By LORENA FLORES/AL DÍA
It was a night of salsa, heartfelt ballads, Colombian vallenato, urban music and even a ranchero song. The 3-hour long, double-headlining show by Marc Anthony and Carlos Vives at American Airlines Center on Thursday night was a party from beginning to end.
If you wanted to watch a show from the comfort of your seat, you were in the wrong place.
As soon as Vives' band kicked in with its Caribbean percussion, the crowd was already dancing. Vives' performance was as casual as his wardrobe; the Colombian singer wore ripped jeans, tennis shoes and a black shirt and jacket. He would sing and dance and jump around the stage during his songs.
Marc Anthony's show, however, was elegant, vibrant and full of emotion.
Anthony began with a big bang as he sang "Y Hubo Alguien," his first song to hit the number one spot in Hot Latin Tracks in Billboard back in 1997.
Anthony brought the house down with his hearfelt ballads such as "Abrázame Muy Fuerte" and "Ahora Quien," and then started another salsa party with "Vivir Lo Nuestro" and "Yo Que Te Conozco Bien."
In the audience you could spot flags from Puerto Rico, Colombia and Costa Rica, and Anthony took the time to celebrate the different nationalities in attendance.
"We are the same but different, and the world needs to know that you can be from wherever place you are from, but here we are all Latinos," Anthony said.
Before singing Hector Lavoe's classic, "Mi Gente," Anthony asked the audience to scream as hard as they could so their voices could be heard in the place where controversial candidate Donald Trump recently held a rally.
Nobody seemed to want the night to end, but Anthony returned with a couple of encores, "Tu Amor Me Hace Bien" and "Vivir Mi Vida."
By then, the audience was so into it that the singalong kept going even as the singer left the stage and the band stopped playing. Some were still singing and dancing after the lights were back on.
