For the past two months Rihanna has been touring the U.S. for her 5th studio album called "LOUD" which dropped at the end of last year. I was lucky enough to attend the Long Island stop of the LOUD tour that happened last Tuesday. She had a few opening acts: J. Cole, Cee-Lo Green, and B.O.B. There was a lot of talk about this tour earlier this year and a lot of rumors about it being canceled because of ticket sales. Which was obviously understandable considering a majority of the seats were over a hundred dollars a seat. Regardless, Rihanna proved everyone wrong and didn't even cancel ONE show.
At 7:30 p.m. the lights went dark in Nassau Coliseum and a young fellow came on the stage and introduced himself as DJ Dummy. He is J. Cole's DJ from Brooklyn, NY. He stated that his job was to get the crowd hyped and loud. He did so playing jams for everyone to vibe to. DJ Dummy played tracks from Jay-Z to Kanye to Bob Marley to Journey. You could feel the energy arising in the arena.
Half an hour later he left the stage and the arena went black again. Then you heard a raspy male voice say "Cole World". It was time for J. Cole to grace the stage. Coming out in all black everything, J. Cole started off rapping his verse to Jay-Z's A Star is Born which could be found on his "Blueprint 3" album. J. Cole was everything that an opening act should be. He knows that he needs to win the crowd over because he is still fairly unknown. He performed a couple of radio hits, a couple songs off his Friday Night Lights mixtape, and his two singles Who Dat and Work Out. After his short 30 minute set it was time for Cole to leave. "I'm just a young kid from North Carolina with a dollar and dream. Cole World." Cee-Lo Green was suppose to perform, but unfortunately was unable to attend because of his commitment to the T.V. show "The Voice".
After a long and tedious hour wait, it was time for Rihanna to rock the stage. She entered the arena to Only Girl while wearing a light blue rain coat and neon green and orange heels. Ri-Ri had six outfit changes and covered Prince's Darling Nikki and Shelia E's A Glamorous Life. She performed eight out of the twelve songs on LOUD including her newest single Cheers, taking a shot of liquor before it began. Rihanna also hopped on the drums and showed off her drumming skills before singing Live Your Life.
Ri-Ri's last song of her set was Take a Bow and before that she took time out to thank Rihanna Navy. "Thank you guys for supporting my music and letting me live my dream". Nassau Coliseum went black and it was time for the encore. All of a sudden you saw a man pop up from the center of the stage. The lights started flashing and the beginning of "All of the Lights" started blasting throughout the arena. Yes Ladies and Gentleman, it was none other than the musical genius himself Kanye West! The crowd, including myself, went CRAZY. It was completely unexpected since Yeezy has been hiding out and gearing up for his rap album with Jay-Z called "Watch the Throne". After their All of The Lights performance, he also performed Run this town with Rihanna while throwing up their Roc-Nation signs up. Kanye definitely added an authentic touch to the end of the LOUD tour in Long Island. In total, Rihanna performed twenty-three songs that night, in a 90 minute set.
Overall, this tour shows how much Rihanna has grown. She has went from being an opening act for a few Def Jam recording artists, to finally rocking out her own stage. She has become a stronger vocalist and dancer, which makes her a great entertainer for our generation. Sadly, Rihanna's LOUD tour has ended for the U.S. But don't worry, Ri-Ri herself said we have MAJAH things to look forward to in the Fall!
Check out Kanye's and Rihanna's performance to All of the Lights at Nassau Coliseum
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