You may recall the scene at the end of Grease when prim Olivia Newton-John turns into a black-clad rock’n’roll vixen. Rihanna’s last album, 2007’s Good Girl Gone Bad, tried something similar with the Barbadian singer, recasting her from beaming teen-pop star into sultry R&B siren. The result was a huge success worldwide – yet the change didn’t quite ring true. “Little Miss Sunshine,” as Jay-Z called her in an avuncular guest rap on her signature hit “Umbrella”, still shone through in spite of the skimpy outfits.

The sunniness is now extinguished. The mood at this promo concert for new album Rated R was dark and aggressive. Beamed worldwide on the internet, it was her first headline appearance since being beaten up by pop-star boyfriend Chris Brown in February. According to police reports, Brown bit Rihanna, put her in a headlock and punched her in the face. Like Tina Turner, another victim of domestic abuse, she’s responded in feisty fashion – ie by recruiting a rock band and turning up the decibels.

The show opened with a creepy voice intoning “Welcome to the madhouse” as photos of Rihanna being harassed by paparazzi flashed up on a screen. Silver mannequins and television sets were strewn around the stage, illustrating the deadening glitter of media-driven celebrity. The singer emerged with Rated R’s “Wait Your Turn”, singing stridently with a faint Bajan lilt over abrasive beats. Her outfit – mesh mask, leotard with a Jacko-style military epaulette, high heels – was high-fashion S&M. The swearing that features on the recorded version of the song was missing but that didn’t lessen the boldness of the transformation. Another Caribbean star, the artfully confrontational Grace Jones, came to mind.

At 40 minutes it was a brief set, though it packed a lot in. There were two top-end guest spots: first rapper Young Jeezy contributed a rasping, belligerent turn on new track “Hard”; then a customarily urbane Jay-Z came on to perform “Run This Town” and “Umbrella”. The rock band added power chords and loud drumming to her usual synth-driven dance-pop, with new track “Russian Roulette” climaxing with shrieking solos as Rihanna mimed placing a gun at her temple. Such dramatic flourishes couldn’t disguise a fairly static performance style (the heels can’t have helped) and the rock makeover at times sounded sludgy. Yet she sang with power and passion. There was something here you don’t often find in mainstream pop – anger.