leo burghaus

With what felt like the first week of summer, Bad Bunny arrived in Barcelona last weekend. The stadium that was the home of FC Barcelona for the last 2 years now hosted the international superstar for the first time since 2019. Tickets sold out immediately after they came out, but somehow my girlfriend was able to secure us some around 1 year ago.

This year inbetween is why, when Saturday arrived, the hype had passed and we entered, like we always do, with little expectations but a good dose of curiosity. 55,000 people received the singer in the open-air stadium. To our surprise, there was a decent amount of space on the field for people to move and dance. We were expecting to be packed like sardines, but ended up with enough room to move freely, at a decent distance from the stage. The sun was setting for the first 40 minutes of the concert, which, together with a warm night, added to the tropical theme of the first part of the show.

The opening featured some of his newer music, which included a blend with older music styles like salsa and plena. For that, he kept the center stage minimalistic: his band, him, and neutral colours. The focus was on the music, and a bit of storytelling. Personally, the in-between moments of songs in this first part were what I thought could use more work. There was a lot of empty space filled more with stereotypical statements than something worthwhile. But all in all, it was a very good start to the show that got people into the right mood.

The next part of the show had an empty center stage. There was, some 30 meters in front of it, a second one. A small, simple, quadratic house was built. The front porch was filled with influencers, or influencer-looking people, dancing close to the star whilst he played some of his older classics; music thought for perreo. The public, us included, did not have to be asked twice to let ourselves go, and to, essentially, move our hips.

Finally, and to complete a full two and a half hours of dancing, he finished on the center stage again to the tune of some screamers, and more perreo. Salsa dancers joined on stage, and there was less and less time for words in between songs. If the first part was newer music to get us to warmed up, and the second for everyone to dance, this last part seemed to be the culmation by making everyone give their last bit of energy. By playing the songs that people usually sing the loudest, and jump the most, Bad Bunny finished the concert with high energy but the feeling of stopping at the right time.

What seemed stupid at first, but added something very special to the event, was the idea for lighting. Everyone got a lanyard with a plastic camera, which did not take pictures but had a bright LED in the lens. The colours would change as intended by the lighting engineers. Since the whole stadium had them on, it served as an added layer of lighting that played into it, making every person part of the spectacle. It created a constant sea of light, but with everyone dancing without having to hold a phone.

I was impressed by the simplicity of it. There was a good background band, and a superstar. No fancy stagework, no unnecessary effects and show. Don’t get me wrong, a show it was. But not because of the fluff around it, but because Bad Bunny knows what is important. And that is giving people who want to have a good time the space and soundtrack to have it. He has a certain presence that one seems only to see in superstars. We do a lot to mystify people like him, and he feels very comfortable in that mysticism around him. He plays into it, uses it, enjoys it and is, frankly, made for it.

Thinking about the night, the event had everything to be a success: a singer who has been responsible for the most popular tracks of each year for the last decade, and tens of thousands of people who have enjoyed these songs, coming together to sing and dance on a summer night in Barcelona. It was many things, but over everything, it was a fun time that will be difficult to forget – not that anyone who was there would want to.