On Friday, April 15th, Rihanna’s ANTi World Tour came to the United Center in Chicago. Doors opened at 7:30 and the night didn’t end until about four hours later. I arrived before nine to catch the end of Travis Scott’s set. Travis, the only opening act for the night, performed some of his most popular songs including “Antidote”. Although I didn’t know a lot of his songs, his performance got me and the rest of the crowd hype. With his rhythmic songs and high energy, it was impossible to be there and not want to dance. After seeing him perform, I’ll definitely be listening to more of his music.
At about 9:30, Rihanna entered the arena. Surprisingly to fans, a stage was set up parallel to the bigger stage for her first two songs, “Stay” and “Love the Way You Lie Pt. II”. After singing these two songs, she removed the hood that was covering her face, making the crowd go wild. She then hovered over the crowd to perform “Sex with me” and “Woo” while making her way to the big stage.
Rihanna wowed the crowd for the next two hours, performing songs from her new album and even older hits including “Man Down” and “Umbrella”, much to the audience’s surprise. During and in between some of her songs there were dancers and voguers. My favorite setup for the show was the rainbow/hypnotic background she used during her performance of “How Deep is Your Love”/”We Found Love”.
The night ended on a chill note with “Kiss it Better”.
I enjoyed myself at the concert and I’m looking forward to the next time she performs in Chicago!