Everybody’s got an opinion on Rihanna. Whether it’s people pontificating about her personal life, an outraged farmer in Bangor or some mysterious phantom covering up her slightly raunchy posters around Dublin, her very presence on the pop landscape is discussed, debated and dissected to bits.
Well, screw that. On an intermittently drizzly night in Dublin, the 50,000-strong audience do not care about any of that shit. They just want a good pop show with some dazzling lights and a chance to sing along to the hits. She delivers this in spades: all told the Rihanna live spectacle in 2013 is enormously entertaining.
Having got some flak for keeping the audience waiting in Birmingham for two hours, Ri Ri and her small army of musicians and dancers take to the stage shortly after 8.30pm and launch into the gritty grime monster that is ‘Phresh On The Runway’. It’s a great curtain-opener and perfectly sets the scene for the rest of the set, which beautifully blends Caribbean rhythms with R’n’B, pop and a quirky offshoot of dubstep.
Over 20-plus songs, the quality meanders slightly. However, for the most part we’re talking top notch pop, performed brilliantly.
Initially, I’m sceptical about her claim that Dublin is the best city in the world. But towards the end she makes another little speech about the Irish not giving a fuck and how we’re such good party hosts and you know what? It sounds 100% genuine.
Seven albums into a phenomenal career, things are only getting started for this 25-year-old megastar. With a few more big singles under her belt, she’ll doubtless be back to wow us all over again with an even bigger and better performance. The only problem is that, by then, the Aviva will probably be far too small.