Bruno Mars concert in Barcelona 14th of November.
Bruno was supposed to start at 21.30 but after a 30 minute wait for Bruno and his band, the audience started booing and then the band finally came out some minutes past 10 pm. The jungle inspired curtain fell down and people started screaming like crazy and as I looked around behind me, the stadium was full. What first pleased me, was the sight of those Michael Jackson inspired loafers, that everyone in the band wore. The pathos of Michael Jackson is rooted in Bruno Mars’s aesthetics, dancing (the moonwalk, the robot dance etc.) and singing style and although one might feel he is doing too much pastiche of his hero, he somehow still remains true to himself. Much like his hero, the crowd in Barcelona was a mixture of children and older people and both females and males. The band was phenomenal as always and Philip Lawrence’s presence was well known, as his back-up vocals and stage presence is a great aid to Bruno and although Bruno is a hella of an entertainer, just like 80s Prince and his The Revolution band it gives him an extra edge to share the stage with such great musicians. Most of the set-list was from his newest album unorthodox Jukebox and from his first album along with some other hits and some snippets of other songs such as a cover of Ginuwine’s Pony and R.Kellys Remix Ignition (which I highly enjoyed but the rest of the audience didn’t recognize, it’s Spain after all and I don’t believe Ginuwine nor R.Kellz were famous here.). I wished he could have done other songs besides his songs but I understand the concept of this tour is to promote his newest album and also give himself an identity that sets him apart of other artists at the moment, which he does really well. It was truly a party and people were dancing, teenage girls were hyperventilating and I was just dancing along with the great music that was being played.
The music was a potpourri of musical genres and the musicians played and danced everything from pop, 50s inspired Rock & Roll/ Doo-Wop, R&B and reggae. The wind instrument players even played some Mexican inspired melodies while the song Grenade was being performed. Bruno and his band, showed everyone that their music is all about having fun and enjoying the moment. It’s not pretentious music and they don’t take themselves too seriously either, incredible musicians who are just having fun. The dancing of the musicians along with Bruno’s humor, made everyone happy and as the show was about to end the Barcelona fans, showed their appreciation to the incredible singer, as everyone in the audience put up white hearts to show him love. Seeing Bruno playing the drums and guitar made me very happy as he is a quite talented guy, who also has substance and isn’t all about writing hits. Hopefully in the future, he will write more music that reflects his talent (although I’m a big fan of his current stuff lol). Personal high-lights was when he sung “When I was your man”, “treasure”, “moonshine” and “Gorilla” as he put his soul and heart into those performances. I can’t complain, although I felt the concert was a bit short but it was really fun and I truly enjoyed myself. I know he will convince even more people next year(super-bowl), this is just the beginning for this super-cute musician song-writer who has great appreciation for past music icons.
-GD When the power of love overcomes the love of power,the world will know peace -Jimi Hendrix |
The Huffington Post UK | Posted: 11/11/2013 01:22 GMT | Updated: 11/11/2013 01:22 GMT