Gig review: Rihanna, SECC

NEITHER as visually creative as Gaga, as lusty of lung as Aguilera or Beyoncé, nor as mischievous as Katy Perry, Rihanna appears to have attained pop superstar status with a skimpy complement of decent songs, and an even skimpier wardrobe.

Her Loud show was as good as its title, with a stage set modelled on an old boombox, eye-wateringly bright costumes, a quaking bass sound that almost drowned out every other instrument on opening number Only Girl (in the World) and a whole heap of blaring indistinct clubby bangers to follow. Ironically the bass rumble was toned down on the reggae track Man Down which, along with a later dancehall interlude, nicely showed off her Barbados roots and felt like her natural musical habitat.

But soon enough, she was simply writhing where Madonna had writhed before. At least there was some humour in the use of pink phallic symbols for the next section of the show, including a cannon that shot T-shirts into the crowd.

Moving away from adult territory there was a bratty energy to Breakin’ Dishes and her kid-bashing-the-biscuit-tins percussion solo, though her most exuberant number was the unpretentious Please Don’t Stop the Music. The sweetest moments were also the simplest – the communal singalong to Take a Bow and the brandished umbrellas in the crowd during the song of the same name proved that Rihanna doesn’t have to take her clothes off to deliver a good time.

Rating: ***