Review & setlist: Bad Bunny is the ‘Most Wanted’ man at TD Garden

With pyrotechnics, a rotating catwalk, and a live horse in tow, the reggaeton superstar left the Boston audience awed.

Bad Bunny at TD Garden, April 17, 2024

Throngs of cowboy hat-clad revelers streamed out of North Station Wednesday night, and they all had one destination: Puerto Rican rapper-singer Bad Bunny’s Most Wanted Tour at TD Garden.

Once inside, the eager concertgoers were handed lanyards adorned with battery-powered cowboy boots to match the rest of their Western-inspired finery, activated during the show to set the mood of each song with a unique lighting scheme. The lanyards were just one flashy feature of Bad Bunny’s extravagant 2 1/2-hour set, which included pyrotechnics, a rotating catwalk, and a live horse.

In lieu of an opener, Bad Bunny, also known as Benito Martínez Ocasio, appeared onstage surrounded by curling smoke after a 10-minute orchestral performance to deliver a rousing rendition of his epic album starter “NADIE SABE.” He continued in order with the opulent crowd-pleaser “MONACO” before backup dancers — the women dressed in cheeky assless chaps — joined him onstage for more hits from his 2023 album “nadie sabe lo que va a pasar mañana.”

During “VOU 787,” another track boasting the lavishness of the rapper’s post-“Un Verano Sin Ti” lifestyle, the screens above the stage froze in snapshots of Ocasio in time with the song’s camera-flash sound effects, declaring him “Vogue: Most Wanted in Boston.”

And indeed he was — fans knew every single word of his discography, and El Conejo Malo frequently turned the mic towards the audience to make sure of it. Screams reached a fever pitch when he tossed his jacket into the crowd, and towards the end of his set he was toting around a bra that someone had thrown to him.

The “nadie sabe” portion of the evening ended when Ocasio was beaten to death by skull-masked dancers at the end of “BATICANO” — but luckily the King of Latin Trap returned on horseback in a fresh cowboy-approved getup to live up to his apt moniker. The second act of the show featured older trap successes like “No Te Hagas” and “Diles.”

Ocasio didn’t talk much between songs, but he didn’t need to. For the artist who made history as the first non-English-language act to reach the top of the Spotify streaming rankings, his face alone was enough to make the crowd feral. Mostly he preferred to quietly survey the 360-degree wall of fans and occasionally point to them or press his hands together in thanks, eliciting delighted screams.

At the end of the second act, though, he took a moment to express his appreciation to the devoted audience in Spanish, reclining on top of the piano that would accompany his next few songs. To raucous cheers, he thanked them for coming and reflected that no matter what they were going through, he was happy to provide time and space for them to forget about their problems.

After his heart-to-heart with the crowd, Ocasio slowed things down with “GRACIAS POR NADA” and “un x100to” before bringing the energy back up with his final act: perreo. Reunited with his backup dancers, he sang reggaeton favorites “Safaera” and “DÁKITI,” making it impossible for concertgoers not to give into the music and move along with the thrumming beat.

The night ended with a lively performance of the wildly popular “WHERE SHE GOES,” punctuated by confetti blasts. Two and a half hours must have been enough for the adoring audience, because there was no need for an encore. The army of cowboy hats once again left TD Garden, satisfied and starry-eyed.

Setlist for Bad Bunny at TD Garden on Apr. 17, 2024

• NADIE SABE
• MONACO
• FINA
• HIBIKI
• MR. OCTOBER
• MERCEDES CAROTA
• CYBERTRUCK
• VOU 787
• SEDA
• BATICANO
• TELEFONO NUEVO
• Pa Ti
• No Te Hagas
• Vuelve
• Me Mata
• Soy peor
• Tú no vive así
• Chambea
• Diles
• 25/8
• VUELVE CANDY B
• THUNDER Y LIGHTNING
• GRACIAS POR NADA
• un x100to
• BABY NUEVA
• PERRO NEGRO
• Safaera
• Yo perreo sola
• La santa
• La Jumpa
• DÁKITI
• Me Porto Bonito
• WHERE SHE GOES