Tuesday, April 23, 2013

Rihanna Mumbles Her Way Through Her Atlanta Concert

One of the problems with the way concerts are today is that all the words and music and everything needed for a show are on the backing tracks. A performer can decide to sing everything or nothing. Most performers say it is because it is the only way they can dance and sing at the same time. Audience members want more and more advanced dancing and production, but then, that means the vocals will lag. Rihanna used to sing all the songs during her shows. That is not the case now. Last night in Atlanta when she did try and sing songs, they sounded like crap or she would mumble through portions when she could not remember the words. The only parts of the show that were good were when she would be quiet and just dance and let her pre-recorded voice run the show. Audience members who were interviewed after the show and who were Tweeting during the show said Rihanna looked wasted and they were shocked she managed to remember the name of what city she was in.

55 comments:

All about Eve said...

I smell a trip to rehab soon

camembert said...

Rihanna can't dance very well, although she's better than Gaga. As for singing live, she's better off not.

Unknown said...

RiRi, please go to rehab.

Diner said...

Pink sings all of her songs and her shows are amazing. I think the backing tracks are mainly for those that can't sing live or are too wasted to do so.

MISCH said...

Burning bridges...so sad

audrey said...

I feel cheated when I go to a concert to see someone live and get nothing but a Memorex performance. If I wanted to hear them sing perfect, I would buy the CD and stay at home and listen to it. I want live, gritty, and raw at a concert.

nevermindthat said...

That's what heavy drug use and partying will do to you.

CrazyCatLady said...

Backing tracks are just a polite way of saying lip sync, it's total BS. Only exception being Britney, because she shouldn't be forced to tour. If people would just stop paying for over-priced concerts like Rhianna they might get a clue. In addition to Pink, Metallica puts on one helluva a show without backing tracks!

__-__=__ said...

JZ needs to help his women! How can he send her out like this. Shouldn't he be ashamed? Does BIC need the money that bad?? It's disrespectful to the audience at this point.

Unknown said...

get off the stage and let some fresh faces with actual talent give it a shot.

MadLyb said...

I guess this is the answer to the blind last week.

I'd take seeing a live show where the performers are having a blast and actually sing/rapping and playing instruments over all the silly pomp, costumes and dancing - that's what Broadway shows are for, right?

Unknown said...

I know she provides great fodder for our fun but I'm really getting sick of this bitch and her tired antics.

katie said...

Two words: Chris Isaak. Two more words: Boz Scaggs.
I would add Coldplay, Green Day and the late R.E.M. Also Tom Petty.

All of the above are musicians who actually play, sing and move around without enhancement.


God I feel old. Get off my lawn

CantHaveMyPurse said...

I love Boz Scaggs!

Agent**It said...

Steely Dan:)

Undecided said...

And there's the reveal for the singer that took acid and can't remember the words to her songs..

annanaannnaaaa said...

so.... the popular guess was right, and she was the one who forgot her songs after an acid trip....?

amused bush said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
annanaannnaaaa said...

Ha, yes! I was a few minutes late.

amused bush said...

I was dragged to a Pink concert and was amazed at how great her show was...not my normal type of music, but I would definitely see her again.

Pip said...

She is horrible live. I thought mumbling was her norm when performing live. I don't understand her popularity. She really cannot sing well.

MontanaMarriott said...

"Most performers say it is because it is the only way they can dance and sing at the same time." That is such crock, the REAL singers of the past whether it be the Rock & Roll era, Motown, Disco, they SAAAANG and danced their butts off and it was LIVE. These made up performers are not even good to begin with so they need all the studio help they can get. No way they will sing live since alot of them have no real voice of their own.

parissucksliterally said...

Rhianna has ZERO rhythm, and cannot sing for shit. Explain to me why so many people think she is so talented?

Unknown said...

find the SNL clip of her singing "Stay" it was amazing.

Susan said...

My most fave musicians live in concert are Tori Amos, Dave Mathews Band, Harry Connick Jr., and Bon Jovi. Springsteen always brings it as well although his wife SHOULD have backing tracks. Oy. Pleasant surprises were the band Live - remember them? I saw them at the Mann Music Center in Philly. Perfection. I would love to see Pink and I know I would die to see Jason Mraz. And I am a U2 whore, but it is pretty obvi that they use backing everything when they perform.

parissucksliterally said...

Fiona Apple is BRILLIANT live.

Coldplay, Soundgarden, (when they were together) Audioslave....all of them. Fantastic.

lazyday603 said...

Live music is an elastic definition. EDM acts fill arenas & all the playing happening on stage is the recording artist hitting the play button on a laptop. Then he dances behind the laptop. They do go all out on the light shows.

SubaruGirl said...

Springsteen was my first concert, when I was 9 (my mom LOVED him and we went to see him in Minneapolis). Hubby and I are going to Fleetwood Mac tonight - so excited!! Can't wait to see Stevie. :) I've seen Roger Waters and The Wall twice now, and talk about amazing performances. I was definitely born in the wrong decade as far as music goes, considering the crap that passes for concerts now.

chopchop said...

@Susan, I love the band Live. They were a phenomenal act to see in concert. I say "were" because they had a very bitter breakup. :-(

Another amazing live act is Crowded House. I've seen them a few times ... once at a small, old theater and Neil Finn turned off his mike, picked up an acoustic guitar, and sang unplugged. The whole theater joined in ... goosebumps.

Also Ben Folds. He takes requests from the audience. Love him.

And lead singer of Men at Work, Colin Hay. My husband loves him so we've seen him literally dozens of times. He tells really funny stories about being huge in the 80s. It's just Colin, a mike, and a couple of guitars. He always stays afterward to sign autographs and work the merch table.

So, TL;DR summary ... there are still good bands out there. They're just not played on mainstream radio or on the cover of magazines.

Susan said...

I always find the whole dancing and singing simultaneously as reason for lipsynching very interesting because whenever I see a live musical on Broadway or Philly, those peeps are dancing and singing their asses off at the same time.

Does Gaga use backing tracks? I saw Madonna last summer. It was cool, but I'm sure she wasn't live through all of it.

Rihanna has such a whimpy voice, kinda like Janet Jackson. So, it doesn't surprise me that she uses backing tracks. She sounded pretty good at the Grammys, IMO.

Pip said...

Tori Amos is amazing live! I wish I was old enough during her first few tours to have seen her. I watch videos of her then, and am in complete awe. I would love to see Fiona Apple live. You see the passion in each move she makes while singing.

Pip said...

@Susan, Rihanna has an okay voice, but it is not strong and she lacks so much range. If she wasn't good looking, she would not have a career.

Lulu G said...

Love Chris Isaak and Springsteen! CI is great, funny , entertaining , great music and small venues. At least qma few years ago he'd sign auto graphs after shows and the band would mingle. Highly recommended!

And for me nothing can beat Bruce. Ever.

Lulu G said...

Love Chris Isaak and Springsteen! CI is great, funny , entertaining , great music and small venues. At least qma few years ago he'd sign auto graphs after shows and the band would mingle. Highly recommended!

And for me nothing can beat Bruce. Ever.

Lulu G said...

Love Chris Isaak and Springsteen! CI is great, funny , entertaining , great music and small venues. At least qma few years ago he'd sign auto graphs after shows and the band would mingle. Highly recommended!

And for me nothing can beat Bruce. Ever.

califblondy said...

I saw both Boz and Michael McDonald a few years back and they were great.

SugarCoatedBitch said...

Prince. Live. Dances up a storm. Over 50 years old.
Adele. Live. Just stood there and sang. Even apologized fr staying up karaoke-ing and drinking the night before our show. Didn't notice.
Any Broadway singer.
Pink.
MJ.
And on and on.

People have forgiven mediocre acts for too long. When you treat your body right and/or can actually sing, you don't need to lip synch.

mooshki said...

You can blame Madonna. She's the one who started the "I'm dancing so I can't sing" excuse. It was a semi-scandal at the time.

mooshki said...

Chopchop, Crowded House was the second best show I've ever seen, after the Stones. Real talent always shines through.

Diane said...

RiRi - the black Amy Winehouse of 2013

chopchop said...

I think there should be some sort of disclaimer on your ticket if you're going to see someone in concert who has backing tracks & recorded vocals. Kind of like in England, where there are disclaimers on makeup ads if they're using products other than what's being advertised, or if it's photoshopped. It should be disclosed if an artist is not performing 100% live ... I think the public should be made aware of it.

Robin the Mad Photographer said...

In all fairness, there are bands who use backing tracks to "fill in" the sound, if it would be too difficult/expensive/impossible to recreate a particular effect live (e.g., lots of studio fiddling to get a certain sound, using an orchestra, having backing vocalists on tape rather than touring with them). There's a big difference, though, between that and the whole damn show basically being Memorex, which is the problem here.

Hope she gets it together sooner or later...

dezzie disaster said...

@Susan I have seen gaga live, she doesn't lip sync, she sings live the entire time. She has also said something to the effect of that parents and people spend a lot of money on her tickets so she doesn't think its right to lip sync.

Pookie said...

you know what's sad? rihanna's attempt at edgy--even going w/ the topless photo before the show 4/22--still didn't manage to sell out her one night @ phillips arena. especially pathetic bc the Atl is a particularly strong market for her.

by contrast, taylor swift was at the very same arena for 2 nights a couple of days earlier, 4/18 & 4/19. her stage plot and configuration allowed for more seats to be sold than rhianna's. end numbers: both nights sold out. atlanta, more of an urban market, is for taylor a 2nd tier market (based on demographics and radio/media, etc) and a first tier for rihanna--yet rihanna couldn't pull off one night, (she even had fewer seats to sell), in one of her top, most important markets. love or hate taylor or rihanna, it says a LOT.

i smell rehab coming soon.

Susan said...

That's awesome to know about Gaga. I remember when she first started out she said she would never lip synch, but who knows what these artists do once they sell their soul to the biz. I would totally see Lady Gaga if the opportunity presented itself.

I would LOVE to see Justin Timberlake and Jay Z this summer. Any takers?

One of the times I saw Tori Amos was in Pittsburgh during my college years, and half the audience walked out. She's such a nut job and Pittsburgh is kind of conservative. I love it. My Tori CDs would drive my mom bonkers. She'd say, "Susan, all this girl does is sing about sex." And I was like, "No shit, mom." Hee. But, I would take Tori Amos as an idol for an angsty girl over Rihanna ANY day.

Gabriella Oravetz said...

Please don't compare Riri to Amy Winehouse, that woman may have been a mess, but she wrote her own music and was hella talented. When she showed a tit it was because she was high or drunk not because it would make her popular.

MILDRED PIERCE said...

I've seen Rihanna live. She has a distinctive voice and was consistent throughout show. I was impressed because my mate told me she saw her live and said she was abominable. So I kinda didn't have high hopes. Lol. Just to add some balance, there were also people from the show last night who were on twitter during show, who said she was good.

MILDRED PIERCE said...

@Dianne - Are you serious?? I have yet to see anything remotely close to evidence that Rihanna is a woman with a 'Problem'. Poor Amy was visible a cracked out mess and of course the many instances where we could see where it was all going wrong. What do you have with regards to Rihanna? Enty's word and various blind items alluding to Rihanna. So she's a party girl but you are already plotting her demise based on fuck all?? You are actually pathetic

parissucksliterally said...

Mildred Pierce, I think you should pull your head out from under a rock. Although she may not be at death's door, Rhianna OBVIOUSLY has a substance abuse problem. She's a fucking mess.

MILDRED PIERCE said...

@parissucksliterally - I saw a vid of her at strip club yesterday with a stripper's ass in her face and she looked happy as larry. So to me she is just a young, single woman who parties hard (Harder than I could ever do) until I see other wise. You carry on believing blind items that are OBVIOUSLY BS because it suits you to believe the worst.

feraltart said...

Acts I have seen sing live who were great:
Shakin' Stevens (first concert, mum took me as a kid)
Neil Diamond
Billy Joel
Elton John
Pink
Bruce Springsteen
Aerosmith
Lionel Richie
Bon Jovi
Tom Jones
Michael Buble
Guy Sebastian
Savage Garden
Others that I am sure I have forgotten.
Every musical I have ever seen here in Australia & on Broadway.
I never judge support acts as they often don't get the chance to have the best sound.

VeeBee said...

I have to chime in with Pink- that woman is AMAZING. High five to Katie for Tom Petty. I've seen them 33 (yep 33) times and they are fantastic; the real deal through and through. My #1 fave these days is Brandi Carlile. she and her band play real instruments (gasp) and sing live (shock)!!! They even play acoustic AND sing a capella when the mood strikes and guess what? Their voices fill the venue and sound spectacular.

parissucksliterally said...

Sorry Mildred, a video of her fucked up at a strip club proves my point, not yours. Every pic of her she is wasted, stories about her not just on this site show it too. If you are going out and getting fucked up every night, and going back and forth with an abusive boyfriend, that does not scream "healthy attitude towards life" to anyone, except maybe you. How old are you? Early 20's? This girl has zero self esteem, and is wasted all the time. That is not happiness. Or if it is, I don't want any part of it.

PugsterMom said...

Fleetwood Mac no dancing. Just amazing music. Same with Dave Matthews. Paul Simon. Rascal Flatts. Andrea Bocelli. Colbie Caillat. America. Crosby Stills Nash (OK Steven Stills had vocal issues at times but I was OK with that). Etc. Any musical or opera I've ever seen. I'm just not interested in the kinds of singers who dance and occasionally sing.

di butler said...

Amy Winehouse was a train wreck beyond imagination. Low self-esteem, unhappy, tortured human. But, she was exceedingly talented. Ri isn't. She's a beautiful young woman with mediocre talent, excellent connections, a s#it family, horrible common sense, and sadly, her beat down propelled her to a greater fame than she'd have if hadn't happened. (see: Kanye/Taylor Swift). Sad, horrible, but true.

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