Who is Romeo Santos? Let’s see, he was the lead singer of the hit bachata group Aventura. They won a lot of awards, but the real question is can Romeo make it on his own without the rest of Aventura behind him? The answer is a resounding yes. With the release of his first album as a solo artist, Formula, Vol. 1, he proved that Romeo Santos is king. As a solo artist, he has already had 4 Grammy nominations and several number 1 songs on the Latin US and Tropical US billboards.
HBO Latino is premiering a special based on the solo concert tour of Romeo Santos called The King Stays King: Sold Out At Madison Square Garden. It’s set to air tonight at 8:00 pm ET/7:00 pm CT, with an encore play on Sunday, Cinco de Mayo, at 7:00 pm ET/6:00 pm CT.
If you’re at all familiar with Aventura, Romeo Santos, or even bachata music in general, you’ll know most of the songs rely heavily on smooth, soft melodies. What that means is you shouldn’t expect a very high energy rock concert. There are songs that are the exception though of course, like the ones where he brings out special guests. There is one song in particular that made me feel like I was watching less of an unplugged setlist and was more at a pop concert: “Magia Negra”. I enjoyed the nice change of pace it gave the concert during the middle of it, almost energizing you as you watched it. It made me wish more of the songs had a greater performance element to them.
As you can imagine, Madison Square Garden is a huge place, but the way the concert was filmed gave you an intimate sense of the space. It’s really just you, some screaming fans in the background, Romeo, and a few of Romeo’s friends. Let’s just say Romeo Santos has a lot of friends. Just to name a few: P. Diddy, Luis Vargas, Antony Santos, Winsin Y Yandel, Usher, etc. Every song Romeo did with one of his friends, enhanced the song and overall performance. They only that fell short was the one he did with P. Diddy. “Mi Corazoncito” by itself is already a great song, but when P. Diddy was brought in to “help” Romeo perform it, all Diddy could do was go back forth from both ends of the stage and tell people to put their hands up. I could have done that, and probably would have charged less. That only made me wonder if P. Diddy actually knows any words in Spanish.
Overall, the special was great. Being a longtime fan of Aventura, and of course of Romeo, I felt this concert did us fans justice. One minor gripe is that I would have loved for him to perform one of my favorite songs from when he was in Aventura: “Obsesión”. To me that song put him on the map back when he was prince of bachata. He plays more than just songs from his album. We get a mix of a few Aventura songs and a couple of songs he was featured in. If you really want to know what sounds made the set list, they are listed in order of appearance at the very end of this page.
Romeo Santos has been making us fall in love with his songs (and with him) since he was the young bachata prince in Aventura, but with the release of his first solo album, Formula, Vol. 1, has become something great: A king. This HBO concert special shows us just what makes Romeo a king (of bachata), and why he will continue to rule as king. So remember to tune in tonight at 8:00 pm ET/7:00 pm CT, with an encore play on Sunday, Cinco de Mayo, at 7:00 pm ET/6:00 pm CT on HBO Latino to see his concert, backstage interviews with Romeo, and to see Romeo fly. You’ll know what I mean when you watch it.
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Rating: 8/10
Set List:
You
La Diabla
Malevo
Por Un Segundo
Que Se Mueran
Su Veneno
Mi Corazoncito
Debate De 4
Magia Negra
Soberbio
Llevame Contigo
La Bella Y La Bestia
La Pelica Balada
Ensename A Olvidar
Romeo Y Julieta
Vale La Pena El Placer
All Aboard
Noche De Sexo
Mi Santa
Promise
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