Bad Bunny
San Juan, Aug 23 (EFE).-
Bad Bunny turned the final show of his world tour, “Debí Tirar Más Fotos,” in Puerto Rico on Sunday into a rallying cry to defend his homeland against gentrification, corruption and its colonial status.
From the opening moments of the tour’s final concert, Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio, the artist’s given name, made no attempt to hide his emotion at ending his worldwide trek in his native Puerto Rico.
After a performance by the band Chuwi and a video encouraging young people to mobilize in protest of the frequent water and power outages affecting the Caribbean archipelago, the opening verses of “La Mudanza” played. The crowd began reciting, “Benito, hijo de Benito, le decían Tito” — “Benito, son of Benito, they called him Tito” — before the artist emerged onstage.
The Bayamón-born singer appeared with his eyes closed and took several deep breaths, drawing a standing ovation from the crowd, which chanted “Benito, Benito” as a huge Puerto Rican flag — featuring its single star — flew over San Juan’s Hiram Bithorn Stadium.
“It’s always an honor, a privilege, a blessing to have the love of my people, the love of my community. Thank you for being here,” the singer said, in an emotional outpouring that was met with cheers from the audience.
The congas of Julito Gastón, the percussionist who accompanied Bad Bunny throughout the tour, rang out with the iconic “Oye Como Va” by Celia Cruz, a tribute to the Cuban people, followed by the hit “Callaíta.”
“Last night was fucking great, I’m not going to lie. There’s a theory that the second night is always better, but it depends on you guys,” Bad Bunny said before José Eduardo played his Puerto Rican cuatro on “Pitorro de Coco.”
“Weltita” and “Turista” followed, sending fans of the artist known as the “Bad Bunny” into a frenzy.
“Love and dance without fear, Puerto Rico, this show is yours,” Bad Bunny said before performing “Baile Inolvidable” with about 15 musicians. The song reached No. 1 on Latin Airplay and became a landmark of modern salsa.
“I’m Boricua, just so you know,” spectators began chanting before dancing to “Nuevayol.”
The first guest of the night was salsa singer Víctor Manuelle, who performed “Mala y Peligrosa” with Bad Bunny and sang “La Vida Es un Carnaval” solo, another tribute to the legendary “Guarachera de Cuba,” as Celia Cruz was known.
Sapo Concho appeared on the screen celebrating that “we are finally in PfunckingR” and spoke out against the controversial Esencia luxury tourism megaproject.
“Let me tell you that the Esencia project has to be fucking canceled,” the charismatic character declared. His message was followed by “Veldá,” “Tití Me Preguntó” and “Y Si Veo a Tu Mamá,” which had the stadium rocking.
The second guest was Puerto Rican singer RaiNao, who performed “Perfumito” with Bad Bunny.
Next came the turn of the iconic “casita,” one of the major features of the tour. A Puerto Rican woman randomly selected by Bad Bunny delivered the anticipated rallying cry: “Acho, PR is another thing,” ushering in the perreo — reggaeton-style dancing — that takes over the four walls of the house, which has traveled around the world with the tour.
“Bichiyal” and “Yo Perreo Sola” were the first songs played from the “casita,” where Jowell & Randy arrived and got the stadium dancing to “Safaera.”
The crowd also went wild for the hit “Mónaco” and two songs performed exclusively for the final Puerto Rico show: “Rolandito” and “120.”
Los Pleneros de la Cresta played their hand drums to “Café con Ron,” one of the most-listened-to songs from Benito’s latest album, and thanked him, their voices breaking with emotion, for allowing them to “live a dream” after bringing Puerto Rican plena music to 22 cities across four continents.
The main stage regained momentum for the concert’s final stretch, with Bad Bunny performing “Ojitos Lindos” and surprising the audience by singing “Party” with Rauw Alejandro to a huge ovation.
“It’s not even close to normal for the people to lose power every night, for families to go more than 120 or 130 days without water. That is not normal. Corruption is not normal, and it will never be fair for a people to become accustomed to that. We deserve more than that. We are great, Puerto Rico. We are more than 100 by 35,” the singer-songwriter said, referring to the approximate dimensions of Puerto Rico’s main island, before “El Apagón” began.
“Lo Que Le Pasó a Hawaii,” “DtMF” and “EoO” brought the massive tour to a close after it visited 22 stadiums across the Americas, Oceania, Asia and Europe. EFE
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