By Lorena Flores, Al Día
Ricky Martin had a special request for his audience at Sunday's concert at Gexa Energy Pavilion: "Can you leave your problems and issues at work and home behind, and let's be free? Can we go there? Can we allow ourselves to be free tonight?"
Martin and his fans indeed enjoyed their freedom, dancing and singing during a two hour show that included hits in both English and Spanish along with a couple of new songs from his recent album A Quien Quiera Escuchar.
Martin started the show wearing a stylish blue suit that seemed a perfect match for his performance of celebratory songs like "Mr. Put It Down" and "This is Good," two of his more recent anthems.
For each song, Martin had the perfect look. Sometimes he would only change his shirt, as in "Shake Your Bon-Bon" and "Drop It On Me;" and in others he would completely transform from neck to toe.
By the time he did his classic "Livin' la Vida Loca," Martin was back to his sleek and sexy years, in a black shirt and pants. And there were props: Martin sang "She Bangs" on top of a convertible.
During the show, the Puerto Rican star showed off his physical stamina: He ran up and down the stairs of the stage, and was always ready to move in sync with eight dancers who helped him keep the party going.
The audience contained some old faithful fans from his early days in Menudo, as well as folks from his international following triggered by "Livin' La Vida Loca" during the Latin music crossover explosion of '99.
When Martin sang Spanish ballads like "Vuelve," "Asignatura Pendiente" and "Tal Vez," the audience cheered and joined in with exuberance.
Martin had an eight-piece band on stage that navigated seamlessly between ballads and more tropical-influenced songs like "Por Arriba, Por Abajo," "La Bomba," "La Mordidita" and "María."
But the night of celebratory freedom, for Martin's fans, came to an end after "The Cup of Life," his hit from 1998, a song that seemed as fresh to this audience as it did 17 years ago.
Martin got what he asked for: The people went there.
Twitter: @loreeflores
