The Loud Tour was the fourth overall and third world concert tour by Barbadian people recording artist Rihanna. Performing in over twenty countries in the Americas and Europe, the tour was launched in support of Rihanna's fifth studio album Loud (2010). Critics acclaimed the show for its liveliness and higher caliber of quality when compared to Rihanna's previous tours. The Loud Tour was a large commercial success, experiencing demand for an extension of shows in the United Kingdom due to popularity. In London, Rihanna played a record-breaking 10 dates at The O2 Arena. The tour ultimately grossed an estimated value of US$90 million from 98 reported shows and a total audience of 1,200,800. The Loud Tour became the seventh-highest-grossing tour of 2011.
CeeLo Green was confirmed to be the support act for the North American leg of the tour in February 2011. Rihanna spoke about Green joining her on tour in a press statement, saying "I'm a huge fan of Cee Lo since his days with Goodie Mob and with Gnarls Barkley. He's a musical genius, continually reinventing himself, and I'm thrilled to have him join me on tour." However, he decided to pull out of performing on the tour, and cited schedule conflicts for his reason. For his replacement, J. Cole, B.o.B. and DJ Dummy were enlisted to be support acts for the North American leg. For the European leg of the tour, Disc jockey Calvin Harris served as the support act.
The second segment begins with a cover of Prince's "Darling Nikki" where Rihanna, dressed in a suit and holding a cane, rubs against her female dancers. The song moves into "S&M" where her female dancers remove her suit to reveal a tight black leotard and chain her to the stage. After a pillow fight with her male dancers, Rihanna then performs "Let Me", followed by "Skin" where Rihanna brings a fan onstage and gives him/her a lap dance as she descends back beneath the stage for a costume change. A brief guitar solo follows performed by Nuno Bettencourt. Rihanna returns to the stage atop a pink tank shooting puffs of smoke, with her and her dancers dressed in military gear, to perform "Raining Men". After climbing out the tank, Rihanna then performs "Hard" dancing around the stage while her dancers wield pink rifles. A mashup of "Breakin' Dishes" and Sheila E.'s "The Glamorous Life" is performed next, followed by another mashup of "Run This Town" and "Live Your Life" with Rihanna leaving the stage for another costume change.
The second video interlude features Rihanna wearing a red dress while waving sheets of chiffon in the air and ends with the spoken line: "I hate that I love you." Rihanna returns to the stage wearing a bright yellow dress in brown thigh high boots to perform "Unfaithful" on a platform behind purple neon bars. The song then moves into a solo version of "Hate That I Love You" with Rihanna sitting in a chair next to the guitarist. The segment ends with "California King Bed" with smoke covering the stage floor, followed by another guitar solo by Bettencourt. The third and final interlude features a remix of "Pon de Replay" with images from Rihanna's music videos. "What's My Name" opens the final section with Rihanna wearing a colorful sequined bra and jean shorts, dancing with her dancers.
The next song, "Rude Boy", features Rihanna surrounded by her male dancers with various television screens in the background. Rihanna then puts on a pair of sunglasses and chants with the audience for "Cheers (Drink to That)", followed by "Don't Stop the Music" with vigorous choreography. Rihanna then performs "Take a Bow" and says goodbye to the audience. The encore begins with "Love the Way You Lie (Part II)" which Rihanna performs on top of a piano, before moving into the final song, "Umbrella", with Rihanna in a gold outfit, dancing with her dancers, with confetti falling from the ceiling and golden rain drops falling in the backdrops. A performance of "We Found Love" was added to the setlist and closed the show starting on November 14.
Nation News Barbados commented, "The name of Rihanna's world tour adequately described the experience at the biggest show to come to Barbados to date. It took a long time in coming, but Rihanna's first major showing in her hometown was definitely well worth the wait. From the endless hits including 'S&M', 'Man Down', 'Hard', 'Pon De Replay' and 'Unfaithful'; the spectacular stage and props to her playing a solo piece on drums, the girl who grew up in nearby Westbury Road was awesome."
Irish Independent concluded that, "Strutting across the stage surrounded by backing dancers, the 23-year-old seemed at home singing in Ireland. 14,000, mostly female, fans enjoyed the set which kicked off at 9.15pm when the singer emerged to thunderous sound effects and a of video from a silver shell wearing a luminous blue jacket." Scottish tabloid Daily Record remarked, "R&B superstar Rihanna blew the roof off Glasgow's SECC last night with her aptly-titled Loud tour. Exploding on stage in a neon-tuned bubble, the Barbadian singer delivered an enthralling performance that never let up."
June 4, 2011 | Baltimore | United States | 1st Mariner Arena |
June 6, 2011 | Toronto | Canada | Air Canada Centre |
June 7, 2011 | |||
June 8, 2011 | Ottawa | Canadian Tire Centre | |
June 10, 2011 | Montreal | Bell Centre | |
June 11, 2011 | |||
June 14, 2011 | Auburn Hills | United States | The Palace of Auburn Hills |
June 15, 2011 | Chicago | United Center | |
June 16, 2011 | Minneapolis | Target Center | |
June 18, 2011 | Winnipeg | Canada | MTS Centre |
June 19, 2011 | Saskatoon | Credit Union Centre | |
June 21, 2011 | Calgary | Scotiabank Saddledome | |
June 22, 2011 | Edmonton | Rexall Place | |
June 24, 2011 | Vancouver | Rogers Arena | |
June 25, 2011 | |||
June 28, 2011 | Los Angeles | United States | Staples Center |
June 29, 2011 | Anaheim | Honda Center | |
June 30, 2011 | Oakland | Oracle Arena | |
July 2, 2011 | Las Vegas | Mandalay Bay Events Center | |
July 4, 2011 | Albuquerque | The Pavilion | |
July 8, 2011 | Dallas | American Airlines Center | |
July 9, 2011 | Houston | Toyota Center | |
July 11, 2011 | Birmingham | BJCC Arena | |
July 12, 2011 | Atlanta | Chastain Park Amphitheatre | |
July 14, 2011 | Sunrise | BankAtlantic Center | |
July 16, 2011 | Greensboro | Greensboro Coliseum | |
July 17, 2011 | Atlantic City | Borgata Event Center | |
July 19, 2011 | Uniondale | Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum | |
July 21, 2011 | East Rutherford | Izod Center | |
July 22, 2011 | Uncasville | Mohegan Sun Arena | |
July 23, 2011 | Philadelphia | Wells Fargo Center | |
July 24, 2011 | Boston | TD Garden | |
August 5, 2011 | Bridgetown | Barbados | Kensington Oval |
August 15, 2011 | Helsinki | FinlandHietaranta Beach | |
August 17, 2011 | Bergen | Norway | Koengen |
August 18, 2011 | |||
August 20, 2011 | Weston | England | Weston Park |
August 21, 2011 | Chelmsford | Hylands Park | |
September 17, 2011 | São Paulo|rowspan="4"Brazil | Arena Anhembi | |
September 18, 2011 | Belo Horizonte | Mineirinho | |
September 21, 2011 | Brasília | Nilson Nelson Arena | |
September 23, 2011 | Rio de Janeiro | Parque dos Atletas | |
September 29, 2011 | Belfast | Northern Ireland | Odyssey Arena |
September 30, 2011 | |||
October 1, 2011 | |||
October 3, 2011 | Dublin | Ireland | The O2 |
October 5, 2011 | London | England | The O2 Arena |
October 6, 2011 | |||
October 7, 2011 | Liverpool | Echo Arena | |
October 9, 2011 | Manchester | Manchester Evening News Arena | |
October 10, 2011 | Glasgow | Scotland | Scottish Exhibition Hall 4 |
October 11, 2011 | |||
October 13, 2011 | London | England | The O2 Arena |
October 15, 2011 | Birmingham | LG Arena | |
October 16, 2011 | Newcastle | Metro Radio Arena | |
October 19, 2011 | Lyon | France | Halle Tony Garnier |
October 20, 2011 | Paris | Palais Omnisports de Paris-Bercy | |
October 21, 2011 | |||
October 22, 2011 | Antwerp | Belgium | Sportpaleis |
October 25, 2011 | Munich | Germany | Olympiahalle |
October 26, 2011 | Frankfurt | Festhalle Frankfurt | |
October 28, 2011 | Herning | Denmark | Jyske Bank Boxen |
October 30, 2011 | Oslo | Norway | Oslo Spektrum |
November 1, 2011 | Stockholm | Sweden | Avicii Arena |
November 4, 2011 | Hanover | Germany | TUI Arena |
November 5, 2011 | Leipzig | Arena Leipzig | |
November 7, 2011 | Zürich | Switzerland | Hallenstadion |
November 8, 2011 | Cologne | Germany | Lanxess Arena |
November 9, 2011 | Arnhem | Netherlands | GelreDome |
November 11, 2011 | Antwerp | Belgium | Sportpaleis |
November 13, 2011 | London | England | The O2 Arena |
November 14, 2011 | |||
November 15, 2011 | |||
November 18, 2011 | Birmingham | LG Arena | |
November 19, 2011 | Sheffield | Motorpoint Arena | |
November 21, 2011 | Manchester | Manchester Evening News Arena | |
November 22, 2011 | Nottingham | National Ice Centre | |
November 23, 2011 | Glasgow | Scotland | Scottish Exhibition and Conference Centre |
November 25, 2011 | Dublin | Ireland | The O2 |
November 27, 2011 | Newcastle | England | Metro Radio Arena |
November 28, 2011 | Manchester | Manchester Evening News Arena | |
November 29, 2011 | Birmingham | National Indoor Arena | |
December 1, 2011 | London | The O2 Arena | |
December 2, 2011 | Manchester | Manchester Evening News Arena | |
December 3, 2011 | London | The O2 Arena | |
December 4, 2011 | Hamburg | Germany | O2 World Hamburg |
December 6, 2011 | Łódź | Poland | Atlas Arena |
December 7, 2011 | Prague | Czech Republic | O2 Arena Prague |
December 8, 2011 | Budapest | Hungary | Budapest Sports Arena |
December 10, 2011 | Zurich | Switzerland | Hallenstadion |
December 11, 2011 | Turin | Italy | Torino Palasport Olimpico |
December 12, 2011 | Milan | Mediolanum Forum | |
December 14, 2011 | Barcelona | Spain | Palau Sant Jordi |
December 15, 2011 | Madrid | Palacio de Deportes | |
December 17, 2011 | Lisbon | Portugal | Pavilhão Atlântico |
December 20, 2011 | London | England | The O2 Arena |
December 21, 2011 | |||
December 22, 2011 | |||
+ List of cancelled concerts, showing date, city, country, venue, and reason for cancellation | |||||
! scope="col" style="width:11em;" | Date ! scope="col" style="width:11em;" | City ! scope="col" style="width:11em;" | Country ! scope="col" style="width:15em;" | Venue ! scope="col" style="width:30em;" | Reason |
July 8, 2011 | Dallas | United States | American Airlines Center | Fire breakout | |
October 31, 2011 | Malmö | Sweden | Malmö Arena | Severe exhaustion | |
November 2, 2011 | Stockholm | Ericsson Globe | Unknown | ||
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