You don’t just become the best-selling artist in the world by mistake. Bad Bunny’s performance at the XL Center in Hartford in front of a sold-out crowd proved just that. He had no openers and played non-stop for over two hours in front of what is probably the loudest crowd we’ve ever been in. The show was split into four parts, and Bad Bunny used three different stages throughout the show. There was a small stage on each end of the stadium, and a narrow bridge-like stage that he performed a few songs on in the middle of the set.

There’s no right way to describe the spectacle that unfolded before us for two hours in Hartford, and it’s something that can only be completely understood by watching his show. The truth is, Bad Bunny didn’t have to sing a single song at the XL Center and that crowd would have been just as loud.

The first act started with an orchestra on one stage performing a quick medley. This medley served almost as an overture that called people to their seats to let them know that the show was about to begin. From there, shouts from the crowd echoed through the arena until the end of the show. The show was likely the loudest right before Bad Bunny made his way to the stage. The excitement and anticipation from the crowd was palpable, and it was unleashed when Bad Bunny rose up through the stage across from the orchestra and began performing “Nadie Sabe”, a quasi-title track from his most recent album “nadie sabe va a pasar mañana”. The rest of the first act featured songs solely from that album, highlighted by hit tracks such as, “MR. OCTOBER”, “CYBERTRUCK”, and our personal favorite, “MONACO”. Hearing the orchestra perform the string intro live, along with the steam cannon blast right on the beat drop, and the crowd singing every word with Bad Bunny made it a clear favorite. 

There was brief intermission after “BATICANO”, the final song in the first act followed by a brief video featuring Bad Bunny riding a horse. Once the video ended, Bad Bunny reentered the stadium on horseback, sending shockwaves through the crowd. He went to the opposite side and performed the second act, composed of more of his trap music. He kicked off the act with “TELEFONO NUEVO” followed by snippets of some of his features on various singles. Our favorite parts of the second act were “Tu no vive asi” and “Chambea”. Chambea was the song Bad Bunny used for his entrance when he appeared on WWE in Puerto Rico creating one of the most iconic crowd pops in WWE history.

At the end of the second act, the stage rose up and Bad Bunny walked across the bride-like stage and performed the final few songs of the act. He took much more time in between songs here once he was on top of the bridge, and even took the chance to interact with the crowd as he looked down to them from the middle of the arena. One fan even threw his phone 30 feet in the air up to Bad Bunny, who then caught the phone, and proceeded to take a video of him with the crowd behind him, before dropping the phone back down to the fan in the pit.

The second act ended with Bad Bunny walking across the bridge to the opposite stage where he did a brief third act, singing on top of a grand piano. The third act was short, and an interesting change of pace from the rest of the show. First he performed an acoustic version of “GRACIAS POR NADA” from his newest album followed by a performance of his feature on the hit single “UNX100TO” originally performed alongside hit band Grupo Frontera.

The third fourth act was the most diverse tracklist out of the four, featuring songs from multiple albums, and singles. Our favorite song from the fourth act was “Me Porto Bonito” from the 2018 album, “Un Verano Sin Ti”. This album features much more Reggaeton than Bad Bunny’s newer albums and seemed to get the most crowd interaction out of this act.

The final two songs were “NO ME QUIERO CASAR” and “WHERE SHE GOES” from the new album. Bad Bunny was accompanied by his dancers for the final two songs as the crowd all got on their feet for the encore. As the final note was played in “WHERE SHE GOES”, streamers and confetti came raining down from the rafters. The lights went up and faces of shock and awe from the crowd came to light. 

This was akin to a religious experience for many people in attendance and we can’t say we blame them. Bad Bunny is an excellent artist and an even better performer. This show may go down as a top five concert for both of us and it will likely never leave there either.