Rihanna's Anti Tour Is Already Having Problems

I've been part of the Rihanna Navy for as long as I can remember, and my eternal love for the singer was all the more solidified with the release of ANTI which is, in my humble opinion, her best album yet — an opinion I know I'm in the minority for holding, but whatever. I was so excited when I managed to book tickets to see Rihanna (and The Weeknd) on her upcoming Anti Tour this summer. Seeing all the songs I love being performed live on stage in front of me? What's not to love? But alas, my joy was to be short-lived, as Rihanna's Anti Tour has suffered major production delays, not only pushing the beginning of the tour back, but rescheduling and outright cancelling other stops along the way.

While it's unclear exactly what the issue is that's causing the delay, word on the street is that it's simply down to the show not being ready yet. As a major pop star, no doubt Rihanna will want everything to be absolutely flawless, and the show will need to be choreographed and scheduled just so. Then there's the staging and lighting sets that need to be built, the crew that needs to be assembled, etc. Looking at all that goes into a major concert like that, it's understandable that there might be a few bumps in the road, but I won't lie and say that this doesn't majorly suck.

Originally, Rihanna's Anti Tour was due to kick off in a week — February 26, to be specific — in San Diego, California. Instead, it won't actually start until March 12, this time in Jacksonville, Florida. Many of the dates that had to be pushed back have since been rescheduled for May, including San Diego, Oakland, San Jose, Houston, Austin, Dallas, Atlanta, Phoenix and New Orleans. And that's not even starting on the UK and Europe side of the pond. My tickets were for a date in Sunderland, in the north of England, but that date has just been cancelled altogether, and instead we were offered either whatever remained of the terrible seats in London or Coventry or a full refund. I'll be taking the refund.

Rihanna isn't the first star to experience production delays for a major tour — in fact, it's a somewhat common thing in the music industry. I'm sure once it kicks off, it's going to be absolutely brilliant, and Rihanna will slay audiences around the world as only she can. I'm just incredibly sad that I won't get to be there to see it this time around.