That Rihanna rain just won't let up

We've never been entirely sure about Rihanna. For the first few years of her career she always came across to us as no more than a mere record label puppet - a beautiful girl with good vocal cords armed with excellent producers and writers capable of creating brilliant pop songs. Which is fantastic, but we always look for a bit more in an 'artist'. This all changed with the release of her most recent album, Rated R. A collection of very interesting, very intelligent (we'll forget "Stupid in Love") and very exciting songs which seemed to be markedly influenced by events in her personal and not so private life, yet not overbearingly. It was darker, it was tougher and it was challenging - a giant step away from her previous album Good Girl Gone Bad which while featured exceptional pop (it's a bit of a cliche now with everyone using it as a tool to measure others against but "Umbrella" really is a masterpiece) could have been sung by any old Bajan-Caribbean warbler - and it lit a big ol' flame of interest in us for her.

So we had to see her live, right?

We'd heard admittedly terrible reports from her last tour. Reviews named her as unprofessional, lacklustre and the show a giant lipsync-fest. A friend enjoyed the support act (Ciara) considerably more than Rihanna which set the alarm bells ringing but we were reminded that the reason we were determined to see her was because of the quality of the supporting album, and as such would be willing to give her a second chance of sorts. We were not let down. From the opening song - a majestic, commanding "Russian Roulette" - right through the practically orgasmic finale, Rihanna demonstrated just how far she had evolved from a pop singer to a pop star. The show was concise and lacked moments of extended nothingness, a pleasant surprise after our last two 'big' concerts saw Beyoncé and Lady GaGa respectively leave the audience hanging for unnecessary amounts of time. The video interludes that were apparent were a little cringe-worthy - the premise of the show was that we were entering Rihanna's unconscious dream world, which is actually quite interesting, but it wasn't executed quite as professionally as it could have been.

Nonetheless, the sets were tasteful and neither too sparse or cluttered. The costumes were as you would expect; not a lot all there, but she had more than enough body to carry it off. The props were excellent and definitely contributed to the entertainment value - a fluorescent pink tank was straddled à la "Hard" video, a car was again grinded against then attacked avec baseball bats for "Shut Up and Drive" and Rihanna herself floated above the stage on a giant rifle for "Te Amo". We're not entirely sure whether she actually played it or not but for the few moments when a sleek black guitar was handled for "Rockstar 101", we considered a heterosexual lifestyle. The new arrangements of older songs were particularly impressive. The previously mentioned "Shut Up and Drive" and "Don't Stop the Music" were harder and heavier to blend in with the more rock-influenced sound of the Rated R songs, as was "Pon de Replay" which starred in it's own crowd-riling interlude towards the end.

Usually the complaints are for too much new stuff the crowd isn't too aware of, and not enough of the 'classics'. For us, we could have done with more Rated R. "The Last Song" and "Cold Case Love", both beautiful pop songs, could have easily replaced "Unfaithful" and "Take a Bow" but we understand they were chosen for good reasons and they weren't bad performances at all. It was just irritating that the only song we don't really like on the album, "Stupid in Love", did make an appearance. But whatever. "Russian Roulette", not a conventional opener, set the atmosphere and mood for the entire show straight away and the roar of the crowd upon hearing the sound of the revolver clicking was shiver-inducing. Leading straight into "Hard", the energy of the performer was enviable. Rihanna isn't one to lead perfectly synchronised dance routines but she didn't stop moving and her performance came across a lot more natural for it. Finally the vocals - maybe she did mime on her last tour, maybe she didn't, but we definitely know for certain she was 100% live and clear on the show we saw. Her vocals weren't jaw-dropping or heart-stopping but she had never pretended to hold those kind of vocal cords - they were consistent even throughout the dancing she did do and soft and hard in the right places. We were definitely impressed and would happily call ourselves Rihanna fans. Not quite stans just yet.

The Last Girl on Earth Tour, Manchester MEN Arena, 16th May 2010

• "Mad House"
• "Russian Roulette"
• "Hard"
• "Shut Up and Drive"
• "Fire Bomb"
• "Disturbia"
• "Rockstar 101"
• "Rude Boy"
• "Wonderwall/Hate That I Love You"
• "Rehab"
• "Unfaithful"
• "Stupid in Love"
• "Te Amo"
• "Don't Stop the Music"
• "Breakin' Dishes/The Glamourous Life"
• "Let Me"
• "S.O.S. (Rescue Me)"
• "Take a Bow"
• "Wait Your Turn"
• "Live Your Life"
• "Run This Town"
• "Umbrella"

(Thank you to RihannaDaily.com for letting us use their photos from the Manchester gig)