With a carefully selected setlist full of groovy hits and power ballads, Bruno Mars put on a show for the first of two Brisbane dates on his '24K Magic' World Tour.
Filled with energy off the back of his recent Album Of The Year win at the Grammy Awards, the performer appeared on stage in royal fashion, as a curtain slowly lifted to reveal him and his hooligans who didn't let up on their energy the whole night through.
The absence of support act Dua Lipa due to an urgent request for wisdom teeth removal was a shame; her set was due to be around 10 songs in length and would have added an extra element of enjoyment to the evening. In her place was DJ Leggo My Fuego who was still good enough to hype up the audience in preparation for the main event.
The '24K Magic' Tour began with a bang – literally – as pyrotechnics lit up the stage which was an impressive, fully-functional, dynamic, hollowed-out box. Throughout the evening it transformed; parts of it rose up from the ground and massive lighting fixtures lowered down and rotated frantically, giving the performance that extra kick of visual splendour which walked hand-in-hand with Bruno's stage presence and excellent vocal talents.
His squad of dancers and bandmates filled almost every inch of every song with synchronised choreography, making full use of the space on stage from start to finish.
Belting out hits like 'Finesse', '24K Magic', 'That's What I Like', 'Just The Way You Are' and 'When I Was Your Man', it seems the performer and his crew struck (24K) gold when it came to which songs to place where in the set. There were moments where you sat down and waved your phone torch and moments where you couldn't help but stand up and boogie and neither of these moments went on too long. The audience was able to follow Bruno the whole way through without any point in the set feeling drawn out.
Bruno's vocals were impressive. In songs demanding a little more attention from his voice, the performer put his moves aside and let his talent take a front seat, showcasing an ability to hold notes high and long and displaying an admirable amount of control in his singing.
Although the show was undoubtedly a brilliant night filled with dancing and belting, I couldn't help but feel a little like the fourth wall hadn't been broken at times and as if the set was fairly rigid. Bruno burned through the night filled with a never-ending enthusiasm, but with only hints of audience interaction and minimal moments of pause and banter. In the grand scheme of things I didn't walk away feeling completely disappointed by that, but a show is given new life when the audience is really brought into the performer's world so it certainly would have improved the experience.
In saying this there were still a few moments – like the typical 'who's louder' contest between the left and right sides of the venue – where Bruno stopped and really looked out into the crowd, even requesting that the house lights be turned on at one point toward the end.
Closing the night with the huge 'Uptown Funk' was a killer move; the majority of people in the arena were on their feet at this stage as Bruno and his buds grooved in-sync around the space and bowed gracefully, the curtain lowering to bring a fiery, dynamite night of swaying, singing and shuffling to a close.
Bruno Mars Tour Dates
15 March – Brisbane Entertainment Centre17-23 March – Qudos Bank Arena (Sydney)
26 March – Adelaide Entertainment Centre
28-29 March – Perth Arena
