Thousands thronged on Nov. 8, at City Place Mall in downtown Silver Spring, local radio station Hot 99.5 and young Barbadian singer whose debut song “Pon De Replay” was in top at number two on the Billboard charts for a greater part of the summer, were hosted a free concert in aid of victims of the recent hurricanes.
Local radio Hot 99.5 was conducting a bracelet drive in aid of the recent hurricanes. When they contacted Rihanna label, she said they wanted to include the station and D.C. Metropolitan area fans in their Secret Body Spray Tour.
Hot Morning Mess co-host Mark Kaye added that Rihanna told Hot 99.5 that she would perform for free, if all the bracelets in their possession were sold.
Hot 99.5 sold 99% of the 9,000 bracelets and a $6,000 check was presented to ‘Red Cross’ during Rihanna’s performance. “Everybody won. The fans won, the hurricane victims won and we won,” said Kaye.
Rihanna appeared in a purple halter-top and loose fitting jeans 15 minutes before showtime and interacted with the fans with autographs and posed for pictures. The crowd resulted in an argument - who were greatest fan of the star.
As Rihanna diappeared behind the red background of the makeshift stage, the screaming died down and free candy and t-shirts were thrown into the crowd, who were awaiting Rihanna’s return.
The show hosts Kaye and Kris Gamble from Hot 99.5 came out to warm up the crowd, ended with two questions “Are you ready to hear some live music?” and “Are you ready to see Rihanna?”.The fans answered with screams.
In few minutes Rihanna was preceded by two dancers dressed as camera phones, opened the concert with the song from the cover of reggae classic “You Don’t Love Me (NO NO NO)” followed by her second single, “If It’s Lovin’ That You Want”.
During the song Rihanna executed the same choreographed movements as the dancers behind her and paused momentarily to tell Washington that she was “so glad to be here right now,” though her voice could hardly be heard over the boisterous bass of the background music and the teenage boys confessing their love to her.
Rihanna took short break to thank Secret Body Spray for bringing her on tour, began to sing a new upbeat tune something special, which was well received by the audience.
Kaye and Gamble appeared after the song for the check presentation and announced Rihanna’s movie cheerleading flick, Bring It On 3 by Universal Pictures.
The concert continued with Rihanna singing choruses of songs by other artists such as Kanye West, T.I. and Sean Paul.
And finally Rihanna presented the crowd with her most popular Pon De Replay. With this the concert came to an end as police escorted Rihanna and she whisked away.