I’m still very much in recovery, but here are a few thoughts on
attending what was my first big concert (and consequently my first golden
circle experience). Oh, and I have attached no pictures because I just didn’t
have the energy to do it. My apologies.
THE GOLDEN CIRCLE
All in all, I stood for over eight hours, which was far more
challenging than any tennis match I’ve played, or Argus Tour I’ve cycled. I
rested on the shoulders and beneath the armpits of friends and strangers, and
while the vibe was definitely exciting, the leg pain was great and the heat /
smell almost unbearable at times. Being 1.67m ‘tall’, it only took one or two
taller guys directly in front of me to block my entire view. I think watching
the big screen from the golden circle defeats the purpose of paying so much to
be there, even for a few close-up glimpses of Riri.
It must be said that the general fixation people have with recording
every second of the concert on smartphones instead of actually watching and
soaking up the experience is incredibly annoying, with many of these screens
also blocking my view.
HER VOICE
A close friend and I exchanged a few gasps / laughs during Rihanna’s
often hard-to-decipher live vocals, which is a reminder that this is not her
strong point. She sang the fairly-easy-to-sing ‘Stay’ really well, but the
dance tracks made it hard to hear when she was singing and when she was not. I
think a few more low-key, acapella-type snippets thrown in here and there would
have been great for connecting with the audience, but there were none.
HER OUTFIT…
…was average. She did look quite cute, but she also didn’t change
into anything different all night, and I never imagined this would be something
that would be a disappointment, but it was.
THE DANCING
When most Riri fans are celebrating the three times she twerked,
then one has to assume there was very little actual dancing, which is true.
Sure, Riri swayed back and forth with her special brand of chilled,
Caribbean-laced rhythm, but there was a lack of obviously-rehearsed and
‘we-spent-hours-making-this-look-awesome’ performances.
THE SONGS
Thankfully, Riri has a massive catalogue of hits to rely upon and
ultimately, we do pay the money to hear the songs that we love. She delivered
in terms of performing almost all her big hits, many of them during the second
half of the concert, and they were awesome. But I was still watching a lot of
it on those big screens… and my knees were still buckling under the pressure.
HER PERSONALITY
I think that the least an artist can do is try – even if somewhat
awkwardly – to engage on a personal level with their audience. Unfortunately,
Rihanna lived up to the ‘rather vacant between the ears’ impression I had of
her, with shouts of ‘Cape Toooooown’ being the apex of her communication with
us. This is where the fans want to experience the artist as a person, but I
can’t tell you anything about her that I didn’t already know.
There was zero talk of any song meaning something to her and nothing
at all about what visiting our country has been like. It just felt very
non-personal.
THE BEST MOMENT
‘Stay’ was a welcome relief from the bad, distorted sound that always
accompanies big concerts when a bass-heavy dance track is being performed.
Being a ballad that didn’t require her entire band, it was so nice to hear her voice.
The Diamonds follow-up was also great, and each built up to my
favourite moment, right at the end, when a smiling Riri walked off the stage
with a South African flag around her shoulders. It’s safe to say that the
concert ended on a much higher note than it began on.
Would I pay R820 for a golden circle ticket again? For Mariah, yes.
For someone like an Alicia Keys that takes time to engage with her audience,
yes as well. But for most others, probably not.
The Rihanna concert was an okay experience sprinkled with a few
really fun moments, but I did leave thinking that in this case, the music ultimately
overshadows the star behind it.
