Off-Killter 6: The Day Rihanna Cried
In this episode of the Polykill's off-topic podcast, Jake and Trav read and discuss listener stories involving live music, and recite their own concert going experiences. Jake has seen Flogging Molly how many times? Where did Trav sit for his first Aerosmith show? Enjoy!
P1's Rihanna Story
My dearest Polypill,
I heard this topic and a single story came to mind that I had to share with you. It all seems so unreal when I tell it now after the fact, and for that reason I have included some Tweets and Instagram posts from the event to help you absorb all the feels we had that fateful night in Dublin.
Tears of an Angel
I am in the Royal Canadian Navy and I spent the first 6 months of 2016 deployed with NATO for Operation Reassurance. We patrolled the Mediterranean and Black seas from January until July and stopped in various ports in Europe. It was a long time away from family and friends, something that was exacerbated by the fact that the RCN blocks all access to websites that are labelled with the GAMING tag Fun fact 1: this includes the CartridgeClub site. So I turned to the two things that can uplift my spirits like nothing else; video games and music.
Among my favourite artists is the incomparable songstress Rihanna. She's talented, beautiful and clearly a gamer!
Now before you judge me I'd like to point out that she has more #1 songs than any other musical act in the HISTORY OF MUSIC. While being ridiculed daily for the blaring Umbrella and Rude Boy coming from my work space I would respond with "ALL SHE HAS IS HITS" and a fun little touchdown dance for my girl.
So when I found out that she was going to be performing in Dublin as part of her Anti World Tour while we were scheduled to be in port I was over the moon with excitement.
Now if you've never been in the Navy you might not be aware of often plans change and we get to a port a day late. Not to mention wasn't even sure I'd still be able to get tickets when I got to port so that I could use my phone and order them. Fun Fact 2: The RCN blocks all ticket purchasing websites. The stars aligned for me however and tickets were purchased while we were in Toulon, France and Command confirmed our date of arrival in Dublin. The hard part was over. Now I just needed to find a way backstage so I could thank her in person for helping get this sailor through half a year away from his family.
So myself and a couple friends from the ship, who also have impeccable taste in music, make our way to Aviva Stadium and we're pumped. The stadium is packed, we're amped up and after sharing 180 days with these guys it was the perfect way to say "Thanks for being a friend"
The concert starts and Rihanna walks out on a suspended beam over the crowd to cheers and screams of adulation. After the intro she stands 15 feet above us on a platform and begins to sing Love the Way You Lie. Something about this moment hit me right in the feels. So at the top of my lungs, I shouted no more than 50 feet away from this angel above:
"Rihanna the Navy Loves you! We love you!"
I expected to be washed out in the noise of the crowd. But something happened. She stopped singing and took a step away from the microphone. Clearly seen on the big screen were tears running down her face. Now I'm an emotional guy (usually it's anger) and this got me. I saw her crying, my friends started yelling that she'd heard me and then I felt wet streaks running down my face. In the midst of 66,000 people I felt as if her and I shared a special moment.
The rest of the show was a blur of cheering, singing, dancing and celebrating. It was a great show and one that I am glad I had the chance to attend.
So the next day as we're telling the story people don't believe that she cried. Those who do believe it are adamant that there is no way she heard me and that it was clearly something about the song that made her weep. To be honest after the fact I doubted it myself and then I saw her instagram post.
I furiously googled Rihanna Cries in Dublin and came across an article written by the BBC:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/newsbeat/article/36595528/rihanna-breaks-down-crying-during-her-dublin-concert
It confirmed everything I had imagined happened. While RiRi has never publicly acknowledged she heard me, I like to think that her IG post was as close as I'll ever get.
So that's my story fellas and I hope you liked it. Whether you use it or not I wanted to thank you for giving me a reason to talk about this magical night and to experience those emotions all over again.
Don't stop the music fellas,
Sean 'C-Diddy' Combs
