Bruno Mars brings funk perfection to first Atlanta tour stop in nearly 10 years
Everybody loves Bruno Mars.
That was made abundantly clear during his Atlanta show Saturday, the first of his two-night stay in the city for the “Romantic Tour.”
A diverse group of kids, couples, young friend groups, seniors and single fans packed Georgia Tech’s Bobby Dodd Stadium in Midtown. Most wore red silk pajamas, a nod to the album cover for Mars’ 2016 album “24K Magic.” Others wore a combination of retro sunglasses, red salsa dresses, Versace shirts and rose hair clips.
All turned the venue into the ultimate Bruno Mars lovefest.
In turn, the 16-time Grammy winner’s Atlanta tour stop proved to be a true crowd-pleaser full of hits and skilled showmanship in one of the best shows of the year.
Before Mars stepped on stage, Anderson .Paak opened the show a few minutes after 7 p.m. The drummer and singer, who formed the soul duo Silk Sonic with Mars in 2021, is also a DJ under the name DJ Pee .Wee. For 30 minutes, he (wearing his signature black bob wig) kept the crowd entertained with a mashup of jams across all genres (from Soulja Boy’s “Crank That” to Bill Medley and Jennifer Warnes’ “The Time of My Life”) — setting the tone for the night’s flair for satisfying anyone.
Ten minutes later, Leon Thomas was next to perform. The recent Grammy winner offered a deeply soulful set. With guitar in hand, he performed hits like “Yes It Is” and “Mutt,” underscoring his R&B rock star ambitions.
Around 8:30 p.m., the stadium erupted with a crowd wave in anticipation of Mars’ appearance. Roughly 15 minutes later, Mars opened his performance with a visual of him praying inside of a church, hoping to give fans “a show they’ll never forget.”
Mars did just that.
At 40, Bruno Mars, is a nearly indispensable pop machine who can churn hits as quickly as he can cross the genres and generations that inspired them. In music, that cadence often yields carefully orchestrated songs that become monotonous (see the tour’s namesake “The Romantic,” a dull album Mars dropped in March).
On stage, however, that standard seamlessly transforms into one of the greatest performances of all time.
He opened the show with “Risk It All,” “Cha Cha Cha” and “On My Soul” — nice tracks that don’t move the needle on “The Romantic” (though “Risk It All” is the strongest of the three). But on stage, Mars’ captivating voice and entertainment prowess make the songs more likable. With the salsa-influenced “Cha Cha Cha,” he ends the song with an electrifying bongo solo.
For “On My Soul,” a track reminiscent of Motown pop glory and ’80s funk, Mars’ impeccable light tenor tone reigns triumphant as fire emits from the stage. It doesn’t take long in the show to realize why and how Mars became a hot commodity in Las Vegas for a decade: Live performance is his superpower.
That assertion reigned throughout his two hour show — his first proper Atlanta tour stop since a 2017 24K Magic Tour Stop at the now-defunct Music Midtown. In 2019, he headlined the Super Bowl Music Fest at State Farm Arena.
Surprisingly, he performed big feel-good anthems “24K Magic” and “I Just Might” (the latter being his most recent No. 1) early in the show. But it seemed less odd the more he dived deep into his panoply of love songs that proved to be a reminder of just how massive his catalog is.
Even when singing about heartbreak, Mars remains triumphant.
For “Why You Wanna Fight?” he channels the soulful energy of Teddy Pendergrass to deliver a sheer vocal master class that sounds so convincing that you almost forget there’s not much information of Mars’ dating life. On top of a red convertible, he sings covers of the Stylistics’ “You Are Everything” and Zapp’s “I Want to Be Your Man” — proving his discipleship of ‘70s and ‘80s soul.
Anderson .Paak later returned to the stage, joining Mars for the Silk Sonic section of the show, another highlight of pure musicianship.
For the end “Smokin’ Out the Window,” the duo transformed a song about frustrated lovers into an angelic, jazzy falsetto groove. With “Leave the Door Open,” the act concluded the hit song with a vocal yearn-off, with Mars and .Paak trading notes on who’s the best suitor. In turn, the comedic spectacle made fans yearn for new Silk Sonic music.
By the show’s halfway point, Mars rarely takes a break and rarely looks tired (save for his very visible sweat). Instead, he impressively performs each song, with no backing track, to the best of his vocal ability — looking every bit of like the superstar whose immense talent never seems to fade.
The only time Mars looked a bit winded was during his piano section of wedding ballads (“Marry You,” “Die With a Smile”). But the moments were too brief to outshine the show’s mastery.
The momentum picked up with “When I Was Your Man” (featuring Mars incorporating a gospel outro) and “Locked Out of Heaven.” Mars dedicated the latter to Atlanta as fireworks blasted from the stage.
Mars ended the night with “Uptown Funk” and an encore of “Dance With Me.” The latter wasn’t needed at all, as “Uptown Funk” — met with fans jumping in the crowd — proved to be an appropriate closer.
Mars’ Atlanta concert was a punctual and passionate showcase of Mars’ wide influences and how widely he appreciates them. Popular critiques of the singer include the notion of him being a tribute act.
While the foundations for the reasoning are understandable, it’s low-hanging fruit.
As a performer, Mars doesn’t simply mimic the likes of James Brown, Earth Wind & Fire and Parliament Funkadelic, he, along with his excellent Hooligans, fully embraces them while retaining his individuality: a true artist whose funky soundscapes and nonstop stage presence can rival his predecessors and contemporaries.
“Atlanta, I love you from the bottom of my heart,” Mars said to conclude the concert.
Night 2 of Bruno Mars’ Atlanta stop begins at 7 p.m. today at Bobby Dodd Stadium.
About the Author
DeAsia is a music and culture reporter for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. She focuses on the intersection of arts, culture and diverse communities, as well as how emerging social trends are being expressed through the lens of the Atlanta aesthetic. DeAsia's work can be seen in Pitchfork, Essence, Teen Vogue, Elle and more.
