The Middletown Press (Middletown, CT)
Bad Bunny’s to headline Hartford’s XL Center Saturday
HARTFORD— Puerto Rican music legend Bad Bunny is a divisive figure, even among his own fans. Fans who got to know him from the record-breaking reggaetón album “Un Verano Sin Tí” have strong opinions about his latest album, “Nadie Sabe Lo Que Va a Pasar Mañana.” Despite the critiques about the trap-heavy setlist and minimalist stage design, the Most Wanted Tour is still selling out arenas in the U.S. and is set to stop at the XL Center on Saturday.
“This tour, specifically, was more about him really soaking it all in and really realizing almost like ‘I’m him,’ realizing he’d probably reached the peak that he’d never thought he was going to reach,” said Reggaetón historian and Meriden resident Nina Vazquez.
Vazquez attended one of Bad Bunny’s recent concerts in New York and said that she noticed that the artist was settling more comfortably into his own superstar status. She attributed the artist’s legend to his relatability and his “trailblazing” exploration of issues related to gender, sexuality, identity and politics in ways that many other urban musicians haven’t explored.
She added that the concert on Saturday is a watershed moment for the influence of the genre in the state. She explained that Bad Bunny has been in the public eye for about five years and has only performed once in Connecticut at the Mohegan Sun in 2019.
“We see Bad Bunny at the XL Center and that’s a really big deal, because one, it’s in Hartford and Hartford has a heart of Puerto Ricans. And not only that, but it’s in a central location where a lot of Puerto Ricans can get to,” she said.
The tour has grossed over $84.2 million and sold over 282,000 tickets over its first 18 shows, according to Billboard Boxscore. Most recently, the tour stopped in New York, Boston and Philadelphia. At the XL Center, tickets are still available, but limited. At time of writing, verified resale tickets were starting at $236 each and standard admission at $437, according to the Ticketmaster website.
Vazquez also noted the importance of the other Latin artists coming to the XL Center this season to meet the demand for diverse music taste among Connecticut Latinos. Los Tigres del Norte are scheduled for April 27 and are famous for bringing accordion-centered Norteño music to a very loyal Mexican-American audience since the 1960s.
Bachata group Aventura and Romeo Santos are scheduled for their “Cerrando Ciclos,” or “Closing Cycles,” farewell tour on May 27 that caters to fans of Dominican bachata. Later in the season, Colombian urban music producer and singer-songwriter Feid is set to stop in Hartford on June 9 as part of his FerxxoCalipsis Tour.
“People want to maintain their culture. People want to feel connected to their culture and one thing that makes up culture is music. And if you’re far away from home, sometimes all you need is to turn on the radio and listen to something that reminds you of home and for many years, a lot of Latinos weren’t getting that,” Vazquez said.
The Latin music industry has been growing steadily for the past few years. The Recording Industry Association of America reported that Latin music revenues increased 15 percent to a record high of $627 million. It is also a growing part of mainstream music as the share of revenues from Latin music in overall U.S. recorded music grew from 7.1 percent in first half 2022 to 7.5 percent in first half 2023.
Digital Marketing Coordinator Emily McGarr
said she is noticing a shift in the kinds of concerts being performed since pandemic restrictions were
lifted and said that tickets for Bad Bunny and Aventura were selling at a fast pace.
“With the big Latin market that we have here in Hartford, we wanted to
be able to meet that demand for the music,” she said.