The lights went out all at once. The arena transformed into a starry night sky dotted with cell phone screens set to record a historic moment. Thunderous drums began to roll and trumpets sounded. A montage of the greatest salsa songs began to play against snippets of hysterical fans on screen screaming his name, Marc Anthony. His seductive voice enthralled the audience, “Yo soy mi música y tu sonrisa.”
On Sunday night, London’s Latinos came by the thousands to witness salsa legend Marc Anthony’s first UK concert. The Spanish Harlem native opened with “Valió la pena,” a stylistic staple in the singer’s repertoire of gorgeous lyrics, and a lingering pace that is marked by the clang of a cymbal which speeds the rhythm up into a danceable salsa. Playing to a sold out venue packed to the rafters with energetic fans that came to party, Marc Anthony delivered from start to finish.
And why not? El Flaco can do it all. During his early days as a freestyle and house music singer and songwriter, Marc Anthony collaborated with notables like Sa-Fire, Little Louie Vega and he even opened for Tito Puente at Madison Square Garden in 1992. Promptly after that, Marc Anthony crossed over to salsa releasing Billboard Latin Music Award-winning album “Otra Nota.” He would later make successful cross overs into pop music in both Spanish and English. The multi Grammy Award-winning artist has also ventured into acting with movies like “Man on Fire,” “In the Time of the Butterflies” and “El Cantante.” He co-founded Maestro Cares, a foundation helping provide resources to children in Latin America with projects already complete in the Dominican Republic, Colombia and Mexico. And most recently, the inexhaustible business mogul launched an entertainment and management company, Magnus Media, signing Major League Baseball’s pitcher Aroldis Chapman.
Consistently on a mission to uplift, Sunday's concert was notably for the Latinos in the house with the artist singing only Spanish-language hits for almost 2 hours. “Mi gente,” he called out, “Colombia, Venezuela, Puerto Rico, La Republica Dominicana, Brazil!” The crowd went nuts. “Todos somos Latinos!” Fans threw flags onto the stage and Marc Anthony held each one with reverence, taking time to place every flag ever so gently on the platform behind him. One sin verguenza even threw her red bra on the stage and Marc Anthony pretended to wear it, and slung it over his shoulder until a larger black bra was tossed on stage. To this he comically strutted, chest puffed with bravado. Perhaps most endearing, in regard to last month’s shooting at Pulse nightclub in Orlando, the singer wrapped himself in the rainbow flag as he sang, and the crowd cheered in solidarity.
He is humilde. He is funny. He is sexy. Sporting his signature white tee, jeans, layers of necklaces and sunglasses, Marc Anthony brought the heat. People danced in the aisles to hits like “Contra la corriente” and “No hay nadie como ella.” They sang La India’s lyrics during “Vivir lo Nuestro,” and cheered on the super-fine guitarist Mario Guini and the remarkably talented drummer Jesse Caraballo solos.
The magical evening came to a proper close with the singer’s anthem for personal joy “Vivir mi vida.” In a country reeling from political instability, widening inequality and rampant intolerance, lyrics like “A veces llega la lluvia para limpiar las heridas” reminded concertgoers of why they splurged on tickets to see Marc Anthony. He came with the thunder, danced in the rain and washed away our pain.
