A Bad Bunny Residency Review for The Latino Newsletter

August 30, 2025: San Juan, Puerto Rico

Bad Bunny’s epic, three-hour celebration of Puerto Rico’s cultural excellence spoke to so much of our musical and dance heritage, while putting our language, history, and the arts on a big, Boricua pedestal.

Seeing this show live was especially emotional for me, a Philadelphia-born son of Puerto Rican migrants who had developed a strong appreciation for the island's cultural and musical legacy.

I’ve listened to lots of salsa music over the decades, from the Fania era to Cuban music, and the 1980s and 1990s romántica era, thanks to the influence of my salsa DJ father. And I was raised by a jibarita mother who had her musical favorites like Andrés Jiménez, Haciendo Punto en Otro Son, and Danny Rivera.

For many of those going on this pilgrimage to the archipelago, the full experience includes the environment outside the Coliseo de Puerto Rico José Miguel Agrelot, the pre-show atmosphere in the arena, and then finally the live concert, which was neatly organized in three distinct parts.

It’s best to see the show in person (and hopefully, this concert will be streamed or broadcast live one day).

Here is my breakdown of Benito’s shining achievement:

Once we walked through the controlled revolú of beer gardens, t-shirt vendors, and VIP lines, we entered “El Choli,” where we received lanyards with a programmed light designed to resemble a camera and that synchronized with certain sections of the show. Once we sat down, we could see the La Casita set-up in the rear-floor seating area. On the other end was the main stage featuring a panoramic screen with a montaña-inspired backdrop, which showcased fun and important facts about Puerto Rico’s history of political resistance, environmental uniqueness, as well as sports and entertainment achievements.

The concert began with a Taína-Afro-Boricua character exchange — this show’s dose of musical theater — leading to the uber-talented percussionist and band leader Julito Gastón finding the drums he thought he had lost. Indeed, those drums are the essential basis of the music that brought all of us there that night.

As a fleet of pava-and-bomba-dress-wearing dancers fanned out throughout the stage, the star of the show made his way on stage, performing “ALAMBRE PúA.”

Bad Bunny went on to perform a mix of songs with this pulsing undertone of bomba and Puerto Rican folkloric sounds. Chuwi joined the show during this segment during “WELTiTA.”

As the crowd relished this celebration of culture, the characters played by Jacobo Morales and Boricua Drips — from the DeBÍ TiRAR MáS FOToS short film — came out on stage to serve as the bridge into the next party-pleasing segment.

There was no hiding it — Bad Bunny came to La Casita to party. Despite Sapo Concho’s warning not to tear up the place, this part of the show, set on the rear floor in front of the 100-level section, was all about the club bangers.

It was a Saturday night, after all: “Títi Me Preguntó,” “EoO,” “VOY A LLEVARTE A PR.” Bad Bunny circled La Casita and even scaled its walls to dance, rap, and sing from the roof. In the spirit of inclusion, Los Pleneros de la Cresta, flagbearers of the folkloric plena music native to the island’s southern coast, jammed to “Café Con Ron.”

La Casita is also where celebrities go to be seen. I found out afterwards that Colombian actress Ana de Armas was there. I didn’t see her, but I did see a ton of dancers going full perreo. Jhay Cortez joined the party for a set of hits with and without Bad Bunny.

Bad Bunny returned to the main stage for the final segment. As the evening approached midnight, he led a salsa version of “Callaíta” and, of course, “Baile Inolvidable,” which provided maybe the biggest surprise of the night.

The venerable Rubén Blades, a ground-breaking artist in his own right, came out almost to give his blessing to Benito, who still has some old-school salseros unconvinced by his chops in the genre. Blades’ music always spoke to anti-imperialist sentiment and Latin American unity, so it was no surprise he also sang “Patria” and “Amor y Control” to finish his appearance.

As the show fittingly ended with “DtMF,” we were left with what we came to see: a performance we could feel, one that will stay with us, reminding us of our beautiful culture, our connection to family and homeland — or, in my case, my late mom, who I hope knows, wherever she is, that this Boricua from Vega Baja is representing us well.

Michael Collazo is CEO of Dahday, LLC. Follow his Substack.

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