Bad Bunny put on a historic two-day concert in his native Puerto Rico over the weekend, marking his first live performance in over a year since his X100Pre tour. Three albums were released during that time, which he never had the opportunity to perform live due to the global pandemic.
But at the Dec. 10 and Dec. 11 P FKN R shows, around 40,000 fans each day finally chanted and danced to emblematic songs from YHLQMDLG, Las Que No Iban a Salir, and El Último Tour del Mundo. The energy at the stadium was sky-high for three hours straight because of Bad Bunny’s stage presence backed by a live band, fierce dancers and fireworks.
On opening night, however, many comments on social media speculated that Bunny’s concert was disorganized and even made a comparison to Travis Scott’s Astroworld Festival in Houston last month, which left 10 dead and hundreds injured and is currently facing hundreds of lawsuits.
It was also reported that a couple of fans fainted while waiting in hourlong lines that wrapped around the Estadio Hiram Bithorn.
Why is the bad bunny concert set up giving Astro world (first tours) vibes — Carolina (@manguqueen) December 11, 2021
went to the bad bunny concert tonight and honestly I’m surprised it didn’t turn into astroworld pt. 2. The disorganization resulted in masses of people cramming themselves into huge tents with no security and no ventilation. People were having panic attacks left and right — 😐 (@K00Bl3) December 11, 2021
I feel like people are waiting to see if Astroworld events are going to take place at Bad Bunny’s concert.. — o🔑 (@crownsizehead) December 11, 2021
But safety always came first for the Puerto Rican artist, who was also set to perform at the 2021 Astroworld Festival, and event organizers (Noah Assad Presents and Move Concerts) made their strict COVID-19 plan for the show clear, requiring that all concert attendees show proof of vaccination or an official Vacu-Id provided by CESCO Digital.
In preparation for the high number of fans that attended both days, the venue also had two emergency exits and two medical tents, in addition to 34 paramedics and nurses on-site. Additionally, fans who arrived early and stood for hours in general admission were handed free water bottles by the staff.
“Before we begin the show, I want to tell you that you’re the best fans in the world,” the “Yonaguni” artist, who began his show three hours late, said. “Thank you for your patience, for your behavior, and for making this show happen.”
On multiple occasions, the singer stopped the music and thanked his fans for keeping order at the event.
“Puerto Rico, there are so many people here,” he said 45 minutes into the show. “Before I continue, please listen to me. I want all of us here to be aligned to have a good time so that tonight can be fun. I want that as Puerto Rican brothers and sisters that we are, if we see someone who needs help, please help them. We all came to enjoy the show. We don’t want anything negative to happen. There are many people outside wishing for negative things to happen but bad things are not going to happen here because Puerto Rico has shown that we help each other out and that does not change. We’re here for a good time.”
The singer then proceeded to perform his song “Bendiciones.”
“We’ve worked on this for a long time and with a lot of love for Puerto Rico,” Assad, who revealed that the concert cost more than $10 million to produce, said at a prior press conference. “We’re doing this event without any economic benefit. We are doing it as a give-back for everything Puerto Rico has done for us. Hopefully, everyone enjoys it.”
