From cryptic videos to creepy tweets, Rihanna’s Anti World Tour is already full of mystery. The announcement of her 8th studio album Anti was back in October 2015, where we also discovered that she is releasing it jointly through her own record label Westbury Road and Roc Nation and the upcoming tour will follow what has been another massive year for the barbadian mega star. Firstly she released ‘FourFiveSeconds’ with Kanye West and Paul McCartney, then ‘Bitch Better Have My Money’ and its controversial video, and finally ‘American Oxygen’, all with storming success.
So, what do we want to see from the artist that tends to zig when everyone else zags?
Powerfully Raw
Rihanna has previously said in an interview with Complex that her favourite song of hers was ‘Umbrella’. That was until ‘Diamonds’ dropped. “It’s a really powerful song even to listen to,” she says. “It just gets you… you just get sucked in. Even if you’re in the club, it really fucks with your head.”
Can we then expect less of the likes of ‘Bitch Better Have My Money’ and more of her ballads like ‘Stay’? Or could it be something else?…
Pretty big debates opened up around the political undertone of ‘American Oxygen’ when it was released last year. The internet exploded with discussions of Rihanna’s commentary on the “american dream”, with the music video collating some of the most emotional events in recent history. We think that there are probably plenty more statements to be made on Rihanna’s Anti World tour.
Smokin’ Hot Collabs
Rihanna has always been one to partner up with both obvious matches, and the not so obvious artists (*cough* McCartney *cough*). It has been announced however, that US rapper Big Sean and breakthrough singer The Weeknd will be joining Rihanna for the European dates while her rumoured boyfriend, Travis Scott, will serve as the support act for the US dates. Also, rumours of a down-tempo dancehall ballad with Drake were spread across the internet, with people citing a leaked casting music video call-sheet as insider info. Rihanna’s Anti World tour is sure going to be exciting!
No Censor
Rihanna’s never been shy but we just like it when she is brasher than ever! It seems fairly likely this will continue as well if her BBHMM performance at the iHeartRadio Music Awards 2015 (above) is anything to go by. She’s made it quite clear in the past that she would “rather be smoking weed,” and she told NME that Taylor Swift’s the role model, not her. Rihanna’s Anti World tour will most likely include the skimpy outfits and foul language that we’re all used to.
Rihanna last toured the UK in 2013 when she performed on her Diamonds world tour in support of her seventh studio album, Unapologetic, which spawned the hit singles Diamonds, Stay, Right Now and Pour It Up. The 96-date trek, which included 39 shows in Europe, is said to have grossed more than $140m in ticket sales. In most cases it would be safe to assume that the album will drop before the tour starts in February, but we all know that with Rihanna, anything could happen.
The only way to find out all of this for certain is to see for yourself, so get down to one of the following dates!
Rihanna’s Anti World Tour – North American Leg
Friday, February 26, 2016 San Diego, CA Viejas Arena
Sunday, February 28, 2016 San Jose, CA SAP Center
Tuesday, March 01, 2016 Phoenix, AZ Talking Stick Resort Arena
Friday, March 04, 2016 Austin, TX Frank Erwin Center
Saturday, March 05, 2016 Houston, TX Toyota Center
Sunday, March 06, 2016 Dallas, TX American Airlines Center
Tuesday, March 08, 2016 New Orleans, LA Smoothie King Center
Wednesday, March 09, 2016 Atlanta, GA Philips Arena
Saturday, March 12, 2016 Jacksonville, Jacksonville Arena
Sunday, March 13, 2016 Tampa, FL Amalie Arena
Tuesday, March 15, 2016 Miami, FL American Airlines Arena
Friday, March 18, 2016 Nashville, TN Bridgestone Arena
Saturday, March 19, 2016 Cincinnati, OH U.S. Bank Arena
Sunday, March 20, 2016 Charlotte, NC Time Warner Cable Arena
Tuesday, March 22, 2016 Washington, DC Verizon Center
Wednesday, March 23, 2016 Buffalo, NY First Niagara Center
Thursday, March 24, 2016 Auburn Hills, MI Palace of Auburn Hills
Saturday, March 26, 2016 Hartford, CT XL Center
Sunday, March 27, 2016 Brooklyn, NY Barclays Center
Saturday, April 02, 2016 Newark, NJ Prudential Center
Sunday, April 03, 2016 Philadelphia, PA Wells Fargo
Tuesday, April 05, 2016 Quebec City, QC Centre Videotron
Wednesday, April 06, 2016 Montreal, QC Bell Centre
Saturday, April 09, 2016 Baltimore, MD Royal Farms Arena
Sunday, April 10, 2016 Boston, MA TD Garden
Wednesday, April 13, 2016 Toronto, ON Air Canada Center
Friday, April 15, 2016 Chicago, IL United Center
Monday, April 18, 2016 Winnipeg, MS MTS Centre
Wednesday, April 20, 2016 Edmonton, AB Rexall Place
Thursday, April 21, 2016 Calgary, AB Scotiabank Saddledome
Saturday, April 23, 2016 Vancouver, BC Rogers Arena
Sunday, April 24, 2016 Seattle, WA KeyArena
Wednesday, April 27, 2016 Salt Lake City, UT Vivint Arena
Friday, April 29, 2016 Las Vegas, NV Mandalay Bay
Tuesday, May 03, 2016 Los Angeles, CA Forum
Saturday, May 07, 2016 Oakland, CA Oracle Arena
Rihanna’s Anti World Tour – European Leg
Saturday, June 11, 2016 Amsterdam, Holland Amsterdam Arena
Tuesday, June 14, 2016 Coventry, United Kingdom Ricoh Arena
Thursday, June 16, 2016 Cardiff, United Kingdom Cardiff Stadium
Saturday, June 18, 2016 Sunderland, United Kingdom Stadium Of Light
Tuesday, June 21, 2016 Dublin, Ireland Aviva Stadium
Friday, June 24, 2016 London, United Kingdom Wembley Stadium
Monday, June 27, 2016 Glasgow, United Kingdom Hampden Park
Wednesday, June 29, 2016 Manchester, United Kingdom Emirates Old Park
Monday, July 4, 2016 Stockholm, Sweden Tele2 Arena
Thursday, July 7, 2016 Copenhagen, Denmark Refshale Island
Saturday, July 9, 2016 Hamburg, Germany Volkspark Stadion
Wednesday, July 13, 2016 Milan, Italy San Siro
Friday, July 15, 2016 Nice, France Allianz Stadium
Sunday, July 17, 2016 Frankfurt, Germany Commerzbank Arena
Tuesday, July 19, 2016 Lyon, France Grande Stade
Saturday, July 23, 2016 Lille, France Stade Lille
Tuesday, July 26, 2016 Prague, Czech Republic Synotip Arena
Thursday, July 28, 2016 Cologne, Germany Rhein Energie Stadion
Saturday, July 30, 2016 Paris, France Stade de France
Tuesday, August 2, 2016 Berlin, Germany Olympiastadion
Friday, August 5, 2016 Warsaw, Poland PGE Narodowy
Sunday, August 7, 2016 Munich, Germany Olympiastadion
Wednesday, August 10, 2016 Vienna, Austria Ernst Happel Stadium
Friday, August 12, 2016 Zurich, Switzerland Letzigrund Stadion
