Bad Bunny delivers a spectacular show on any stage, but there’s nothing like seeing the megastar at home in Puerto Rico, performing for his day-ones. After wrapping up his Most Wanted Tour in the U.S., Benito brought the show to el Coliseo de Puerto Rico in San Juan. All three shows, including last Sunday’s (June 9) finale, sold out.
Benito gifted locals an extra-special event, packed with guest appearances and hometown-specific elements not offered elsewhere.
Most tellingly, he opened with a video montage created specifically for this weekend’s shows. In it, he reflects on the excitement of the earlier tour dates, but makes clear that performing at home is like nothing else. Nobody will better appreciate his work than his fellow Puerto Ricans on the archipelago, he says in the clip, before concluding: If you’ve seen Bad Bunny perform, but you haven’t seen him in Puerto Rico, then you haven’t really seen him at all.
On Friday’s, Saturday’s and last night’s shows, a youthful, classical orchestra directed by Colombian musician Carlitos López was both the opening act and a live band. The orchestra was also a major feature of the U.S. dates; this weekend, however, the first number was different. The orchestra opened with “La Borinqueña,” Puerto Rico’s official anthem. The crowd came to attention quickly, shifting from anticipatory pre-show bustle into a beautiful choir.
Centered around his latest release, 2023’s Nadie Sabe Lo Que Va a Pasar Mañana album, the U.S. dates featured two stages at opposite ends and a moving runway that descends from above. The Coliseo setup was the same — and considering the overwhelming number of cargo trailers outside the venue, it’s safe to assume Bad Bunny had the exact setup shipped in.
When the video went black, the orchestra began three Western-inspired overtures, setting a somber, solitary tone, before moving into “Nadie Sabe.” The orchestral opening and subsequent accompaniment was pretty ingenious in the satisfying cohesion it brought; the soundtrack of a companionless cowboy pairs well with the loneliness of fame, which Bad Bunny explores in the track’s lyrics.
When Bad Bunny rose, surrounded by fog, from a hidden opening in one of the stages, the crowd roared mightily. He maintained a stoic demeanor befitting the song, though — then hunched over his gleaming, silver mic at the end as fans chanted “Benito, Benito!”
The coliseum rattled as “Monaco” rolled in, then out — and Bad Bunny took a long moment to look around the giant space. He didn’t smile, yet he looked content. He nodded as if in acknowledgment of the love beaming at him from every direction.
Then came the guest appearances: Joining first for “Fina” was Young Miko, who bounced around the stage between dancers with a big black bow adorning her long blonde hair. Then came Mora for “Hibiki,” and later Yovngchimi for “Mercedes Carota” and Bryant Myers for “Seda.” Benito slowed the show there, stopping for a lights-off pep talk for fans, essentially about being yourself fully, regardless of the hate or admiration you receive.
Moving to the opposite stage, Luar La L hopped on for “Telefono Nuevo.” Shortly after, two lucha libre wrestlers appeared on the opposite stage. It was an awesomely bizarre method of distraction — meanwhile, Eladio Carrión was joining Bad Bunny on the runway to run through a slew of their collaborations.
Another stretch of Most Wanted feels like a piano bar, with only a pianist accompanying Benito as he runs through hits from his growing discography. He got extra playful with the element last night, though, playing a sort of guess-the-song game with fans. The pianist would play a few notes, he’d sing, then stop — did fans know the song? Of course, they always did. He apparently improvised plenty, as eventually the pianist stopped playing and it was only Bad Bunny singing a few bars — before, again, checking to see if fans knew the song. The game seemed to delight him. Here, he smiled plenty.
Again, special to these Puerto Rico dates, the mystery pianist’s identity was finally revealed. She’d been masked at every show since the start of Most Wanted, but removed the covering at the end of the set here, as Benito introduced her to the crowd as Tiffany Román.
Later, De La Ghetto rolled in for “Acho PR.” Then Arcángel hopped in for several cuts — the crowd went wild. Bomba players also joined onstage, with cabezudos wearing the mask also worn by Bad Bunny in the album visuals, as well as by the orchestra player and pianist.
There’s some practical rationale to the overabundance of guest stars in Puerto Rico, of course. It’s logistically easier for these artists to appear in concert alongside Bad Bunny when he’s playing where everyone’s based. Still, it’s a treat concertgoers simply can’t get anywhere but else but here.
In total, the Puerto Rico shows were each about an hour longer than the U.S. shows. Call it preferential treatment, and you’d be right — but that doesn’t mean it’s wrong. His hometown fans are the reason Bad Bunny is who is today, and they’re forever his foundation. They deserve the best, and it’s beautiful that Bad Bunny never forgets it.
