The Telegraph said, "On the opening night of the UK leg of her world tour, US R&B superstar Rihanna was taking no prisoners. She kicked off with the homicidal pop-rock ballad Russian Roulette to screen imagery of burning naked mannequins and had shed most of her clothes by her second song, which saw her straddling the gun barrel of a life-size pink tank while a semi-naked, military dance troupe twirled their rifles. Sex, violence and pyrotechnics (including big-screen mushroom clouds to accompany the incendiary Fire Bomb) were the themes of the evening. [...] Rihanna has a set full of hits and each is delivered with maximum bang for the audience's bucks, with revealing costumes, salacious dance routines, eye-catching props and sci-fi screens. [...] Her young, predominantly female fans genuinely adore Rihanna, and were full-throated whenever given the chance to join in. Sex and violence might make for effective 21st-century blockbuster entertainment but the price has been a loss of innocence, charm and individuality."
BBC Radio 1 said, "The 22-year-old star wore a floor-length black dress with red flashing lights on it to kick off the show at
The O2 Arena, which began with last year's single, Russian Roulette. [...] Speaking afterwards most of the audience appeared impressed with the show. [...] The gig ended with the star's biggest hit to date, Umbrella, which managed to hold the number one spot for 10 weeks in 2007. The
Daily Mirror said, "Kicking off the Last Girl On Earth tour, where the running theme is Rihanna as the last human alive, she launches into a fiery Russian Roulette. [...] There was no miming. She's stepped up her game and ready to battle it out with the best of the new female acts." Mikael Wood from
Rolling Stone reviewed the concert in Los Angeles and said that Rihanna held the "audience's attention throughout a nearly two-hour show full of costume changes, video bits and complicated set pieces [...]". Jason Clevett of
GayCalgary considered the show's theme reminiscent of
Janet Jackson's
The Velvet Rope Tour, particularly comparing Jackson's live renditions of "
Rope Burn", "in which she tied an audience member to a bed and proceeded to seduce them", to Rihanna's performance of "Skin." Clay Clane of
BET said of the show: "There may have been doubts, but Rihanna proved she has the star power to command a stage for nearly two hours. [...] Rihanna can sing and there were no signs of lip-synching. Rih never said she was Whitney Houston, and while she doesn't have a massive vocal range, she uses her voice well, sounding just like her records and belting out some notes that I didn't know were in her. The
New York Post said, "Rihanna is a dream girl", who "kept the set lively with fireworks, an arsenal of gun props and a program that wove together the bubbly dance pop and the harder rock-flavored material featured on her recent
Rated R record." From the show opener, "Russian Roulette", to the last encore song – her megahit "Umbrella" – Rihanna was electric for a performance that was amped-up and aggressive. == Show incidents ==