(CNN) -- A fire broke out at a Rihanna concert in Dallas on Friday night, forcing the event to end early.

A video posted on YouTube shows a fire burning at the top of the stage at the American Airlines Center, with some sparks falling toward the floor. Some people begin to stream out.

The R&B and pop star posted several messages on Twitter following the incident.

"DALLAS!!! We set the stage on FYAH tonight!!! LITERALLY!!! I'm so (mad), I was havin so much fun wit yall too!!! I gotta come back man!!" the singer tweeted.

CNN affiliate KTVT, citing attendees at the concert, said the fire apparently started from pyrotechnics that were part of the show.

Dallas Fire-Rescue Captain Johnny Bates said a chair caught on fire, KTVT reported.

"One of our engine crews did enter the building but crew members with the AAC or concert put out the initial fire," Bates said, according to KTVT. He added that there were no injuries.

On her Twitter account, Rihanna vowed to return to Dallas.

"Glad u guys are safe!!! I promise I'll be back!!!" she tweeted.

Shortly later, the singer also promised to keep fans updated on the situation.

"Heading into a production meeting to find out exactly what happened!!! Keep u posted"

I was at this mess of a show because I took a friend as a birthday gift. This show was already a HOT mess before the pyro that set the lighting rig on fire. First, this hooker was 2 hours late and didn't start til almost 10 pm.

Then, in addition to watching her non-singing, non-dancing, no-personality having ass I was subjected to her mangling Darling Nikki and then having the audacity to get on some timbales and bang on them like a 2 yr old on some pots while she defiled Glamourous Life.

I'm convinced some irate Prince fan must have found away to start the fire to put us all out of misery.

[Edited 7/9/11 9:02am]

Baphomet

Harlepolis said:

Baphomet

Make me look that ish up.

Why did I felt like singing "Fire" by the Ohio Players after reading this?

Harlepolis said:

Baphomet

Ain't right!

Timmy84 said:

Why did I felt like singing "Fire" by the Ohio Players after reading this?

She's already jocking Prince and Sheila E. just think if a few sparks hit that red mop of hers she could have Michael Jackson. It'd be an 80's trifecta!!!

SCNDLS said:

I was at this mess of a show because I took a friend as a birthday gift. This show was already a HOT mess before the pyro that set the lighting rig on fire. First, this hooker was 2 hours late and didn't start til almost 10 pm.

Then, in addition to watching her non-singing, non-dancing, no-personality having ass I was subjected to her mangling Darling Nikki and then having the audacity to get on some timbales and bang on them like a 2 yr old on some pots while she defiled Glamourous Life.

I'm convinced some irate Prince fan must have found away to start the fire to put us all out of misery.

Wow, must have been a whole different experience, I loved her show in MN.

Too bad she was late though, that's just unnaceptable.

SCNDLS said:

"Heading into a production meeting to find out exactly what happened!!! Keep u posted"

Well, what did the Ouija board say???

Someone probably set the fire on purpose so she would stop her off-key caterwauling.

A friend of mine used to run Reunion Arena. His best story involved a Rick James concert. There were plenty of outlandishly-dressed people, but the prize winner was a guy who showed up with his shoes on fire.

Literally, he'd figured out how to make his shoes burn without burning his pants or body.

Jack looked him in the eye and said, "Sorry, no burning shoes. House policy".

RodeoSchro said:

A friend of mine used to run Reunion Arena. His best story involved a Rick James concert. There were plenty of outlandishly-dressed people, but the prize winner was a guy who showed up with his shoes on fire.

Literally, he'd figured out how to make his shoes burn without burning his pants or body.

Jack looked him in the eye and said, "Sorry, no burning shoes. House policy".

Wow.

RodeoSchro said:

A friend of mine used to run Reunion Arena. His best story involved a Rick James concert. There were plenty of outlandishly-dressed people, but the prize winner was a guy who showed up with his shoes on fire.

Literally, he'd figured out how to make his shoes burn without burning his pants or body.

Jack looked him in the eye and said, "Sorry, no burning shoes. House policy".

What a story

Birds of a feather is right, everytime I hear/read a story about Slick Rick's shows, it seems like his audience mirrored his "then" persona

Harlepolis said:

RodeoSchro said:

A friend of mine used to run Reunion Arena. His best story involved a Rick James concert. There were plenty of outlandishly-dressed people, but the prize winner was a guy who showed up with his shoes on fire.

Literally, he'd figured out how to make his shoes burn without burning his pants or body.

Jack looked him in the eye and said, "Sorry, no burning shoes. House policy".

What a story

Birds of a feather is right, everytime I hear/read a story about Slick Rick's shows, it seems like his audience mirrored his "then" persona

Wouldn't be different from Labelle/Funkadelic/KISS concerts back then.

RKJCNE said:

SCNDLS said:

I was at this mess of a show because I took a friend as a birthday gift. This show was already a HOT mess before the pyro that set the lighting rig on fire. First, this hooker was 2 hours late and didn't start til almost 10 pm.

Then, in addition to watching her non-singing, non-dancing, no-personality having ass I was subjected to her mangling Darling Nikki and then having the audacity to get on some timbales and bang on them like a 2 yr old on some pots while she defiled Glamourous Life.

I'm convinced some irate Prince fan must have found away to start the fire to put us all out of misery.

Wow, must have been a whole different experience, I loved her show in MN.

Too bad she was late though, that's just unnaceptable.

Seems she was late due to a bad weather flight delay outta new york so it wasn't her fault . . . I guess

RodeoSchro said:

A friend of mine used to run Reunion Arena. His best story involved a Rick James concert. There were plenty of outlandishly-dressed people, but the prize winner was a guy who showed up with his shoes on fire.

Literally, he'd figured out how to make his shoes burn without burning his pants or body.

Jack looked him in the eye and said, "Sorry, no burning shoes. House policy".

SCNDLS said:

I was at this mess of a show because I took a friend as a birthday gift. This show was already a HOT mess before the pyro that set the lighting rig on fire. First, this hooker was 2 hours late and didn't start til almost 10 pm.

Then, in addition to watching her non-singing, non-dancing, no-personality having ass I was subjected to her mangling Darling Nikki and then having the audacity to get on some timbales and bang on them like a 2 yr old on some pots while she defiled Glamourous Life.

I'm convinced some irate Prince fan must have found away to start the fire to put us all out of misery.

[Edited 7/9/11 9:02am]

Oh shit.

HonestMan13 said:

She's already jocking Prince and Sheila E. just think if a few sparks hit that red mop of hers she could have Michael Jackson. It'd be an 80's trifecta!!!

That is so wrong dude.

SCNDLS said:

RKJCNE said:

Wow, must have been a whole different experience, I loved her show in MN.

Too bad she was late though, that's just unnaceptable.

Seems she was late due to a bad weather flight delay outta new york so it wasn't her fault . . . I guess

RKJCNE said:

SCNDLS said:

Seems she was late due to a bad weather flight delay outta new york so it wasn't her fault . . . I guess

that's more than the heffa did all night

SCNDLS said:

RKJCNE said:

that's more than the heffa did all night

What were doing at Rhianna concert?

Glad no one got hurt...

but who would waste money on a Rihanna concert? Unless the tickets only cost 10 dollars like her last tour

RodeoSchro said:

A friend of mine used to run Reunion Arena. His best story involved a Rick James concert.

And then there's Bongo Head

THE TRUE ADVENTURES OF THE TOO MUCH FUN CLUB OR
ON THE ROAD WITH RICK JAMES

CHAPTER 56: BONGO HEAD

The first RICK JAMES tour that I worked was FIRE IT UP, and back then I worked for the godfather of Rock and Roll pyrotechnics, Hank Schmel and his company Spec Tech, Inc. Rick had seen the KISS show that Hank was responsible for. It was Hank’s innovative use of pyrotechnics in a manner never before thought of in a live rock show that was the forerunner to the way things are now with everybody (like Garth Brooks)and his cousin using them (usually with no style or imagination) but being a visionary ahead of his time Rick wanted Hank to do his show and that’s how it all began.

Rick used to a song called LOVE GUN, which was weird, because I had just come off the KISS TOUR that I had started as Hank Schmel’s assistant. Then one night, Hank got in a fight (not physical) with Gene Simmons. Gene fired Hank, elevating me to department head. Hank was sick of touring, so with the KISS tour finished, he hired me to go on the road with Rick.

The weird thing was that KISS also had a song and an album called LOVE GUN, but the name is where the similarity ended(unless you count the extravagant costumes and face paint the STONE CITY BAND used to wear on stage).

The point of all of this is Hank made Rick a beautiful pair of “LOVE GUNS” for the tour. They were hand tooled with silver barrels and real walnut handles. Each gun would fire two times emitting a violent burst of flash and gold sparks that would travel a good thirty something feet.

In the right hands, this would be a really cool effect. Hank told Rick numerous times that the guns had to be treated like a real gun, and only fired up in the air towards the overhead lights and NEVER towards another person and NEVER NEVER EVER in the direction of the audience. These were pretty clear and reasonable instructions, but Hank didn’t know Rick very well. If he did, he would have known that Rick was a person who not only did not like to follow directions, he hated to be told what to do.

The guns became a nightmare for me on the tour. Rick would wave the guns around, brandishing them like an old west gunslinger. Then he decided it made a better effect to fire the props over the audiences’ heads instead of at the lights. The problem with that was first of all it was dangerous and second of all it was against the law.

I had more arguments with Rick and phone calls to Hank concerning those guns than I care to remember. To top it all off, Hank was so proud of those guns--they really were a work of art--that I did not have the heart to tell Hank that the first week of the tour, Rick had spray painted those walnut handles white to match his stage costume. He also glued silver glitter to the barrels. I really think Hank might have cried had he known.

Anyhow, we had been out for quite some time when one day we were playing some town things went wrong. Having had an ongoing fight over the guns, Hank had finally told Rick that if he didn’t fire them only in the proper manner that I would not be allowed to load them anymore. This did not go over all too well with the star.

Now Rick had taken to firing the gun and then giving me a dirty look that implied “are you happy now?” and then he would shoot again, another dirty look, shoot again, dirty look, shoot the last time and then he would throws the guns down on the stage so they came sliding off somewhere in my direction.

There was a guy in the audience about four or five people from the front, and this guy was really enjoying the show. He had his eyes closed with a look of pure ecstasy on his face as he danced and boogied to each new song. He also had the biggest combed out afro I had ever seen. I mean this thing stuck out a good fifteen inches in all directions crowning his head with a big hairy dome.

I don’t really see any reason to go on with this story. I am sure you can see what’s coming like it is a Macy’s parade balloon coming down Madison Ave...

Oh well, I’ve gone this far I might as well finish.

It got to the part of the show where Rick fired the guns. As usual, I had handed him the loaded props in the break between songs. Rick sang and then raised the gun skyward and fired it into the lights…no problem. Then he gave me my dirty look and as he did this, he turned to face me and as he turned he lowered his arm that swept in the audience's direction. As he did this, he accidentally pulled the firing button and KER-BLAM.

I watched in horror as the gold exploded out directly at the crowd. It looked like it was just high enough to go over the people’s heads thank goodness or he could have blinded someone. It was just high enough to go over the people’s heads, that is if the people’s heads aren’t sporting a gigantic afro.

I saw the sparks glance off the upper right side of the massive hair-do. The guy was still dancing away with his eyes closed so he didn’t see any of this. He was also not aware that some of the sparks clung to his hair that began to smolder.

It looked just like dry kindling about to turn into a flame which is just what happened next. Yellow and orange flames erupted on the top of the guy’s hair. I grabbed a towel and was about to dive off the stage when the man behind him saw what was happening and with no regard for his own safety began trying to pat the fire out with his bare hands. It looked just like he was playing bongo drums on the guy’s head which is what the guy must have thought, because he opened his eyes wide and began striking the guy playing bongos on his head to make him stop.

The guy that was getting hit was yelling at the guy on fire, but with the band playing as loud as they did, he couldn’t be heard. So everybody started trying to put the guy out. They were almost having a drum circle with this guy’s afro as the drum. Anyway, it worked and the fire went out.

With the fire out, they stopped playing bongos on his head and everyone went back to watching the show except now the huge afro had a big horseshoe shaped part missing. It looked like some giant had walked up and taken a big bite out of his hair. The guy didn’t seem to notice and once more closed his eyes and went back to dancing away.

All this time, Rick had stood dumbstruck staring at what was happening. When the guy went back to dancing, Rick looked over at me and gestured with his hands “what do we do.” I didn’t have a clue. If the guy didn’t mind--he was still smoking out of the top of his head-- why should I? All I could do was shrug my shoulders in a “fuck it” kind of way. Rick just nodded and went back to singing.

Everyone kept watching the guy for the rest of the show. I mean, it was obvious that something drastic had happened to his 'do. Obvious, I guess, to everyone but him. I expected him to come back after the show and raise all kinds of hell but nothing ever happened. I would have loved to have been there when he looked in the mirror for the first time.

Did I say nothing happened. That’s not entirely true. Rick James never pointed those guns anywhere near the audience ever again.

And that’s the way it really happened
Copyright 2007 John Sherman Watkins

SCNDLS said:

(CNN) -- A fire broke out at a Rihanna concert in Dallas on Friday night, forcing the event to end early.

A video posted on YouTube shows a fire burning at the top of the stage at the American Airlines Center, with some sparks falling toward the floor. Some people begin to stream out.

The R&B and pop star posted several messages on Twitter following the incident.

"DALLAS!!! We set the stage on FYAH tonight!!! LITERALLY!!! I'm so (mad), I was havin so much fun wit yall too!!! I gotta come back man!!" the singer tweeted.

CNN affiliate KTVT, citing attendees at the concert, said the fire apparently started from pyrotechnics that were part of the show.

Dallas Fire-Rescue Captain Johnny Bates said a chair caught on fire, KTVT reported.

"One of our engine crews did enter the building but crew members with the AAC or concert put out the initial fire," Bates said, according to KTVT. He added that there were no injuries.

On her Twitter account, Rihanna vowed to return to Dallas.

"Glad u guys are safe!!! I promise I'll be back!!!" she tweeted.

Shortly later, the singer also promised to keep fans updated on the situation.

"Heading into a production meeting to find out exactly what happened!!! Keep u posted"

bboy87 said:

What were doing at Rhianna concert?

I hate to admit my ass was even there. I don't own a single one of her albums and don't listen to radio so I spent most of the time asking "What song is that???" like an old lady.

It was something to do for a friend's bday and got the tix for free.

But they had good seats on groupon the day of for only $35. It wasn't sold out but there were about 12500 people there. Turns out she cancelled her show in Dallas last year due to poor ticket sales.

the fire was probably the most exciting thing about the concert!

RKJCNE said:

SCNDLS said:

Seems she was late due to a bad weather flight delay outta new york so it wasn't her fault . . . I guess

! I don't know why this is cracking me up so much..

SCNDLS I feel your pain. I wouldn't be caught dead at a Rihanna concert...even though I occasionally hum some of her tunes if I happen to hear 'em when I have the radio on...dont judge me

I'm a very selective concert goer anyway....There are only a handful of artists that I would ever pay money to see live and that's because I know my money would never be wasted.