OAKLAND — How can you tell if someone is the biggest music act in the world?

If you bring your 80-person-strong traveling party to a local restaurant and have the manager say that, yeah, Carlos Santana has dined there, but that this is a big deal. That’s a start. Or if your new album spends more weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 this year (10) than any other. Or that you’re the most listened-to artist in the world for a second consecutive year on Spotify. Or that despite having no previous acting experience, you’re now starring in a “Spider-Man” spinoff.

In the case of Bad Bunny—who is all of these things—he’s also the first Latin star in an upcoming Marvel film, the No. 1 Latin artist in the U.S. (as ranked by Billboard)… and has jumped from selling out arenas in this country to selling out stadiums. These are the the types of things that get you noticed and make you lots of money.

But what makes 28-year-old Benito Antonio Martinez Ocasio a significant person on the world stage right now is his very public demand for the people of his home—Puerto Rico—to be given what they’re entitled: a fair government, fair wages and fair prices for things like the territory’s failing power grid. His music has helped, sure, but the reason he’s become Puerto Rican royalty is because he stands up for his people when those in power do not.

That combination of talent and devotion is what packed RingCentral Coliseum to the gills on Tuesday night, where the only empty seats were behind the stage and a couple of slivers without good sightlines. It was more people at the stadium than since the A’s made the playoffs—maybe more if you count the the on-field attendees. Bad Bunny brought his massive World’s Hottest Tour to the Bay Area just six short months since selling out San Jose’s SAP Center during El Último Tour Del Mundo tour. But a lot has changed since then. He released his new album, Un Verano Sin Ti. More recently, he made a splash when he became the first Latino artist to win Artist of the Year at the MTV Video Music Awards.

All that to say: This was a wholly different show, covering the majority of the new album’s 23 songs, and on a much grander scale.

Some of the songs were performed completely; some were partial versions. But most featured either fireworks, jets of flames shooting skyward from the stage and from the stage roof, or laser light shows.

The giant stage was decorated with four palm trees and was dressed as a sandy beach. That was visible because the stage was raised similarly to how Tyler, The Creator made his stage look like a harbor on his last tour. Walkways pushed 40 rows into the crowd on the floor and connected the stage to a smaller one, also with its own palm tree. A beach chair sat below one of the palm trees, and as fans chanted, “BE-NI-TO!” he walked out by himself with a cooler (Tyler, in another similarity, had a briefcase) and took a seat.

Floor-to-ceiling video screens kicked in and settled on an oceanic scene, coasting through dolphin-filled tropical waters to an island. The high-resolution visual graphics where incredible throughout, threatening to overshadow the star at times.

Pacing back and forth across the main stage he blew through four tracks including “Efecto” and “Me porto bonito,” during which he hip-thrusted a palm tree. He then took a quick break on the beach chair and grabbed a beer out of the cooler. Taking a sip, he thanked the crowd for coming (he may have gone the whole night without speaking a word of English). Afterward, about 20 dancers appeared for “Party” and remained on stage for most of the rest of the show.

He and the colorfully dressed dancers followed that up with the fun “Tarot,” which got the audience to move horizontally. Throughout, attendees loudly sang or screamed the words to all of the songs.

Prior to performing “Neverita,” Bad Bunny spoke of wanting to place listeners on a beach with his record (or at least I think so; this reviewer’s Spanish is not the best). Nevertheless, that mission was accomplished with many tropical videos of Caribbean waters, foliage and wildlife, and even mermaids. The dancers finally made their way down the ramps for “I Like It,” shooting off handheld fog cannons into surrounding fans. Bad Bunny himself remained on the main stage for the first two-thirds of the concert.

“Ni bien ni mal” was one of the biggest cathartic releases, with the stadium lighting up with a stellar laser show, as well as LED wristbands that were handed out to attendees beforehand.

One unexpected moment came when Bad Bunny, now lounging on his stage beach with his dancers and enjoying a glass of wine, congratulated a couple in the front who were celebrating six years together—according to the husband. His significant other corrected him, saying that it was actually seven years. With their faces on the large screens, the crowd demanded they kiss, and they obliged.

One of the few songs without the bass-heavy main beat was the acoustic-guitar-led “Yo no soy celoso.” Bad Bunny remained seated on the stage floor for this, surrounded by the dancers. Here, it would have been nice to have a guitarist playing on stage with Ocasio. 

With the show two-thirds of the way in, Bad Bunny finally made his way down a ramp to the B-stage during “Callaíta,” where he would remain for the next chunk of the show. He bowed and sang to fans in front of him. This created a surge of fans every time he changed directions for the next 15 minutes. The show climaxed when the dancers formed a circle around Bad Bunny as he was belted around the palm tree on the the smaller stage and then, to the shock of many, the tree and a round chunk of the stage to which it was attached, lifted off the ground, carried by guide wires, nearly as high as the third deck of the stadium, where it did a lap for the fans in the nosebleeds as he sang “Un coco” and another song.

Producer and DJ Diplo opened the show with a nearly hourlong set on a platform that was elevated from the stage floor. Knowing his crowd, he began with a reggaeton and cumbia mix, eventually moved on to J. Balvin’s “In Da Getto” and Flo Rida’s “Good Feeling.” For good measure, he threw in ABBA’s “Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! (A Man After Midnight)” and Yeah Yeah Yeahs’ “Heads Will Roll.”

Bad Bunny didn’t take the stage until past 9:30 p.m. By that time, most people were in their seats, but the process of getting into the stadium took longer because of long lines at security checkpoints, ticket-scanning stations, and for people sitting on the floor, a third long line to get wristbands. Parking was at a premium, and the overflow lots were opened early across I-880.

Many fans dressed like Bad Bunny, with floral print shirts and matching shorts or pants. Because of the long wait between Diplo and Bad Bunny, attendees in all three decks of the stadium started a successful wave that made it around the park five times.

Follow editor Roman Gokhman at Twitter.com/RomiTheWriter.