Bad Bunny Brings Beach Party to RingCentral Coliseum

Photos and Review by Alexander Andrade

From selling out arenas to selling out stadiums, becoming the number one VMA latin artist of the year, Bad Bunny brought a sold out party to the Bay Area at RingCentral Coliseum. He previously came to the Bay Area six months ago at SAP Center in San Jose, CA for his arena tour ‘El Último Tour De Mundo’. After the success from that, he later announced ‘Worlds Hottest Tour’ that would be a stadium tour even before releasing the new album (which was Un Verano Sin Ti at the time). This would not have been put together if it wasn’t for Live Nation and CMN Events.

Un Verano Sin Ti is not Bad bunny’s first heartbreak album his latest release, Bad Bunny anchors his exploration of lost love in the Caribbean. And while Un Verano Sin Ti is about a person and their absence in Benito’s life. Bad Bunny always put Puerto Rico front and center in his work since his 2016 through projects and his personal authenticity, his flow and his community encourages him to attempt bigger daring experiments. His work expresses the legends of old-school Puerto Rican reggaeton. But Benito’s, “Un Verano Sin Ti “ vibes go for a more personal intimacy and cultural showcase to share with his audience.

In April, Puerto Rico experienced an island-wide blackout in the series of outages after its electrical grid was damaged because of the Hurricane Maria. Then in 2021, there was a public protest due to extreme outages, cost, and concerns for safety. Benito took this into his own hands with since the power grid had a private ownership; he sang “El Apagón”, which references the blackouts that’s occurred and had put together samples of a song and an interview from salsero Ismael “Ismael Rivera”, that had a chorus sampled from a DJ Joe mixtape, and his girlfriend, Gabriela Berlingeri’s, voiced with a sovereign vindication focused on this reality. His music is always relatable to his fans with emotions it’s no wonder he’s so loved, as he also sang “Puerto Rico está bien cabrón” is as urgent as Gabriela’s outro pointed at rich, white settlers displacing Puerto Ricans for tax benefits: “Que se vayan ellos / Que se vayan ellos.” (“Let them leave / Let them leave.”) Like YHLQMDLG’s “Safaera” before it, “El Apagón” is in conversation with the musical ground to draw connections between the reality of neglected infrastructure and displacement as continued colonization. His songs are the celebration as a resolute as resistance to sovereign, the lineage of Puerto Rican music continues forever. Un Verano Sin Ti was a musical movement to create a familiar sense to the Caribbean with bright colors, tropical sounds and images.

The event started with Diplo, a DJ and producer, energizing the crowd with an hour-long set on a raised platform above the stage. He mixed reggaeton and cumbia to pump up the audience.

Bad Bunny’s set began around 9:30 p.m. when most people were seated. However, getting into the stadium took longer than expected due to long lines at security checkpoints and ticket scanning stations. Those with floor seats had to wait even longer for wristbands to validate their tickets. Many attendees wore tropical clothing to match Bad Bunny’s album theme and started a wave to keep the crowd hyped.

As the crowd grew, fans chanted “Benito! Benito!” in anticipation of the Puerto Rican singer taking the stage. The atmosphere was like a beach party with palm trees and sandy beaches as a backdrop. Bad Bunny, wearing green overalls and a white top, relaxed in a lounge chair, sipping a drink as he started his act.

Bad Bunny’s microphone was emblazoned with a frowning heart, replicating the artwork on the cover of his summer album, Un Verano Sin Ti. The crashing waves and seagulls in the prelude to “Moscow Mule” set the mood for the entire performance.

Bad Bunny raced through his setlist, playing full or partial versions of his songs and keeping up with the energy level of the crowd. Fireworks, jets of flames, and laser light shows added to the excitement.

One memorable moment was when Bad Bunny congratulated a couple in the front row, who kissed on the crowd’s insistence. The highlight of the show was when Bad Bunny rose on a platform with a single tree prop and slowly went around the stadium singing ‘La Canción’ and ‘Un Coco’.

Bad Bunny ended on a high note with his dancers performing “Después de la Playa” as he thanked the crowd for coming out to party and gave a shout-out to his Latin fans from different countries.

Overall, the event was more than a concert; it was a party!

Setlist:

– “Moscow Mule”

– “Me Porto Bonito”

– “Un Ratito”

– “Efecto”

– “Party”

– “La Corriente”

– “Neverita”

– “Ni Bien Ni Mal”/”200 MPH”/”La Romana”/”Estamos Bien”

– “Otra Noche en Miami”

– “I Like It” (Cardi B cover)