It was a night of feel-good vibes and Latin flourishes, lush grooves to go with synchronized moves, and a big bundle of hits as Bruno Mars took over downtown Detroit’s biggest venue Saturday, May 9, to launch a two-night stand.
Playing Ford Field for a capacity crowd, Mars brought his Romantic Tour to town for his first show here in nearly eight years, while also making his Detroit stadium debut after a string of sold-out arena visits.
The pop-R&B superstar, who turned 40 last autumn, exuded a vigorous, wide-smiling, hip-gyrating charisma as he took his Detroit audience on a two-hour journey through his catalog. That included a healthy dose of this year’s album “The Romantic,” which was featured nearly in its entirety, including the night’s opener (“Risk it All”) and closer (“Dance with Me”).
“Detroit, tonight we’re singing about love,” he alerted the crowd early on.
In his bejeweled red suit and bandana, Mars was, as always, locked in tightly with his high-intensity ensemble the Hooligans, who often matched him step-for-step as the show bounded from one energetic moment to the next.
Dialed-in lighting, immersive video screens and a couple bursts of confetti provided the visual oomph in a crisply produced but never overindulgent presentation as Mars and his band worked their sprawling stadium stage.
Saturday brought a dense, multicolored salvo of music, including a first half that sizzled with “24K Magic,” a pyro-punctuated “On My Soul,” the punchy, horn-spiked “Perm” and the Latin-rock fusion “Something Serious,” a highlight of Mars’ new record. He pumped the musical brakes just twice all night, including a medley of 20th Century slow-jam classics from the Stylistics, Chi-Lites and others.
Mars’ tasty soul-pop comes with its own vintage flavor — a melange of Motown, funk, disco, Philly soul and ‘80s pop — and in that regard, he found an ideal partner in R&B stylist Anderson .Paak: Their 2021 collaboration, Silk Sonic, was a much-needed splash of pandemic-era sunshine, and Paak was on hand Saturday for a 25-minute romp through six of those songs in what amounted to a retro “Soul Train” session brought to life.
(The likable Paak had also served as the evening’s kickoff entertainment with a DJ set of wedding-banquet-ready crowd-pleasers.)
Following the mid-show Silk Sonic segment, Mars headed toward his heavyweight hit material, a closing round that of ebullient pop that included “Marry You,” “Locked Out of Heaven,” “Just the Way You Are” and “Uptown Funk.”
Ahead of Mars’ headlining performance, multi-instrumentalist and Motown Records signee Leon Thomas had served up an opening set of rock-fused R&B, taking a turn at the drum kit for his 2024 Big Sean collab “Party Favors.”
For old-school pop fans, there’s lots to love about Bruno Mars, whose fun, colorful, catchy stuff harks back to days of yore. His work is ultimately more rewarding onstage than on record — if you want the best of this sound, after all, you can go back to the originals from decades past.
But Mars is a top-class practitioner of musical sparkle and showmanship in an age that really needs it, and Saturday reaffirmed he’s top of that game.
Mars and company will be back at Ford Field for round two Sunday night, May 10.
Contact Detroit Free Press music writer Brian McCollum: 313-223-4450 or bmccollum@freepress.com.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Bruno Mars is electric in Detroit at first of two Ford Field shows
Reporting by Brian McCollum, Detroit Free Press / Detroit Free Press
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