Foto: Karin Lundin, Rockfoto.
We feel a need to comment on the reviews and articles written about Rihanna and her performance in Stockholm, starting with our own segment on Kulturnyheterna. Like we said earlier, we are not happy about the way it was handled. In the article they describe our questioning of the reporter’s sexist statements as ”Ebba and Alexandra don’t appreciate being asked critical questions about their idol”.
Let us be perfectly clear: we do not appreciate slut shaming. Period.
If you slut shame Rihanna we’re gonna call you out on it. If you slut shame your sister we’re gonna call you out on it. Simple as that. How about asking us if there’s any problematic sides to being a fan? We will gladly elaborate on classism, ageism, ableism and disappointment (to name a few topics that would be interesting to discuss in the context of stanning), but don’t grab us in the middle of a 24 hour queuing session to question Rihanna’s right to her own body. That’s not only rude to her but to us who are sitting on some mighty fine knowledge and experience in the field of Fenty.
Now, let’s get into the reviews. Expressen’s Anders Nunstedt said she’s lip syncing her way through the show. He must not have watched her because Rihanna does not hide the fact that she doesn’t sing every line. There’s plenty of places where she leaves the singing to her audience, while she vibes out to her own beat, but she’s not pretending to sing when she isn’t. There’s also a lot of knowledge gaps attached to this, like him saying she’d rather snap her fingers than sing during Consideration, not knowing the voice we hear in the speakers is SZA’s (as this was a collaboration between the two).
”The dramaturgy is very unconsidered.” – Anders Nunstedt
Let’s get into this, because if there’s one thing this show has it’s a framing. The core is intimacy and authenticity, whether it’s seeing her walk in through the audience, getting to admire her butt cheeks from underneath or being let into a very private and unfiltered space during Love On The Brain. The set design and costumes are also clean and rather simple, with nothing to distract us from Rihanna (because Rihanna is what we came to see). When her stylist Mel Ottenberg talked to Vogue about the costumes, he said:
”I really wanted to start in something with canvas, with no decoration or beading or anything, sort of as a fresh start” and that the designs are ”anti what any pop diva would ever be wearing”. – Mel Ottenberg
So the show starts out with Rihanna walking into the arena to Stay, eyes covered by a giant hood attached to a mix between a boxer’s robe and a straight jacket. The first two songs are about not being able to let go and needing another person (however destructive they may be) in order to survive. The transition from that exposed and honest place she’s in on stage B to the main stage is executed with over-exposure. She has never been able to hide from the public eye and her respons is to own that situation rather than being contained by it. So she walks above our heads inviting fans to photograph as much as they like (and reposting much of it on her social media platforms later).
Then there’s the party section. The ratchet section. The hanging-with-your-friends-finding-happiness-section. The I don’t give a fuck and that’s what you love about me section. This is her show and she owns it. It’s obvious that the ANTI tracks are the most fun for her to perform so that’s what she’s gonna do.
Anders Nunstedt claims she doesn’t know how to do an arena show. What he doesn’t understand is that she’s not doing an arena show, she’s doing a Rihanna show. This is what her fans came to see. Not a perfectly choreographed Beyoncé show, not an over the top crazy pop fest with Lady Gaga, not Coldplay’s bombastic light plays, not Katy’s wonderlands – this is Rihanna and SHE is what drives everything forward. She’s the villain and hero all in one. The anti-hero.
The finale kicks off with Same Ol’ Mistakes (”Feel like a brand new persoooooon”) and ends with a series of ballads about liberation, self love and desire. This time around, the love songs centers herself rather than a partner. A matured Rihanna has taken off her straight jacket and says goodbye by walking across the stage looking us straight in the eyes, waving.
A show that started out with tortured love ends up in its opposite. The journey from one point to another is built on honesty, friendship and artistic development. She’s giving us her story. If the show seems messy it’s because life is.
"Love On The Brain" – ANTI World Tour 2016 (Stockholm) pic.twitter.com/AA0JBXgCdM
— Rihanna Performances (@rihperformances) July 4, 2016
After reading Markus Larsson’s review for Aftonbladet we started to see a trend of middle aged white men not getting Rihanna. The fact that the papers even send these guys out to review her is mind-boggling. If you compare Larsson’s review with the one he did of Håkan Hellström at Ullevi for example, it’s obvious he identifies with one and not the other. That is of course perfectly fine, but what’s interesting is that both he and Nunstedt see it as her failure that she doesn’t appeal to them. We’d say that that’s what makes her precious.
But they’re not being adressed by Rihanna and can’t comprehend that other people are. None of them even questions if that might actually be an artistic quality instead of a failed attempt at filling their expectations. Rihanna clearly doesn’t give a fuck, they should know her well enough.
”The two shows at Ullevi are like a movie where the misfits, all the boys and girls of different ages that never got to feel normal, gets to play the lead. For a short while it’s the losers’ time to win.” – Markus Larsson reviews Håkan Hellström [our translation]
First of all LOL at Håkan representing some kind of misfits and losers. He’s a dude with a guitar and you’re a dude who likes music. While we’re sure both of you have lived through your share of darker times there’s no oppression or actual alienation involved. Try comparing it to a working class black girl from Barbados. Try adding addiction and abuse to that upbringing. If there ever was an audience of losers provided with someone like themselves to look up to for the first time, it’s at a Rihanna show. But once again, that’s out of Larsson’s reach. Instead he calls the show a ”poorly mixed dj-set”.
Try to imagine Aftonbladet and Expressen sending a young black girl to review Håkan Hellström. That would never happen, so why are they pushing these men upon us? Time to hire new people with the expertise that’s so obviously missing.
Let’s end this on a good note though. Here is Rihanna’s own review:
/Alex & Ebba
Four hours of fighting to keep our spots remain. At the same time our navy friends are trying to get Rihanna to bring us backstage later. Our hopes aren’t high but just seeing all these people direct messaging her about us is beyond. We love our fanbase so damn much!!!!! Nobody goes harder than Rihanna navy.
