Rihanna?

[gr8gonzo]

I'm not a Rihanna fan.  Her music's not my thing, but when I read that Nuno Bettencourt was joining her live band, I became curious.  She's premiering material from her new album with a live performance somewhere in London at 8pm tonight (3pm EST) and streaming it free here:

//http://nowplaying.nokia.com/blog/2009/11/welcome-to-rihanna-live/

[Pajter]

That's one great guitarist to have in your live band. I'm impressed.

I wonder how this will turn out.

[gr8gonzo]

I intended just to peek in on the live stream and ended up watching the whole thing (it was only about 45 minutes long).  Nuno sounded awesome.  He didn't really get to show off his chops much.  He really stood out on a couple of openings early on, then was mostly just playing crunchy chords over everything.  One track had a little of "Dream Police" in it.  I'm not sure if that's on the album version, but I applaud the selection.

It was like hearing Linkin Park with a female singer.  Like I said, I'm not a Rihanna fan, but if the album versions are as heavy as what they did live, it's going to be one of those gain fans/lose fans things.  Pretty cool, I must say.

[Pajter]

I had to miss it as I was occupied with other obligations. But if someone managed to record this stream somewhere I'll definitely check it out. Pop music isn't necessarily all that bad. With the right people involved, it has great potential.

Besides, if Nuno is involved, it surely has some merit too listen to.

PS. Not a Rihanna fan here either. Personally I think she's a bit of a spoiled kid.

[gr8gonzo]

Nokia is going to put up highlights of the performance at the same link I posted.  Tomorrow, I believe.

[Geetar]

Thanks for the info gonz. I missed the stream, but the highlights will hopefully give a flavour of NB's contribution.

[catherine]

I wouldn't count myself as a Rihanna fan either, but I caught a live version of "Shut up and Drive" a few weeks ago while idly flicking through channels and loved the guitar on it.