Let’s not get things twisted. “The Monster Tour” may be billed equally between Eminem and Rihanna, but it’s really “The Eminem Show.”
The crowd that packed MetLife Stadium Saturday night was overwhelmingly his crowd. Though they started the nearly three-hour show onstage together and closed it together, Rihanna did her set first and basically warmed up the crowd for Eminem.
Still, this was a mismatch: of sonic styles, of performance approaches, of audiences. When it came to commitment and technical accomplishment, this was asymmetric warfare: Eminem laser-focused and professional, Rihanna sticking to her 10-mile stare and repertoire of half-dance moves. Like many in the crowd, Rihanna spent much of the show lip-syncing to Rihanna songs.
And yet she seemed grander than Eminem, who has remained resolutely blue-collar in demeanor and work ethic. His expertise is both thrilling and tiresome. At times, it feels as if hes rapping merely to satisfy himself. But her evident lack of interest is enrapturing, her unwillingness to work hard the mark of someone who knows all the cheat codes. Her performance verged on the philosophical: What is the bare minimum Rihanna must do onstage in order for an event to qualify as a Rihanna concert?
Yet for all the provocative gestures and lyrics, there was a strangely listless, dead-eyed feel to Rihanna’s moves. The hits were present and correct, but her charisma was much less so. At certain points, she danced like a stripper nearing the end of her shift, making a mental note that she needs to buy some cat food and toilet roll on the way home.
" Her performance verged on the philosophical: What is the bare minimum Rihanna must do onstage in order for an event to qualify as a Rihanna concert?"
the reviews are giving him so much praise 
