dragged the man along, but…legs and ass. Thanks, Riri, you’re so hot. Man person, you’re welcome.)

I didn’t do the WHOLE fan walk, but it was pretty cool seeing some people struggle to walk in their heels and their very skimpy “Riri outfits”. The crop tops and short-shorts brigade were out in full force…cold winds. So glad I did the sneakers, jeans and hoody. So comfy, warm and fashion-forward. I was surprised at how easy and effortless it was to get in.

We left the Breakwater Lodge at about 18:45 and were at our seats by 19:00. No slow-moving queues, shoving, or hassles whatsoever.

GTA took to the stage and they KNOW HOW! They are Matt Toth and Julio Mejia, a DJ duo from Miami described as “loud, in your face sound with a hip-hop lean and sometimes a tropical vibe. It’s dirty, sexy and full of hype.” SOLD! TAKEN! I’ll have ALL O’ DAT and make it a double, thanks. They had the golden circle and general standing sections jamming. A few concert-goers even performed to their beats for the general sitting crowd, where I was seated.

It was cute, entertaining and simultaneously awkward, but they (crowd entertainer people) got a few cheers and applause, and then strutted away. *slow clap* At this point, it didn’t matter what time Rihanna took to the stage, because GTA had the crowd in a tight grip. For a second, and only a second, I forgot that I was there to see Riri.

Their set ended, off they went with their @weareGTA banner, and then stage prep for Rihanna began. I LOVED the stage setup and lighting. It wasn’t overdone and as elaborate as Bieber and Gaga, or even her international shows, from what I’ve seen. You can catch a glimpse of it HERE.

I heard about her lack of outfit changes at the Jo’burg show, and this doesn’t bother me at all. I thought it was pretty cool that she didn’t change her outfit after every song. Apparently, she took off her jacket, followed by her pants. Sounds okay to me. That’s one outfit, three ways, yo.

So, I was expecting a really cool pants suit. But Riri knows better than to do both shows in the same thing, exactly the same. So, when she arrived on stage, she was rocking short-shorts and baseball-style jacket, with black sneakers. Phuck, she’s so cool! I just don’t understand why she disappeared backstage every 3 songs if she wasn’t changing…?

I was very confused about Rihanna’s performance. I may still be confused. Something was just not right. Now, I’ve seen her live performances at awards shows on TV before, so I’m well aware of what she may sound like live, and I wasn’t expecting a flawless performance. I was in no way expecting to hear my CD in that stadium.

I was also not expecting the sound and video to be out of sync. Or bits of bad sound. Technically, I can understand that every stadium or performance arena is not the same, and weather conditions like wind are not always predictable, but we are dealing with professionals, here. And some people paid “professional” money to see this concert.

I can’t state as fact that she was lip-syncing, but it did seem that way. Sure, it could’ve been that for most of the concert the sound was ahead of the video, even if by seconds, but there were parts when the mic was in the air as she was dancing and waving, and it sounded EXACTLY the same as when it was right in front of her mouth. *cries* There were also times when she was singing, but it just sounded like an echo of herself, as if she wasn’t singing in sync with the backing track/vocal.

It was like those digital/ambience settings we had on our radio/CD player had been changed mid-song. You know, the “hall”, “stereo”, “rock”, “disco”, “normal”, “cinema”, “arcade”, “pop”, “classic”, etc. Well, sounded like someone changed it from “pop” to “stadium” mid-note. Ai yai yai.

I love that Rihanna was so interactive with the audience, if you can call “CAPE TOOOOOOWN” after every second song “interaction”. Okay, I’ll be fair, she did say she was happy to be back, and that everyone looks beautiful. *eye roll* How she saw shit from up there, with all those lights takes some serious skill. It was also cool how the songs flowed and were mixed in, but I would’ve liked to hear/see at least one FULL song performance, instead of wondering if she had somewhere else to be that night.

Also, she bangs out album after album, but didn’t perform some of her big hits like Russian Roulette, Pon de Replay, Cheers, Hard, Rehab. All of which I was looking forward to hearing. Not to mention the slower songs like California King Bed and Unfaithful. Guess she couldn’t pop her ass to that. If you want to know what she performed, in what order, click HERE.

Even though my heart has sunken a little, it was great to hear her music extra loudly and feel the thump in my chest from the bass. She definitely has lots of energy and is an excellent dancer. As you may recall from my Justin Bieber concert review, I’m big on dancing and choreography, and Riri worked that “stripper/hood choreography” like the “bad gal” she is. She worked her cake cake cake cake cake cake cake, and it ain’t even her birthday. *drops mic*

I’m off to ugly-cry into my pillow, it’s part of the disappointment/grieving process. Send me chocolate.

About the Author: Elana is a lifestyle writer here at BTG who attends a lot of really awesome concerts.