Where: Allianz Stadium – Sydney
When: October 15th & 16th 2022
Duration: 2 hours
Genre: RnB; Funk; Pop
with Rhys Pearson
For the next couple of months I want to try a different kind of review. I’ve got a bunch of concerts coming up until January that I’d like to tell you about. Some of these concerts will be artists I have previously reviewed so it will be a good contrast. As someone who has studied Stage Management, it’ll be good to be able to shed some light on aspects some concert goers might not take into consideration.
To celebrate the grand reopening of Sydney’s Allianz Stadium, American singer/songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and Grammy Award winner Bruno Mars came to perform. Bruno’s recent success came with Anderson .Paak for their joint Silk Sonic project, so he is hot off the press and ready to rock and roll. That’s an understatement. From the first song, Bruno Mars and his backing band ‘The Hooligans’ were bursting with charm, energy and charisma. Every performance was as electric and stadium rumbling as the next, from Billboard funk/disco hits like 2012’s ‘Treasure’, to even his more somber songs like ‘When I Was Your Man’ and ‘Talking To The Moon’.
Bruno’s set and band layout was basic but effective, with his Double Keyboardist and Drummer on upstage right and left respectively, with the 3-man horns section and back up vocalist centre stage right, guitarist centre stage left and Bruno Mars in the middle. It leaves plenty of room for Bruno Mars and The Hooligans for their coordinated dance numbers and stage antics. That’s not even mentioning his stage presence. To be able to dance and sing without missing a note, and to be able to control a high energy crowd and take control of all areas of the stage is a feat on its own.
If you ever get the opportunity to see Bruno Mars in action, please do, you’ll be dancing and belting out hit after hit for what feels like an eternity.
