Will Smith made a shock look onstage with J Balvin on Sunday evening, wearing his full “Males in Black” go well with and sun shades and performing the title monitor of the 1997 movie. The looks was transient however memorable, capping a UFO-themed set and concluding with Balvin being dragged off by black-suit-clad dancers as Smith pulled out a “Neuralyzer,” the well-known memory-eraser machine from the movie.
Balvin returned for one more music, nonetheless, and rocked energetically via a rousing model of his hit “In Da Ghetto” together with his troupe of dancers, who had been clad in comically stereotypical alien costumes, inexperienced with massive black eyes.
Balvin’s concert events are all the time closely thematic, and the interstellar theme was current all through. It opened with a mock-Nineteen Fifties newsreel about an alien invasion (in English, with Spanish subtitles), ultimately revealing that the alien was… Balvin, who then arose on a platform from beneath the stage, beneath a large mock-UFO that appeared like a cross between the evil spaceship within the movie “Nope,” a pointer from a Ouija board and a cushioned bathroom seat. His troupe of ace dancers quickly joined him onstage, showing in a sequence of alien-like costumes and dealing otherworldly strikes as Balvin, clad first in a spacesuit-like outfit and later in a full silver glitter go well with (and with a shiny grill he flashed typically) soared via his hits, opening with the 2018 world smash “Mi Gente” and following with many others; he spoke to the viewers largely in Spanish however typically adopted in English, and his songs contained snippets of famililar hits like Usher’s “Yeah!” and Cardi B’s “I Like It.”
The stage was large however spare, lit with whites and greys at first, however step by step launched extra shade and interstellar visuals, and by the tip featured wonderful galaxies and stars and wild lighting therapies.
Balvin is not any stranger to Coachella — in reality, his eye-popping 2019 set largely kicked off the big presence of Latin music on the pageant, with a visually explosive, career-spanning set that included not solely his world smash “Mi Gente” however visitor spots from Rosalia and Sean Paul, in addition to a tribute medley to reggaeton “OGs” with covers of songs like N.O.R.E. and Daddy Yankee’s 2006 hit “Oye Mi Canto” and Yankee’s 2004 smash “Gasolina.” Balvin additionally paid tribute to Nicky Jam’s “X” and Prince Royce’s “Sensualidad,” and coated of Cardi B’s “I Like It.” Whereas Cardi and fellow featured artist Unhealthy Bunny didn’t be a part of him onstage, Balvin was accompanied by one thing that was arguably much more entertaining: dancers carrying hilarious big caricature heads of the 2 figures, Cardi’s full with an prolonged tongue; Balvin danced along with her for a part of the music.
That yr additionally featured performances from Unhealthy Bunny, Rosalía, Chilean singer Mon Laferte, regional Mexican titans Tucanes de Tijuana — on the finish of his set, Balvin mentioned how proud he was to listen to a lot Spanish being spoken on Coachella levels, though it’s definitely turn out to be a well-known sound within the years since.
