Top selling musical artist Rihanna graced the stage of Chicago United Center sold out April 15 concert. Rihanna tour included 36 cities in three months and her single “Work” has been No. 1 on Billboard top 100 charts for the last eight weeks.

The opening artist was hip hop rapper Travis Scott. I listened to him hit the stage from the hallway. The temptation to buy Rihanna souvenirs was too strong to ignore. I caught the last two songs of his set as I headed to my seat and his sound was interesting.

Scott’s dark props on stage reminded me of the boiler room scene from the movie Nightmare on Elm Street. The large prop of Scott’s face looked like Freddy Kruger too. Scott closed his set with his hit song ‘Antidote’ and the audience went wild, while he jumped around the stage rapping with no shirt on.

Scott was the perfect hype man and the audience surrounding me was exhilarated.
The seats at the United Center didn’t start to fill up until 9 p.m. Rihanna’s descent to the stage occurred about 30 minutes later.

As the lights dimmed in the stadium, the audience rose to their feet, arms raised up, holding lighted cell phones. The glow around the stadium was electrifying.

The audience started screaming with excitement as Rihanna came out of an entrance next to the audience. She walked across the floor to a set of white steps that led up to a square stage centered in the middle of the stadium. The stage was draped in white to match the hood of her straight-jacket cape. The white mid-thigh stiletto boots she wore encompassed the sexy appeal of the costume.

Rihanna opened the show with one of her old songs “Stay” and the lyrics were belted out in a forlorn voice that captivated fans for two minutes. She slithered across the small stage singing into her next song towards a clear bridge that was suspended in the air.

Rihanna sang a variety of her old and new songs for an hour and fifteen minutes. The costumes she wore matched each set of songs well.

The stage was simply draped in white with large bubbles around the stage. When she started singing the song “Diamonds,” bubbles started falling from the ceiling.

The 27 tracks she sang were a mixture of seductive crooning about heartbreak and embracing your sex appeal. Dance club tracks were sung also.

The energy from the audience was exciting as each of us gyrated our hips to the beat of her music and gloriously sang along with her.

Rihanna closed out the show with my favorite song from her new Anti-album “Kiss it Better.” The song was the perfect way to end a sexy night and left fans wanting more from the songstress.

Rihanna is definitely an artist worth seeing live. I love her music and, from the packed stadium, other fans felt the same way. The energy that she exuded on stage was an exhilarating adventure. Hearing the music live made me appreciate it all the more.