After taking the charts by storm with her own unqiue style of music, Rihanna now showcases her musical talents at the RDS on Sunday, December 2nd. Find out more about this hugely exciting concert along with our guide to making the most of this event - how to get to the RDS, nearby Dublin hotels and much more.
The RDS is located in the suburb of Ballsbridge, just south of Dublin city centre. It sits on a 42 acre site on Merrion Road and if you’re feeling up to it it’s a nice walk from the city centre. Starting outside of Trinity College, walk along Nassau Street for about 150 metres. Take a right and follow signs for Mount Street and the R118. Stay on this road for about 2kms and you should see the RDS in front of you as the road becomes Merrion Road.
There are a number of public transport options if you don’t fancy the walk. Bus route numbers 7, 5, and 45 all stop on Nassau Street outside Trinity College and will take you as far as the RDS. The Lansdowne and Sandymount DART stations are just a few blocks away and you can also hop on the Luas. The nearest stop is the Ranelagh stop on the Green Line Luas.
Rihanna comes to Dublin on Sunday, December 2nd for one night only as part of her Good Girl Gone Bad tour. This is her third album, with her pervious albums Music in the Sun and A Girl like Me being great successes in 2005 and 2006 respectively. This is a very high output for the Bajan singer who is only 19 years old. Her musical style is varied between pop, R&B and reggae.
She received her big break when she was just 15 when a friend of hers had introduced her to a music producer who was holidaying in Barbados. The music producer helped her record some demos and then Def Jam Records, which is owned by Jay-Z, signed her. In 2007, Rihanna won World’s Best-Selling Pop Female Artist & Entertainer of the Year at the 2007 World Music Awards.
Her latest album, Good Girl Gone Bad is her most successful yet, and includes the single Umbrella, which features Jay-Z who wrote and produced it as well. It went to number 1 all over the world. It was number 1 in the USA for 7 weeks, in Ireland it was 8 weeks and in the UK for 10 weeks. This long streak at the top of the charts seemed to coincide with long spells of poor weather in Ireland, Spain, New Zealand and the UK, where there was extreme flooding. This has lead some to joke that the two were connected and called it the Rihanna Curse! There were even reports from Greece, which was suffering from a severe heatwave, that when Umbrella peaked on the charts, the country started to experience a welcome rainy spell.
Hopefully this won’t repeat itself when Rihanna visits the RDS Simmonscourt in early December. The show starts at 19:15 on December 2nd, which incidentally is the same time as an Interpol Concert next door in the Main Hall. The concert is also on, on the same day as the FAI Ford Cup Final which is also on in the RDS. So why not watch the match in the RDS Stadium or perhaps a nearby pub before you head into the Simmonscourt for the Rihanna concert.
And if you decide to stay the night there are plenty Dublin hotels nearby. There are several hotels in the vicinity including a number of reasonably priced 3-Star hotels such as the Lansdowne Hotel, the Tara Towers Hotel, the Mount Herbert Hotel and the Roxford Lodge Hotel. If you’d like to treat yourself then the Herbert Park Hotel or the School House Hotel both offer 4-Star facilities. For some real luxury you might choose the Dylan Hotel, which is a 5-star.
And in Donnybrook, which borders Ballsbridge, you’ll find The Montrose Hotel, which is a 3-star hotel.
If you have any queries about Dublin hotels for the Rihanna concert just let us know. Leave your question in the comment box below and we’ll get back to you.
