ON 777 TOUR WITH RIHANNA FOR GQ.CO.UK

Marking the release of her new album Unapologetic, Rihanna charted a 777 for a select few to experience seven unique gigs in seven cities around the world. GQ.com reports from Stockholm on the third gig of the tour...

As a lavish Chinese restaurant with a bondage shop in the basement, Berns in Stockholm caters for some pretty diverse tastes. If the chandelier-heavy main room doesn't suit you (they're playing "No Matter What" by Boyzone for a start), you can buy an erotic Taschen hardback downstairs or, if you're one of the lucky few, see the world's most famous Bajan perform in the back room. It is by far the most spectacular gig setting of the 777 tour so far - which is a good job, given that anyone under 6ft can't see anything amid the tall, predominantly blonde audience.

Rihanna, perhaps unsurprisingly, has dressed more for the kinkier cellar crowd rather than the Ronan Keating set dining next door -  she's braless in a tight white t-shirt, tiny jorts and a chunky Chanel necklace. We know the form by now: she apologises for being late (again), gives away an HTC phone to one excitable super fan (again) and her links between songs aren't quite as inventive as you'd hope (when she starts saying "You make me feel so special..." GQ.com isn't the only journalist who can predict "...like I'm the only girl in the world," is coming up).

Familiarity aside, the performance tonight is potent - particularly "Where Have You Been All My Life", which features plumes of dry ice and some impressive RiRi screw face. Given what's going on in the basement, it is perhaps fortuitous that the whip sound effect on "S&M" is higher in the mix.  Learning from Toronto, she doesn't offer the audience a chance not to hear her new album track and fresh ballad "Stay" from Unapologetic gets its first airing.

The crowd, for their part, love it - they're also so thrilled they even start clapping unprompted during "Round of Applause" and construct a flat pack-version of the "Roc Diamond" hand sign on demand. There were rumours circulating that Kanye West was set to make a guest appearance (he's in town for Spotify) but sadly he doesn't materialise on stage.

West's loss is our gain in the form of the after party. It is, of course, centred around the upmarket sex shop downstairs. It's called the Pom Pom Parlour which has, for some unfathomable reason, a barber's pole and two brass herons outside. Inside a sullen dominant/assistant hands out half-arsed spankings. There's a well thumbed copy of Janus, a "Mistress manual" and a leather rabbit mask for those who enjoy Watership Down that little bit too much.

For anyone fancying something more cerebral there are other works on display - Cocaine Addition: Treatment Recovery and Relapse Prevention, a medical pamphlet for the Mutter Museum with a conjoined skeleton on the cover and selected works of John Steinbeck. It's like the libraries of Bret Easton Ellis and Guillermo Del Toro have merged. The crowd mostly ignore the literature, preferring to pound Heineken by the wine glass and speculate on when the lady of the hour might appear. By 3am the majority of the British press make their excuses and leave...

At 3.15am Rihanna arrives, heads to a VIP area behind the DJ booth and starts doing tequila shots with fans and carousing with some (presumably grounded) flight crew. She lasts for around 45 minutes, preferring to serve drinks rather than chat - as it nears 4AM she announces simply "I quit" and heads off. Some fans who are travelling on the 777 Tour don't get in till an hour before our lobby call at 8.30am. "I had four shots and I don't even drink that s***" one explains the morning afterwards. "But if Rihanna serves you that's different!”

We wait two hours on the tarmac at Stockholm airport, only to find when we finally do get onboard that Rihanna is not on the plane. As the press tuck into "restorative" champagne cocktails and speculate on how long we're going to be delayed, it crosses one reporter's mind that the designer watch in the goodie bag might be better used by the person on stage every night.

Today's route: Stockholm to Paris.

Rihanna arrived on stage: 183 minutes late

Rihanna songs listened to so far: 20 and some Swedish sex club bangers.

Other Rihanna moments witnessed: She finally got on the plane at 12.58. Half an hour later we were finally in the sky. As was pointed out by my colleague Helen Whitaker it took us 10 hours to complete a two hour flight, despite having our own private plane.

Originally published in November 2012. Read the original and other tour diary entries here.