Bad Bunny delivers knock-out Dallas performance with captivating, ingenious stage

It is a testament to the talent and charisma of Benito Antonio Martínez Ocasio, aka, Bad Bunny, that his music transcends language.

The Puerto Rican singer, rapper, music producer, and burgeoning style icon performed before a rapturous, sold-out American Airlines Center Thursday night. He performed his two-hour set almost entirely in his native tongue, and it hardly mattered to anyone, not even a non-Spanish-speaking reporter.

Bunny, who turned 30 in March, has risen to worldwide musical heights never seen before from a primarily Spanish-speaking music act. Maybe Menudo in their prime, but even they often recorded English-version tracks.

Bunny’s Most Wanted Tour, which made its 34th stop since starting on Feb. 21 in Salt Lake City, also plays the AAC on Saturday. The tour concludes with two homecoming shows in San Juan, Puerto Rico, on June 7-8.

The tour is in support of his fifth studio album, “Nadie Sabe Lo Que Va a Pasar Mañana,” or “Nobody Knows What’s Going to Happen Tomorrow,” which was released in October.

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Much of the career-spanning set was peppered with tracks from the new album, including a dizzying gamut of emotions during the show-opening string of new tunes, many backed by a large orchestra set up on the B-stage at one end of the arena’s floor, while Bunny stalked and moved, at times with an array of 19 acrobatic dancers on the A-stage at the other end.

In fact, the show began with an orchestral overture buildup before Bunny appeared from a trap door in the middle of the A-stage to sing a stirring version of “Nadie Sabe,” or “Nobody Knows.”

Bunny wore a black Texas Rangers cap on backward, and for much of the show wore a scarf, often draped over his head on either side of his face. He also name-checked Dallas Mavericks star Luka Doncic during a couple of songs, including “La Jumpa” and “25/8.”

The entire arena, including each of the 18,000 or so fans, was part of the show. Each concertgoer received a boot-shaped light-up device on a lanyard that lit up in different colors to help set the mood for various tunes. If that didn’t do the trick, perhaps the laser lights or the liberal use of smoke and pyrotechnics to underline the gravity of certain moments of a song pulled you in. A plethora of Puerto Rican flags waved in the arena, and the several thousand fans crammed on the floor between the two stages were treated to one of the more ingenious staging devices in concert history. (More on that later!)

All the while, his audience of mostly older teens and 20-somethings was enthralled, singing and dancing along to his Spanish lyrics, whether it was a spit-fire rap anthem or a melancholy piano ballad.

The 30-piece (I’m ballparking the exact number) orchestra added some gravitas to the evening from the start. Their overture, in a dimly lit arena, provided a powerful buildup to Bunny’s eventual arrival.

But the orchestra was soon replaced by an empty B-stage, from which Bunny performed the middle section of the show. He arrived on a horse after a lengthy, Spanish-narrated film played on the video screens of a lonely cowboy riding a horse through the desert. (This would have been a good time to have a translator along.)

With the orchestra gone, Bunny’s DJ Orma helped keep the grooves and tunes pumping, the sound ricocheting from one side of the AAC to the other. It sounded amazing, as did Bunny’s voice, whether he was rattling off rhymes or crooning along to a solitary piano.

Bunny’s performance wasn’t the only revelation. His staging used some of the most ingenious devices ever used by a touring act. The B-stage rose about 20 feet in the air, putting Bunny at eye level with fans in the upper level on that end of the arena.

Furthermore, a lengthy catwalk, perched high atop the middle of the floor, lowered down even with the risen B-stage, allowing Bunny to walk out above everyone on the floor. As he was doing this, the B-stage lowered and the catwalk lit up in different colors. The spectacle was even more fascinating because the catwalk appeared as if it was floating above the floor as it began to rotate until it was perpendicular to its original position. This allowed Bunny to be face-to-face with fans in the middle sections of the upper levels on either side of the arena.

Of course, sometimes a little can go a long way, and if there’s a minor quibble with the show it was Bunny too often stopped the show cold to preen for the audience between tracks. I mean, sure, rap culture has taken the stoic stare-down after a song to ridiculous lengths, but Bunny nearly begged fans to take a bathroom break during some egregiously long preening sessions.

Nothing wrong with engaging with your fans, reveling in their love, and showing your respect for their cheers, but a little of that goes a long way.

His devoted fans, however, ate it up, and so did he.