• Tweet
• Pin It

Romeo Santos refers to himself as the ‘King of Bachata,’ and on Thursday night, he proved to a sold-out Staples Center in downtown Los Angeles why exactly that is.

Five minutes before 9 p.m., the 32-year-old sensational neoteric bachata singer-songwriter hit the stage dressed like a king (true story). He then walked down steps onto the center of the venue’s platform, where he briefly smiled and began to sing for the 12,500-plus fans in attendance.

Among those thousands of people, one particular celebrity made people roar from excitement. It was Vin Diesel, who took the stage with a special announcement.

“I came here tonight to tell you that Romeo is in Fast & Furious 7,” Diesel disclosed to the arena.

Before that, a romantic evening was just beginning to unfold. Santos delivered “Inocente” and “Amigo,” two tracks off of his latest album (Formula, Vol. 2), before captivating the ladies with “Por Un Segundo.”

The sensual bachatero continued with “Loco,” a duet with Enrique Iglesias. Los Angeles sang along with Santos on this one, just minutes before he transitioned into “Mi Corazoncito.”

The artist wrote and released “Mi Corazoncito” during his musically prolific tenure with Aventura, a four-member boy band that originated in the 1990s and reached stardom in the 2000s with several tropically infectious melodies. “Mi Corazoncito,” which was released as the second single from the group’s K.O.B. Live album in 2007, went on to be a hit worldwide.

Sporting white jeans, gold-hued high tops and a light-brown leather jacket, Santos continued with “Su Veneno,” “Promise” and “Los Infieles,” among others. With the fast-paced “Los Infieles,” the crowd seemed to connect with Santos quite well. The song deals with infidelity, a common theme in all of his lyrics. He’s actually a master at crafting tales on the subject, though he claims he has never been involved in such situations.

The entire audience responded in an electrifying manner when the catchy bachata sounds of “Los Infieles” resonated from the instruments of Santos’ band; that was one of the many highlights of the night.

As part of Aventura, Santos built a repertoire of one well-known after another. Because of that, he couldn’t sing his entire musical catalogue at this show. However, he did manage to arrange some of those songs into two, 20-minute long medleys.

The first medley included “Soberbio,” “7 Días,” “La Diabla,” “Tu Jueguito,” “Llevame Contigo,” “Un Beso” and “El Malo.”

Los Angeles loved it. I loved it.

But there was more … much more.

Such songs as “Necio,” “Mi Santa,” “Odio” and “Eres Mia” followed before arriving at “Noche de Sexo.” For some reason, “Noche de Sexo” turned out to be the favorite of the night. Was it because the song talks about sex? Or was it due to its raw, reggaeton beat? In any case, the fans were thrilled – including a girl in her 20s who started bumping and grinding her man while he sat in his chair.

Another medley soon began, featuring a lengthy list of old-school pieces from Aventura’s early releases – including “No Lo Perdona Dios,” “Amor de Madre,” “Hermanita” and “Obsesión.”

Santos left, then came back dressed like the suave gentleman that he is for his encore: “Propuesta Indecente.” During the finale, he brought a lady onto the stage and caressed her on a king size bed, upon which only a king like Romeo could reign supreme.

• Tweet
• Pin It