Operation Misery: Week 2, Day 3.

The good news is that I was almost immediately able to find out how Rihanna's concert in Montreal last night (17/3/13) went. The bad news is that it didn't go well.

Scheduled to appear on stage at 21:00 (local) Rihanna didn't actually make it on stage until around 22:20 (local). Although I think it's fair to assume that Rihanna won't actually be taking to the stage until 22:00 (local) at any of her concerts this 1 hour and 20 minute was clearly very noticeable and led to a lot of sarcasm on Twitter. Apparently Rihanna 'slayed the gig' and 'killed Montreal' etc. I think this was done intentionally to fuel the me/Chris Brown duelling horses narrative by creating speculation that Rihanna was being delayed by the emotional effects of my Twitter antics. I would say this is a very bad idea because well let's just say I'm one of those people who is best kept behind the curtain.

The main problem though was that Rihanna's voice has clearly not recovered from her bout of laryngitis (inflammation of the larynx btw) so her performance was very poor. So poor in fact that she had to be carried by her backing track and backing singers to the extent that some people have likened her to simply being the audience member with the best seat in the house as a DJ played Rihanna songs. Obviously this further fuels the criticism that's often levelled at Rihanna that she can't actually sing. Some people have gone so far as to suggest that the laryngitis story has simply been made up to give Rihanna an excuse.

This is bad news for Rihanna because as you've probably noticed from the nudity theme of the Unapologetic album, the "Stay" video and the tour's promotional material she had been planning on using this tour to show the naked strength of her voice to face her critics head-on and in doing so defeat them. It might be even worse news for Rihanna though because if she does go on to permanently damage her voice she may well be left using this bout of laryngitis as an excuse for the rest of her life.

In terms of the show it's self the set list and the costumes remained the same. There was though some talk of a very noticeable use of a sample from The Who song "Won't Get Fooled Again" during "Rockstar 101." However not having heard the song I can't really comment on whether this was done on purpose or something someone just happened to notice due to my Twitter antics. This actually highlights one of the main things that has been annoying me about the rather chaotic way this tour has begun. I was actually looking forward to the opportunity of getting to know some Rihanna songs. I am though still waiting for the record company to deliver the back catalogue so I can build up my working knowledge.

One song I'm particularly interested in is "Jump" because of the way it is performed during the concert using lots of fire and pyrotechnics. Although it's quite common for concerts of this type to use fire and pyrotechnics the use in Rihanna's show is a reference to Beyonce's SuperBowl performance. That it turn was a reference to Rihanna's performances in Azerbaijan soon after her performance at the para-Olympic closing ceremony and immediately after Rihanna's reunion with Chris Brown in the toilet of a New York nightclub in October 2012.

Dubbed "The Land of Fire" Azerbaijan's proximity of Iran meant that the place was a hot bed of espionage activity at the time of Rihanna's concerts and actually still is. So while I don't have any first hand knowledge of Rihanna's concerts I have heard a lot of rumours. The same rumour that keeps coming up time and time again is that without access to marijuana Rihanna had a significant emotional meltdown following the second concert on the Saturday night. This is the sort of thing that sets off warning bells that her marijuana habit has gone beyond recreational use and crossed into drug addiction.

So the use of fire during Jump is supposed to re-ignite those rumours for every time Rihanna crosses an international border and especially as her tour moves down the west coast of Canada, through Seattle and onto California. Therefore I have to say that I have absolutely no problem with Rihanna's marijuana use whilst she is on tour because any problem she has with drugs are clearly secondary to the problem she has with Chris Brown. Therefore I see no need to interfere with Rihanna's drug use until the CIA handlers interfere with Chris Brown. That said without co-operation there is only so much weight a no touchy touchy from me can carry because without going into any level of detail there is an element of the Cyprus story that Team Breezy would be well advised to take careful note of.

Finally although Rihanna clearly has a legitimate reason to cancel tonight and tomorrow's concerts in Toronto as she's already crossed the border into Canada I think she'll be performing alive or dead. However I would now be seriously questioning whether it is worth going ahead with the Detroit and Chicago concerts rather then cancelling, claiming on the insurance and starting again when Rihanna's healthy again. Possibly in Saint Paul's or possibly even later. After all that is what insurance premiums are for.

17:20 on 18/3/13.