Review: Bruno Mars triumphs during long-awaited return to the Bay Area

Bruno Mars began the night by kneeling down to pray.

“God, thank you, for giving me another day to do what I love,” Mars said in a videotaped segment, from inside a church, which was shown on the big stadium screens. “All that I ask is that you protect everyone in this audience, protect everyone on this stage. Give my band and I the power and strength to give this city a show they’ll never forget.”

And the result? Prayer most definitely answered, with Mars and company able to deliver a 2-hour-plus show that thrilled the sold-out crowd of 55,000 fans at Levi’s Stadium on Saturday (Oct. 10). The R&B/pop star was also expected to perform in front of another packed house at the home of the San Francisco 49ers in Santa Clara on Sunday.

These two Bay Area dates are part of The Romantic Tour, which marks the very long-awaited return of Mars to the road. His previous trek was almost a decade ago — the 24K Magic World Tour from 2017–18 — and he’s spent recent years doing the residency thing in Las Vegas.

And, no doubt, fans sure missed him. When Romantic Tour ducats first went on sale earlier this years, the reaction was so great that it resulted in a new record for the largest single-day ticket sales in Live Nation North American tour history. Yes, even larger than Tay-Tay.

His previous Bay Area outing was over Memorial Day weekend in 2018, as a headliner at the annual BottleRock Napa Valley festival — or what Mars dubbed as “the fancy Coachella.” And the last time he played this particular venue was during the Super Bowl 50 Halftime Show, as he grooved alongside Coldplay, Beyonce and others in 2016.

Ten years later, he made his return and the result was once again far more Denver Broncos than Carolina Panthers. (Final score for Super Bowl 50, in cast you don’t recall, was 24-10 Denver.)

All this time away from the road has certainly not impacted Mars’ ability to delight a crowd. If anything, his years in Vegas have only made him an even more highly polished entertainer.

Of course, polish was something that Mars apparently never lacked. I’ve been watching Mars ever since he was out promoting his first album, “Doo-Wops & Hooligans,” starting with a bill he shared with Drake and others during the old Wild Jam concert series at SAP Center in San Jose in 2010. And even then it just seemed like he had arrived fully formed on the pop culture scene.

At this point in his career, however, it’s hard to imagine anyone — from the die-hard fan to the full-blown hater — going to a Bruno Mars show and not finding it entertaining.

Over the course of his diversely appealing set that touched upon more than 30 songs, Mars was able to showcase all the reasons why he’s so successful on the stage. He showed his versatility right from the start as he opened the gig with three straight songs off the new album and tour namesake — “The Romantic” — beginning with the love ballad “Risk It All,” moving into the Latin dance number “Cha Cha Cha” and then the sparkling, horn-driven “On My Soul.”

His vocals were strong, his dance moves even better, as he worked in front of his topnotch Hooligans band and mesmerized the crowd with both longtime hits like “24K Magic” and “Treasure” and such newer offerings as “God Was Showing Off” and “I Just Might.” Indeed, the new album’s “Something Serious” — with its fiery Latin grooves and big electric guitar solo from the man of the hour himself — may well have the finest musical moment of the entire set.

The crowd was with him ever step of the way, singing along and grooving together under the chilly night sky.

There were fireworks, laser light displays, massive confetti showers and other such effects to further keep fans entertained. And, really, none of that was necessary since the concert already had all the firepower needed in Mars himself.

Mars is just so darn likable and that trait somehow transfers over to his songs, making even his most cringe tunes — such as “Why You Wanna Fight?” — enjoyable in the concert arena. He’s got stage presence for days, and even more charisma, reminding one of some of the greatest names in music history — Prince, Michael Jackson and James Brown, for starters.

The show hit a little bit of a lull — in terms of crowd excitement, but certainly not musicality — when Anderson .Paak joined the fray and the two vocalist revisited their super-duo Silk Sonic material, including the singles “Leave the Door Open” and “Smokin out the Window.”

Yet, Mars was quickly able to get the fans right back on his side as he returned to his solo catalog for the big wedding-proposal-favorite “Marry You” and followed up with the entirely different-kind-of-romantic number “Die With a Smile.” He’d then sit down at the piano and showcase yet another musical side as he waltzed through a medley of “It Will Rain,” “Talking to the Moon,” “Grenade” and “When I Was Your Man.”

It was all aces down the stretch, as Mars went from the funky Sting/Police-reminiscent “Locked Out of Heaven” to the massive singalong ballad “Just the Way You Are” and then the new album closer “Dance With Me.”

And what could possibly be left to further send these 55,000 fans home with smiles on their faces? Yeah, the choice was obvious — “Uptown Funk” — and it definitely did the trick.

Setlist:

1. “Risk It All”
2. “Cha Cha Cha”
3. “On My Soul”
4. “24K Magic”
5. “Treasure”
6. “God Was Showing Off”
7. “I Just Might”
8. “Perm”
9. “Why You Wanna Fight?”
10. “Oh Girl”/”Let’s Get It On”/”Please Me”
11. “That’s What I Like”
12. “Something Serious”
13. “Blast Off”
14. “Silk Sonic Intro”
15. “777”
16. “Fly as Me”
17. “Smokin Out the Window”
18. “Leave the Door Open”
19. “Marry You”
20. “Die With a Smile”
21. Piano medley: “It Will Rain”/”Talking to the Moon”/”Grenade”/”When I Was Your Man”
22. “Versace on the Floor”
23. “Locked Out of Heaven”
24. “Just the Way You Are”
25. “Dance With Me”
26. “Uptown Funk”