Bad Bunny: an unforgettable effervescence at the Olympic Stadium

BarcelonaHe says he is legendary, a millionaire who hasn't forgotten his roots. And that he's from Puerto Rico, from "P fuckin' R". He proclaims himself king of pop by making reggaeton and dembow. And he's greeted by 55,000 people riding an impressive wave of excitement. “Benito, Benito, Benito!”, they shout. Bad Bunny has just stepped onto the stage of the Estadi Olímpic Lluís Companys and is already killing it. "}La mudanza" plays as his introduction, and when the fiery salsa beat drops, the feeling is that the audience hasn't come up to Montjuïc to admire, but to celebrate. Bad Bunny also wants the party to be huge, as immense as the musical richness of the album Debí tirar más fotos, and as varied as the rhythms of past hits like Tití me preguntó. That's why he deploys resources with the generosity afforded by the income from sold-out tickets, which in Barcelona cost between 83.30 and 230 euros (122.80 for standing room).

There are codes whose meaning unravels the further the concert is from Puerto Rico. For example, the little pink house he included in the Super Bowl show and which, on tour, functions as a second stage where the central part of the show takes place. The house has an identity symbolism related to Puerto Rican uniqueness, but at the stadium, it's inevitable to perceive it as a space reserved for exclusive guests, among whom were footballers Lamine Yamal, Robert Lewandowski, Gavi and Balde, and the journalist Marc Giró. Other codes hold up better, like the pride with which Bad Bunny reinforces verses of cultural resistance.

And what maintains all the strength is the impact of the songs, amplified both by the stage production and, above all, by the musical avalanche with which he moves them on this tour; for example, marking their salsa imprint with an orchestra where the trombones and percussion do a magnificent job. The stage aspect shines precisely due to the minimalism of the main stage: without any kind of attrezzo, beyond a panoramic screen, all to highlight Bad Bunny's charisma.

The salsa kickoff, one of the moments of the year, soaked up a good part of the first block of the concert. The brass propelled Callaíta and the Weltita percussion, and Bad Bunny himself found a more melodic way to sing, always in tune with an audience surrendered to joy and attentive to the requests he made from the stage. He also had the indispensable collaboration of the orchestra's vocalists, of course. And he knew how to inject emotion into Pitorro de coco while a guajira guitar played. Very sure of himself, contained like a bolero singer before the cataclysm, he sang Turista, playing with dramatic pauses and eliminating vocal filters. 

"Barcelona, dance without fear!"

“I am here for you to enjoy. Don’t complicate yourselves. All I want is for a while you to forget what is happening outside the stadium and sing and dance. Barcelona, dance without fear!”, he recommended before introducing one of the great global hits: Baile inolvidable, with fireworks, about twenty dancers, the keyboardist shining in the Nuevayol, with fireworks, about twenty dancers, the keyboardist showing off in the tumbao and the orchestra and the audience in turbo mode. As happens in Rosalía's Lux tour, the first 40 minutes of Bad Bunny's show is a tremendous thing, so impactful and effervescent that it leaves the spectator in that state of immense happiness that only shared experience achieves. “Thank you for supporting this project”, he added later.

To the booth with Bad Gyal

To give time to reach the other side of the track, where the pink house was, there was a small pause during which an animated frog explained on the screen things it had been recommended to do in Barcelona, such as eating fuet, croquettes, paella and calçots, and visiting La Rambla, La Pedrera and La Sagrada Família. Now without an orchestra, in a tracksuit instead of a suit jacket, Bad Bunny appeared to unleash the set most tied to reggaeton and at times with a pleasant disco vibe. Most of the audience could only follow the performance on the screen, but this did not lower the intensity of the delivery. Tití me preguntó, Si veo a tu mamá, Diles, Monaco… the stadium was a nightclub with the euphoria of three in the morning, and Bad Bunny even found the moment to approach the audience to greet the front-row spectators.

In this block came the first surprise: the appearance of Bad Gyal on the roof of the small house to share Yo perreo sola with him and to sing alone Dame. The other surprise was “the exclusive song”, the one that is not repeated in the other concerts of the tour, and which in Barcelona was La santa. And outside the realm of perreo, there was prominence for the percussion of Los Pleneros de la Cresta, adding rhythmic variety to the small house. Back on the main stage, with Bad Bunny and the dance troupe dressed in light colors, the concert continued aloft in the most pop happiness thanks to hits like Ojitos lindos and Klousfrens, but also combining reggaeton, the push of El apagón and once again the perfume of salsa by Debí tirar más fotos.

Bad Bunny had already offered other shows in Barcelona, such as the one in 2018 at the Reggaeton Beach Festival and the one at Sónar in 2019, but nothing compared to Friday's unforgettable show, nothing compared to the magnitude of the first of the two concerts at the Olympic Stadium. And the party continues this Saturday.