It’s a known fact that Bad Bunny saves his best shows for his homeland of Puerto Rico. The shows are longer, the guests are cooler, his monologues are more colorful, and his enthusiasm is through the roof.
This was the case when Bad Bunny made a three-day stop at San Juan’s José Miguel Agrelot Coliseum for his Most Wanted Tour this weekend, promoting his latest album Nadie Sabe Lo Que Va A Pasar Mañana. The local movie theater chain Caribbean Cinemas announced they would livestream the Friday and Saturday shows on their biggest screens around the island. In an effort to stop people from outside of the archipelago from buying up tickets, purchases for the Sunday show required a Puerto Rican IP address — another sign of how Bad Bunny wanted to keep things special back home.
Benito kicked off his album release at El Choli back in October with an exclusive midnight listening party for fans only, and he came back for a full-fledged concert that grossed about $208 million. So, how did his historic run in Puerto Rico go?
One of the things that has endeared Bad Bunny to such a wide swath of young people here is how vocal he’s been about the issues that affect the island. He’s the rare artist who doesn’t shy away from giving his opinion about larger political, social, and economic issues. In 2019, he abruptly paused a tour to fly back and participate in the historic protests that forced the resignation of a controversial governor. Since then, he’s used his platform to rail against the Puerto Rican government. Ever civic-minded, he even offered 2-for-1 tickets for his Most Wanted show for those who had their voter ID up-to-date.
He’s never been straightforward about his exact political affiliations but he has dropped hints: The opening video montage at his P FKN R concert in San Juan back in 2021 featured important Puerto Ricans from its history, including various nationalist and pro-independence figures. Saturday’s Most Wanted show was largely apolitical, but he opened up his concert with an orchestral rendition of “La Borinqueña,” the official Puerto Rican anthem. Fans who attended the Friday night concert reported that people sang the original “revolutionary” lyrics written by Lola Rodríguez de Tió, which are a blatant pro-independence call to revolt against colonizing forces. Whether that was Bad Bunny’s ultimate intention is unknown. His coyness is seen as frustrating by some who wish he’d just come out and say where he stands, but for others it’s hard to pretend he hasn’t said what he’s said or done what he’s done.
Fans who guessed that the featured guests over the weekend would be collaborators from this album were right. On Saturday, Young Miko and Mora came out early, interpreting “Fina” and “Hibiki” respectively. Trap countrymen Bryant Myers and Luar La L also made an appearance, joining Bad Bunny for their songs on Nadie Sabe and also regaling the crowd with some of their own hits as well. Noticeably MIA at Saturday’s show was Future 25 inductee YOVNGCHIMI and Eladio Carrión, but they did make an appearance for the closing night concert on Sunday.
The biggest surprise was the appearance of Colombian reggaeton star Feid. They sang their collab track “Perro Negro,” plus “Luna” off Feid’s FERXXOCALIPSIS album. The crowd went appropriately wild, with all the stands bathed in lights colored in Feid’s signature green.
While it would have made more sense to have the same guests show up multiple times throughout the tour, Most Wanted did have secret talent at nearly every stop. Bad Bunny had one surprise almost every night: Towards the middle of the show, he sat atop a piano while a pianist wearing a mask played as he sang various songs. It was Tiffany Román Louk, an experienced Puerto Rican pianist and film composer who has also toured in the past with iLe. Many have signaled this portion of the show as their favorite, and Román Louk’s share of the credit for that can’t be understated.
Bad Bunny kept the set list mostly to songs from the album, with only a medley or stray track here and there from previous projects. For “Acho PR” he also brought out De La Ghetto and Ñengo Flow, two fan favorite artists he’s said before were inspirations for him when he was still starting out. Ñengo, in particular, has been present at nearly every concert he’s given in Puerto Rico, acting almost as a good luck charm.
At a certain point in the show, what seemed like a brief lull between songs ended up being a purposeful minute of reflection for Benito. From the floating bridge he was perched on, he took in the sights and sounds of his fans roaring and clapping for him. He didn’t rush himself — walking slowly from side to side, stopping often to simply hunch over and look up and down, smirking like a man who can’t believe his luck and blessings. No music played, and he said no words, but the moment spoke volumes.
The concert wrapped up with a celebration that was big and loud in its Puerto Ricaness. Reaching back to his previous album Un Verano Sin Ti he sang “El Apagón” as cabezudos joined him on the stage. He famously introduced general audiences to cabezudos — dancers wearing oversized puppet heads, usually made to look like specific public or historical figures — during his performance at the 2023 Grammy Awards. Here, they came clad in the same clothes and mask from his Nadie Sabe Lo Que Va A Pasar Mañana ensemble.
As the cabezudos danced onstage, confetti rained down from the rafters, and a frenzied light show hyped up the attendees. Then, Bad Bunny bid everyone farewell. His final statement wasn’t a speech, but the now iconic chorus blasting from the speakers: “Puerto Rico está bien cabrón.” It’s where Benito shines brightest.
