Bad Bunny performs at SAP Center in San Jose, Calif. on March 3, 2022. Derek Tobias/STAFF.

SAN JOSE – Bad Bunny rolled into town on Thursday to deliver a show that exceeded the prodigious expectations that follow the Puerto Rican artist.  

The SAP Center was packed to the teeth with patrons ready to hear El Último Tour Del Mundo (The Last Tour of The World), which won the Latin Grammy for Best Urban Music Album. It was written, recorded and released during the pandemic quarantine. Bad Bunny envisioned what music would look like in a dystopian future nearing the end of time.

The show kicked off with an 18-wheeler–which served as the main stage–honking and shooting flames 10 feet in the air. The crowd erupted with deafening screams and rapturous applause. 

Opening song “Booker T” was essential Bad Bunny Latin trap. With the artist, whose name is Benito Antonio Martinez Ocasio, surrounded by technicolor lights, confetti launched into the stands and showered the lower bowls of the arena. Bodies vibed and moshed to the lead-heavy beat. 

Bad Bunny performs at SAP Center in San Jose, Calif. on March 3, 2022.

The truck then proceeded to transform and flatten into three separate panels that sat parallel to the ground, forming a large 360-degree platform stage for Bad Bunny to perform “Yo Visto Así” (“I Dress Like This”). The alt-rock song was punctuated by a bassist and guitarist joining Bad Bunny on stage and hammering chords in perfect synchrony.

During “Maldita Pobreza” (“Damn Poverty”) the separate panels joined into one disco floor that displayed colorful light shows and flowing lava. Bad Bunny paused in the middle of the song to deliver a motivational speech to the crowd, saying that he admires those people who work hard for their families and those that chase their dreams.

“You have my respect and admiration,” he said with the sincerity of a friend. 

Eight massive pixelated screens that looked something like monolithic iPads came to life for “La Noche De Anoche” (“Last Night”), a dramatic song about romances that don’t last. Bad Bunny was surrounded by five interpretive dancers dressed in white. “Te Deseo Lo Mejor” (“I Wish You The Best”) also began softly and featured a slow picking guitar that sounded like a Blink-182 riff. As the crowd’s digital bracelets lit up, attendees sang along as the song reached an epic crescendo.  

Bad Bunny performs at SAP Center in San Jose, Calif. on March 3, 2022.

At this point, Bad Bunny again addressed the audience, dedicating “Trellas” (“Stars”) to anyone who had close family or friends that couldn’t make it to the show. His microphone–a miniature skull with a full spinal column–began to shine green like an emerald refracting sunlight. Then the song exploded into a heavy rock anthem with manic drumming. Some attendees shook and danced like our ancestors by a fire. It was pure catharsis. 

Bad Bunny sang “Una Vez” (“One Time”) with the evening’s only guest, Mora.  

He treated the crowd to a few songs from YHLQMDLG, including “La Santa” (“The Saint”) and “Si Veo A Tu Mamá” (“If I See Your Mom”), which sampled the beat from João Gilberto and Stan Getz and Astrud Gilberto’s “The Girl From Ipanema.”

The penultimate song, “Yo Perreo Sola” (“I Twerk Alone”), featured 10 dancers dressed in red latex, thrusting their bodies in sensuous and skilled patterns. The show ended with “Dákiti,” which is a night club in Puerto Rico and a beach on the territory’s Culebra island. It sure felt like we were there.

All in all, it was a show full of gratitude for and celebration of the Latino community.

Bad Bunny is a certified superstar with Beyoncé-level theatrics and superior vocals to match.

Follow photographer Derek Tobias at Instagram.com/simmonstobias.