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Fourteen years after their last performance at Madison Square Garden, Romeo Santos and Aventura returned on Thursday (May 23) to the New York City arena as part of their reunion tour Cerrando Ciclos, and picked up where they left off — with fans enraptured by their music, screaming every word of every one of their bachata songs at the top of their lungs.
From the first chords of “Por un Segundo,” through “Dile al Amor,” “El Perdedor,” and “Brindo con Agua,” Romeo — along with his bandmates Henry, Lenny, and Max Santos and about a dozen musicians on stage — thrilled a crowd that never stopped shouting out each verse and every comment from the singer, who continuously interacted with them.
He even indulged them with a segment in which he performed snippets of songs they requested from the stands, and brought a couple of female fans on stage to sing with him in a moment that felt intimate despite the nearly 20,000-people that filled the venue.
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It was as if time had not passed and, to top it off, Aventura had its first surprise guest of the tour at the Garden. Right at the end, for the encore, Judy Santos appeared unexpectedly to perform with Romeo the collaboration they originally recorded in 2002: Aventura’s anthem “Obsesión.”
Produced by CMN Events, the Cerrando Ciclos Tour started on May 1 in Sacramento, California, and has visited cities such as Los Angeles, Houston, and Chicago. The U.S. trek will conclude on Aug. 3 in Hidalgo, TX, before the group heads to Spain for seven shows. Subsequently, they’ll head to San Juan for six shows at the Coliseo de Puerto Rico and continue their journey in Latin America.
The last time Romeo Santos (who launched his solo career in 2012) and Aventura went on tour was right before the COVID pandemic for their 2020 Inmortal Tour, which grossed $25.8 million and sold 189,000 tickets among 15 shows between Feb. 5 and March 10, 2020, according to figures reported to Billboard Boxscore.
For a full setlist of Aventura’s Cerrando Ciclos Tour, click here.
The countdown reached Times Square nine months early on Tuesday night (March 26), where thousands of people gathered at the iconic tourist destination, not to watch the famous New Year’s Eve ball drop but the Colombian superstar Shakira.
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The artist surprised her followers with a “pop-up” concert announced just hours earlier on her social media, and about 40,000 fans, according to figures provided by the organizers, responded to her call to celebrate her first LP in seven years, Las Mujeres Ya No Lloran, released last Friday.
A huge electronic billboard that covered part of a skyscraper announced the free show with a clock counting down to its start. At around 7:30 p.m. ET, the crowd enthusiastically chanted from ten to zero and two large doors hidden in the jumbotron opened to reveal the TSX Stage, and Shakira opening with her No. 1 Hot 100 hit “Hips Don’t Lie.”
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“Hola New York! Oh my God, this is amazing, absolutely insane,” she said immediately after in Spanglish. It’s so awesome to see you again, to sing for you… Nothing compares to this. Thank you so much for all the love that you’ve been giving me this week during the release of my new album Las Mujeres Ya No Lloran. And thank you, thank you, thank you for showing up.”
Dressed in black pants and top with silver embellishments, the self-proclaimed She-Wolf delighted the crowd by singing live — along with a band and a group of dancers — songs such as “Te Felicito”, “TQM”, “Cómo Dónde y Cuándo” and “Puntería”, before closing with the mega hit “Bzrp Music Sessions, Vol. 53.”
“I’m happy to be here surrounded by my Latin people,” said the 14-times Latin Grammy and three-times Grammy winner. “Thank you New York. Until next time. I love you very much.”
Tuesday’s show was co-produced by TSX Entertainment, with presenting partners ViX, Vinfast and Sony Music Latin. It took place the day after Shakira’s appearance on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, where she performed “Puntería” and spoke candidly about her former relationship with soccer star Gerard Piqué, and why it took her so long to release a new LP since 2017’s El Dorado. “Now I’m husband-less,” the She-Wolf declared. (Shakira and Piqué — who announced their split in 2022 — never married during their 11-year relationship, but share two sons.) “The husband was dragging me down. Now I’m free. Now I can actually work.”
Watch part of Shakira’s performance in Times Square below:
Carin León gave a brief but magical show on Tuesday night (November 14) during Latin Grammy week at the Amazon event “La Cultura that Connects Us” in Seville, Spain. The Mexican music star surprised his fans with a series of duets that included Spanish singer Omar Montes, Puerto Rican singer-songwriter Kany García and Mexican icon Pepe Aguilar, in an apparently improvised moment.
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With the former, he performed his new collaboration “Ron con Coca,” released exclusively through Amazon Music earlier this month and which combines traditional sounds from both countries. “Up with Spanish music!” said León when inviting Montes to join him onstage, with the Spaniard artist adding that he somewhat nervous because it was the first time they were performing it live.
A bit later, he called García to sing their July-released collab “Te Lo Agradezco,” with both showing off their great vocal prowess. But one of the biggest surprises was Aguilar, who was enjoying the show with his daughter, singer Ángela Aguilar, in the front row and their preseence did not go unnoticed by León.
“As maestro Pepe Aguilar taught me,” León said after reaching hight notes with impressive power, immediately inviting him to come up and sing something with him. “And what are we going to sing, güey? No manches!” Aguilar told him once onstage. After a quick exchange, they decided on José Alfredo Jiménez’s classic “Te Solté la Rienda,” creating beautiful harmonies on the spot.
Held outdoors at the emblematic Setas de Sevilla — an imposing white pergola-shaped structure located in the central Plaza de la Encarnación — the show began with a performance by Spanish singer María José Llergo, who also impressed with her combination of flamenco and pop.
Latin Grammy Week ends on Thursday (Nov. 16) with the annual awards ceremony, which will be held for the first time outside the United States, at the Conference and Exhibition Centre in Seville. The show will air starting at 8 p.m. ET on Univision, UniMás and Galavisión in the U.S., and at 10:30 p.m. CET on Radiotelevisión Española (RTVE) in Spain.
Watch Tuesday’s performances by Carin León and María José Llergo below.
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