BET, MTV, and the NY Post Give Review Rihanna's Tour!

Raving reviews for pop star Rihanna's 'Last Girl on Earth Tour' are pouring in! Last night, reps from the NY Daily News, the NY Daily Post, BET, MTV, as well as celebrity guests attend the concert. Checkout the outstanding reviews below:

BET:
Last night was a huge evening for pop-R&B star Rihanna. The "Umbrella" diva performed a sold-out concert at New York City's legendary Madison Square Garden and BET.com was in the venue. The Last Girl on Earth Tour is Rihanna's first headlining North American tour. There may have been doubts, but Rihanna proved she has the star power to command a stage for nearly two hours.

It shouldn't be a shocker that Rih could rock out the Garden. She has five Billboard Hot 100 solo #1 hits and two more on featured songs. In addition, there are countless top 10 hits. In Rihanna's short career she has amassed a catalogue of pop tracks that take some artists a decade to get.

Rihanna opened with the first single from her latest album, “Russian Roulette.” She appears almost supernatural, sliding toward the audience in a black dress, highlighted with red lights. The platform moves her higher and, dare I say, her voice soars. Her image is clearly there, but who knew the critics were wrong -- Rihanna can sing and there were no signs of lip-synching. Rih never said she was Whitney Houston, and while she doesn't have a massive vocal range, she uses her voice well, sounding just like her records and belting out some notes that I didn't know were in her.

The Bajan diva understands image, and the Last Girl on Earth Tour was packed with the dream land and nightmarish world of Rihanna. In short, the crowd is caught in Rihanna's dreams, which go from a nightmare to ending sweetly. Almost Goth-like, she sings "Hard" while riding a pink Army tank, monsters on stilts chase her in "Disturbia," girls in leather bondage outfits dance in "Te Amo," she sings “Rehab” on a coach surrounded by fake human limps, and violently bangs the drums on a cover of Sheila E.'s "The Glamorous Life."

As wonderfully eerie as her concert is, it's still an incredibly fun show. The majority of the songs performed were singles, which kept the audience energized. However, it wasn't the up-tempo songs that were the most gripping; it was the morbid ballads like "Firebomb," "Unfaithful" and "Take a Bow." Of course the night ended with her biggest hit and what is clearly a pop classic, “Umbrella.” Red confetti exploded in the Garden as everyone chanted, “Ella! Ella! Eh! Eh!”

There is a horror and a rage in Rihanna's Last Girl on Earth Tour, which we rarely see from female artists, especially Black female artists. Who knows what her performances were like before the media firestorm of last year, but this 22-year-old has lived and has some performing chops to prove it. Rihanna deserves a round of applause for doing something different, straying away from being a standard pop tart. As she said in her nasty-anthem "Rockstar 101": "I never play the victim. I'd rather be a stalker. So baby take me in, I'll disobey the law. Make sure you frisk me good, check my panties and my bra."

For tickets to Rihanna's Last Girl on Earth Tour go to TicketMaster.com.
***
Clay Cane is the Entertainment Editor at BET.com.

New York Post New York's #1 newspaper:

Rihanna is a dream girl.

At Madison Square Garden last night, the sexy Barbadian hip-pop star played an elaborately staged concert that was designed to take us into her dreams and nightmares.

OK, we might not have figured that out without the video at the show's start. The not-so-subtle film clip informed all that "when Rihanna sleeps, her dreams become real."

This sold-out MSG show may have been Rihanna's dream, but nobody snoozed or even yawned during the 100-minute performance.

The singer kept the set lively with fireworks, an arsenal of gun props and a program that wove together the bubbly dance pop and the harder rock-flavored material featured on her recent "Rated R" record.


Reuters
Sexy Rihanna makes "dreams become real" at MSG last night. Despite the big arena, she established intimacy with a multiplatform stage that extended midway onto the Garden's floor. It allowed her to do the show as if it were an in-the-round production.

It also gave everyone a better view of her costumes. Some had built-in lighting; there was a skimpy latex fetish-wear piece; and even a body suit that appeared to be made of loosely woven white ribbons.

Rihanna looked great and strutted with the swagger of a ringmaster, but she isn't the greatest dancer.

She makes up for that by actually singing onstage, rather than depending on prerecorded vocals. She left the heavy-load dancing to her backup troupers, who were in a whirl around her during songs like "Rude Boy" and the disco-inspired "Don't Stop the Music."

The night's most dramatic routine could have been snatched out of the Lady Gaga "Monster Ball" playbook, where feathered, demon-costumed dancers on stilts made the moody rock song "Disturbia" seem evil.

For those who dig Rihanna for her fast and frantic material, like "Shut Up and Drive" and "Rockstar 101," two of this show's best numbers, the power pop ballads presented mid-show, were a little soft. Even so the MSG crowd -- very female and very young -- voiced no complaints.

In fact, fans seemed to hang on every word during those pieces, especially during the piano-driven ballad "Unfaithful."

From the show opener, "Russian Roulette," to the last encore song -- her megahit "Umbrella" -- Rihanna was electric for a performance that was amped-up and aggressive.


Read more: http://www.nypost.com/p/entertainment/music/just_dreamy_HAT8HhwpRrRdPrbs83iEd...

MTV review
NEW YORK -- Before Rihanna came onboard for the Last Girl on Earth tour at Madison Square Garden on Thursday night, Ke$ha, completely covered in glitter, got her personal party started with her club banger "Blah Blah Blah."



"I cannot believe I am playing a show at the f---ing Garden. Holy sh-- balls," she screamed to the crowd midway through the song. "Are you guys having a dance party?" she later asked the excited crowd.

Ke$ha's set was much like she is: sparkly, glittery, a little messy, but, overall, a good time. She played all her hits, including "Take It Off," "Your Love Is My Drug" and the song that got all of MSG dancing, "Tik Tok."

While the fans were tickled with delight for Ke$ha's set, they really went nuts when Rihanna emerged onstage in a billowing black dress, with glowing lights inlaid into it. The star was ready to share with the audience her "dreams and nightmares," as a projected video explained. The searing guitar of "Russian Roulette" welcomed the red-headed singer to the room before she belted out the ballad and kicked the show off. After a quick change into a blush-colored, shimmering bodysuit, she went right into her crowd-pleaser "Hard," during which she very proudly rode her own baby-pink military tank.

During "Disturbia," Rihanna embraced her inner Goth, thanks to dancers dressed as crow-like figures on stilts. After a short intermission, Rihanna declared her "Rockstar" status and played a little air guitar in a latex bodysuit and thigh-high boots. "Rude Boy" brought out the sassy and sexy Rihanna fans have come to love.

"Is New York City in the house?" she asked before she sang a medley of "Love the Way You Lie" and "Airplanes," and then transitioned into "Hate That I Love You." "I can't hear you, New York! Anybody out there ever been in love?" she asked. For "Rehab," she lounged sexily on a chaise.

Things got spicy when Rihanna, flanked by two dancers doing saucy acrobatics, sang her Spanish-tinged "Te Amo." Then, dressed in an all-white "bandage" bodysuit, she kicked it old-school with her jam "Don't Stop the Music," throwing a dance party inside of a large cube onstage.

After displaying her guitar skills earlier in the night, Rihanna played some drums before performing a rock-influenced version of "SOS." She then addressed the crowd: "Thanks, all of you who bought a ticket tonight to come see me. I'm at Madison Square Garden and thanks to you guys, we sold out Madison Square Garden -- thank you so much." Then she sang "Take a Bow" before, well, taking a bow.

She kicked off an encore with "Wait Your Turn," in sparkly, knee-high boots, a matching newsboy cap, bra and spandex shorts. Rihanna played her second medley of the evening, combining party jams like "Live Your Life" and "Run This Town." But she ended the night on her biggest hit, "Umbrella," and in a dizzying sea of confetti, with fans singing along, she told the crowd, "Thank you so much."

The show not only displayed her vocal abilities, but also her unabashed performance style; her world is part "Mad Max," part "Twilight" and part OK Computer -- and all Rihanna.