Operation Misery: Day 2.

Last night (8/3/13) Rihanna kicked off her Diamonds Tour in Buffalo, New York state, USA.

I should start by explaining that in political terms the concerts are probably the least interesting part of the tour. In fact you could go so far as to say they are merely an excuse to do all the other things like discussions about domestic violence, women's rights and security etc. Therefore rather then getting bogged down in the detail of the set-list, stage design and costumes it's better to keep an eye out for changes or substitutions that could be used to reference something specific. For example in the Buffalo show Rihanna threw in a few bars of "Welcome to Jamrock" by Damien Marley. This of course reference to the Grammys performance and it's relationship to the war in Mali. (Buffalo Soldier geddit?)

In terms of Rihanna's actual performance she seemed to know all the words and dance routines and didn't throw up or fall off stage. She was ever so slightly late taking to the stage however she was nowhere near late enough for it to be an issue. After all concerts are supposed to be fun not rigidly timed military operations. I also think this might have been slightly my fault because just before Rihanna was supposed to go on stage my evening took something of a dark and unexpected turn and frankly I think we all needed a few minutes to shake that off.

In terms of the set-list as the Diamonds tour is to support the Unapologetic album it was really songs from that album alongside some of her biggest hits. It's here I have to confess to being at a disadvantage. Having deliberately ignored Rihanna's career for a number of years I'm only vaguely aware of songs she's released as singles and as for the ones she hasn't well you may as well just be making up words. So this is going to be a learning curve for me too.

The concert took the form of five acts plus an intro and an outro. Each act was roughly five songs in length and there were costume changes between each act.

The Intro: This featured Rihanna performing "Love Without Tragedy/Mother Mary" from her unapologetic album. Although I've watched an audience member's video of the performance I still haven't heard the song but I'm guessing it touches on Marijuana, religion (specifically Christianity) and Rihanna's relationship with Chris Brown. The religious element may cause problems in Muslim countries such as Morocco where it might constitute a criminal offence and to a lesser extent Turkey.

Act 1: This began with Rihanna performing "Phresh Out the Runway" from the Unapologetic album. The runway of the title is a reference to the world of fashion promoting discussion about Rihanna's River Island clothing line and her relationship with fashion models such as Kate Moss and Cara Delevinge. Rihanna did Tweet the song title as a coded reference to her flying out to Barbados with Chris Brown in October 2012 which brings up all the issues of their rekindled relationship and either Brown's failure to notify his probation officer of the probation officer's failure to raise an objection.

Next up was "Birthday Cake" from the Talk That Talk album. The album version features Chris Brown so the inclusion of the song really drives home the issue. In case you failed to pick up on the 'cake' of the title being a reference to Rihanna's vagina shortly after Rihanna got off stage in Buffalo Brown performed a much ruder version in a nightclub in LA. Personally I would have left "Birthday Cake" off the set-list because references to Brown are a touchy subject, this was hardly subtle and raises speculation that Brown may join Rihanna to perform it at future dates.

Then there was "Talk That Talk" which I'm not familiar with. This was followed by "Pour it Up" from the Unapologetic album. As the next single this had to be on the set-list but even releasing it as a single is a mistake because all the stripper like dance moves and references to only seeing dollar signs hardly show Rihanna in the best light especially in the current political climate. This was followed by "Cockiness" from the Talk That Talk album which I'm not familiar with.

Act 1 ended with "Numb" from the Unapologetic album. I've not heard it but I'm guessing it touches on the emotional numbness brought about by heavy marijuana use. This of course is something that effects every aspect of Rihanna's life but especially her relationship with Chris Brown.

Act 2: This began with Rihanna performing "Jump" from the Unapologetic album which again means nothing to me. She moved on to her big crowd pleasing, breakthrough hit "Umbrella" from the Good Girl Gone Bad album. Although this touches on that eternal question of whether Rihanna controls the weather it is such a big hit I suspect the crowd would have lynched her if she didn't perform it.

Rihanna then performed "All of the Lights." Actually a Kanye West song this is all about domestic violence. Therefore I personally would have left it out for fear of over selling the point even if it does remind me of the damn distracting video.

Act 2 ended with "Rockstar 101" from the Rated R album and "What Now" from the Unapologetic album neither of which mean anything to me.

Act 3: This began with Rihanna performing "Man Down" from the Loud album. Although I've still not heard it this a very controversial song about Rihanna shooting and killing a man. Some have suggested that I'm the man Rihanna shot.  The video is banned in most countries for glamorising gun violence. During the performance a video was shown featuring Rihanna and her dancers being hunted by the police while the slogan "Wanted by the FBI" was shown on video monitors. I think this was a nice little reference to the pressures Rihanna's under on this tour because the slogan "Owned by the CIA" would have been a bit blatant.

Rihanna then performed "You da One" from the Talk That Talk album although this may be switched out for "Watch n' Learn" from the same album at future shows. This was followed by "No Love Allowed" from the Unapologetic album. Sadly none of these three songs me anything to me.

Next Rihanna performed "Rude Boy" from the Rated R album. This is another one of Rihanna's biggest hits and it's a long running joke that it's actually about one of the legendary occasions where I went toe to toe with the CIA. That story is far too long to tell here but basically it began with me being mugged during a street drug deal and ended with me having sex with the mugger's sister (I miss my old life). Thinking about it the fact that people have written songs and made films about my tussles with the CIA should have been a clue about how the CIA's Rihanna operation was going to end.

Act 3 ended with "What's My Name" from the Loud album. This very big hit features Drake who is said to be one of Rihanna's ex-boyfriends. Therefore it's inclusion raises the issue of that relationship and the big fight with Chris Brown that Drake got into in a New York nightclub which again Chris Brown's probation officer didn't see any problem with.

Act 4: This began with Rihanna performing "Loveeeeeee Song" from the Unapologetic album which means nothing to me.

Rihanna then performed "Love the Way You Lie" which is a duet with Eminem from the Loud album. This is a song that is clearly about domestic violence and is actually inspired by one of William Shakespeare's sonnets about the lies people in relationships tell themselves about the person they're in the relationship with. So clearly I'm not the first person to suggest that Rihanna is deluding herself about Chris Brown.

This was followed by "Take a Bow" from the Good Girl Gone Bad (Reloaded) album. A slow ballad this is said to be a break-up song about Rihanna's relationship with Chris Brown. However as it was written and released before the 2009 assault and subsequent break-up that's never made much sense to me. However it was clearly included in the set list to promote discussion about how Rihanna could break up with Chris Brown only to take him back.

Act 4 closed with "Cold Case Love" from the Rated R album and "Hate That I Love You" from the original Good Girl Gone Bad album. I'm not familiar with either of these songs but judging by the titles I'm guessing they were included to make sure Act 4 was all about Rihanna's relationship with Chris Brown and that issue is front and centre of the entire tour.

Act 5: The up-tempo/party segment of the show it began with Rihanna performing her massive hit "We Found Love" from the Talk That Talk album. Apart from being Rihanna's first US number 1 single this is a song about doomed relationships and the man in the video closely resembles Chris Brown. In fact it's likely that UK producer Calvin Harris only wrote the song for Rihanna to give Britain the opportunity to quiz her about the relationship with Chris Brown. This clearly caused Rihanna so much emotional stress that during the filming of the video she went a bit mental stripping of her clothes and running around in a field in front of thousands of people until the farmer that owned the field sat her down for some tea and sympathy. So not only does this song promote discussion about Rihanna's relationship with Chris Brown it also promotes discussion about her relationship with the UK and her apparent mental fragility.

Next up was "S&M" also from the Loud album. Again this is a controversial song about Sado-Masochistic sex and the video has been banned in a lot of countries. Performing it in Morocco or Turkey is going to be interesting. Originally Rihanna was offered the song as a way to explore whether she considered violence and being dominated as sexual turn-ons. This obviously has implications for her relationship with Chris Brown although I have to say I know people who are into S&M and they would be ashamed of Chris Brown's behaviour. Including the song on the set-list raises all these issues again during the tour.

Act 5 closed with "Only Girl (In the World)" from the Loud album, "Don't Stop the Music" from the original Good Girl Gone Bad album and "Where Have You Been" from the Talk That Talk album. These are all uncontroversial but popular dance songs. However I've always felt "Where Have You Been" was an overture to me via Johnny Cash's "I've Been Everywhere."

The Outro: The outro was "Stay" followed by "Diamonds" both from the Unapologetic album. Although "Stay" has some reference to the US' allegiance with the UK via Johnny Cash's "Jackson" and the "Diamonds" video has the me and Chris Brown as duelling horses theme from the COP18/CMP8 these are the first two singles from the Unapologetic album so are impossible not to include in the set-list. After all "Diamonds" is the title track of the entire tour. Playing these two slow ballad type songs at the end of the concert is a good way of calming the crowd down before the leave. The concert equivilent of the slow song at the end of the disco.

Each act was accompanied by a costume change that can be viewed here; http://rihannadaily.com/2013/03/09/diamonds-world-tour-buffalo-pictures/

Of those the only two I can see causing problems are the 'Dollar Bill Dress' and the Act 3 costume. This was made up of thigh high leather boots and a t-shirt worn as a mini-dress with panties underneath. So shall we say that raises the risk of Rihanna er, flashing her birthday cake which will get her fined in London let alone places like Morocco or Turkey.

The main motif of the set design seems to have been ostentatious displays of wealth so lots of gold and copies of classic statues such as the Venus de Milo along with aspects of mansion house design such as chandeliers and columns. This strikes me a risky because as the tour progresses it will look a lot like Rihanna is attacking some of the poorest nations on earth especially ones in Africa. Also with much of the world still feeling the effects of the global recession fans might start getting p*ssed off once they realise it's their money Rihanna's boasting about spending.

Friday's show also marked Rihanna's return to Twitter. If you could see the timing as I did you would know that was mainly for my benefit. Rather then analysing it for now I'm just happy being happy about it. After all it saves me signing up to Instagram and sometimes we all need to be reminded that there's an actual real-life person in the middle of all this.


(Originally posted) 22:40 on 9/3/13 although at almost three hours to write I'm pretty sure the show didn't last this long.