Rihanna has had quite the journey with ANTI and the rocky release of it, but the recent tour has brought new life to the album. ANTI hasn’t had huge success with the album sales, but “Work” has been blowing up, which has definitely helped the success of the album as a whole. The ANTI World Tour kicked off in Jacksonville, Florida, on March 12 and has been receiving great reviews. I had the amazing chance to see Rihanna in Tampa at her second stop on the tour and didn’t know what to expect. I hadn’t listened to the album a lot, but that didn’t matter, because she performed much more than that. These are my reasons why this tour is bringing her album to a new level.

Throwbacks

I was afraid that Rihanna was simply going to have a set list based around ANTI, but she performed more than that. Rihanna knew that her album didn’t do the best at sales, so she had to put other hits into the set list. I think that this was a well played part on Riri’s end, because it definitely helped get the crowd jamming along to the hits they knew. Rihanna turned out “Umbrella”, “Rude Boy,” Pour it Up”, “Diamonds,” and more. Rihanna’s set list was a well balance on ANTI and previous hits, which played to her favor.

Stage and Strobes

The stage itself was one if the most intriguing stages I have ever seen, and I have been to a lot of concerts. The stage was mainly flat with no backdrop or barrier between the blocked out seats behind it. The seats behind the stage were all covered in white, but it was still weird to see them. Artists usually have walls or barriers on stage that they hide behind while getting ready for their next song, but not Rihanna. Rihanna would just walk down the back of the stage, as Rihanna would do. Also, the opening of the show was incredible to see as well. Rihanna came walking out of a stage at the opposite end of the arena that was formed while the opening song was playing. Rihanna walked out upon that stage and then rode a glass runway across the audience to the front stage. Rihanna was looking flawless and giving us everything while floating across the audience. The runway was a little wobbly, which was the only thing that did make me nervous for her. Also, There were signs all over before the concert that were saying how the concert was going to be full of theatrical effects and intense lighting. I didn’t think too much of that since I’ve been to a good handful of concerts. They were not kidding. The strobes were some form of LED and looked mind blowing. Those strobes were in my line of vision and did take a little adjusting too, but it looked incredible.

Aesthetically Pleasing

The combination of the vocals, set list, strobes, stage, backup dancers, and everything else turned the concert in to one that was unforgettable. I also think Rihanna did a wonderful job in aesthetically pleasing us all with how she combined everything. I didn’t know that many ANTIsongs, but wanted to after seeing her perform them. I know that Rihanna did postpone a few of the first tour dates, but I’m so glad to see the tour going on in full force with amazing attendance for such a rocky release of an album. Rihanna has definitely proved that no matter how big of a deal the album may be, she will still put on an amazing show. I also appreciate what Rihanna has put in to the concert. You can tell that there was a lot that went into making this tour a possibility and that dedication to her tour and her fans is easily readable. Rihanna has finally got some good reviews from this ANTI era due to this tour, which also is helping her album and single sales do better as well. One final thing I’ve realized from this tour is that Rihanna is one bad b*tch without even trying.