Rihanna was finally coming to Toronto at the ACC. Her first concert date sold out – this ultimately led to another night in the TDot!
Got my tickets months ago and were in Section 120. After experiencing the floors, unless you’re in the first 3 rows (especially if you’re lacking in height), sides are better viewing. AND, at one of the Madonna concerts, I ended up in the 300 section. Next time, unless it’s for someone whose tickets sell out within secs/mins, I will never buy 300s again – not worth the $$. I call them nosebleeds!
B.o.B and J. Cole. were fronting Rihanna but we found they were “too LOUD”. Fortunately, got ear plugs from ACC’s Customer Service – free! Once situated in our seats, we waited with the rest for Rihanna to come on stage… she was late (approx 9:45 pm, were told 9:15), but must say, was well worth the wait. Rihanna took the stage in style…
From start to finish she belted out hit after hit. There were a couple in the middle that weren’t as well known, but her dancing, costumes, dancers, and stage sets/lighting all made it very entertaining.
At the beginning, there was a sea of cell phone screens pointed straight to Rihanna on stage from the crowds on the floor, made me chuckle. Her costume changes were many, but quick, wasting no time moving on to the next number.
Halfway through, we had a surprise guest come on stage – Drake and boy, did he ever get a welcome. The crowds went wild and he even performed on of his songs. He then came back to sing “What’s My Name” with Rihanna – luckily I still had battery life in my camera and caught it all, as you’ll see below.
Also, during the concert, she was escorted down one side of the floor to a drum set at the opposite end of the arena and banged those suckers for all she was worth. Luckily, for me, this was directly in front of my section so managed to get it on video (one downside to it was that I had a woman directly in front of me who couldn’t contain herself and waved her arms around – could’ve swore she was in her 4os with her young daughter!) but it came out not too bad! Shall post it on YouTube when I get a chance!
Must’ve been the seat I was in cos there was an older woman who was wearing a one piece from the Abba era who couldn’t contain herself throughout the whole concert so you may see her hands popping in an out of the videos I got – I tried to keep her out of it, but her hand kept on wanting to take the spotlight from Rihanna.
Overall, I was pleasantly surprised with the Rihanna’s concert. Well choreographed (although Rihanna is no Lady Gaga) , she sounded great live and gave a wonderful long, entertaining show.
Coming out for an encore, to red and white confetti falling from the whole length of the ACC ceiling, the concert finally had to come to an end – over 2 hrs long.
It was a great concert and would recommend anyone who is thinking about going to definitely spend the $$$ and go!
Next concert … Katy Perry! Til then…