"Rihanna gives Boston fans too little too late" by James Reed | Globe Staff, May 07, 2013
She wasn’t worth the wait. And I mean that on two accounts. Rihanna was originally supposed to play the TD Garden in early March but had to cancel because of laryngitis. Fair enough.
When she returned Monday night, to another sold-out crowd of close to 14,500 people, it should have been spectacular. Instead, she took the stage around 10:30 p.m., 90 minutes after her scheduled set time. Rapper A$AP Rocky, her opening act, was a no-show because he was sick, leaving a DJ to fill three hours of silence.
Adding insult to injury? There was no announcement about the delays, or even a tweet from the artist, and certainly no apology at any point.
Related: Rihanna takes aim at critics on ‘Unapologetic’
The crowd responded the best they could: with a round of boos. Even when the house lights went down, the cheers and jeers rose up in unison. That’s not how you want to begin your rescheduled concert.
All that drama aside, Rihanna gave a listless performance that hinged more on come-hither stares, coy smiles, a self-awareness that bordered on smug....
She tried to hit hard in the last stretch with some of her biggest hits — but it was too late. By then it was simply a mad dash to the finish line, just one more twirl and hair toss before she could recede into the shadows.
She seemed oblivious to all of this, of course. After the show, she expressed her love for Boston on Twitter....
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