{"id":492835,"date":"2026-10-11T18:18:10","date_gmt":"2026-10-11T18:18:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/492835\/"},"modified":"2026-10-11T18:18:10","modified_gmt":"2026-10-11T18:18:10","slug":"review-bruno-mars-brought-romantic-concert-tour-to-levis-stadium","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/492835\/","title":{"rendered":"Review: Bruno Mars brought Romantic concert tour to Levi’s Stadium"},"content":{"rendered":"

Bruno Mars<\/a> began the night by kneeling down to pray.<\/p>\n

\u201cGod, thank you, for giving me another day to do what I love,\u201d Mars<\/a> said in a videotaped segment, from inside a church, which was shown on the big stadium screens. \u201cAll that I ask is that you protect everyone in this audience, protect everyone on this stage. Give my band and I the power and strength to give this city a show they\u2019ll never forget.\u201d<\/p>\n

And the result? Prayer most definitely answered, with Mars<\/a> and company able to deliver a 2-hour-plus show that thrilled the sold-out crowd of 55,000 fans at Levi\u2019s Stadium on Saturday (Oct. 10). The R&B\/pop star<\/a> was also expected to perform in front of another packed house at the home of the San Francisco 49ers in Santa Clara on Sunday.<\/p>\n

These two Bay Area dates are part of The Romantic Tour, which marks the very long-awaited return of Mars<\/a> to the concert scene. His previous trek was almost a decade ago \u2014 the 24K Magic World Tour from 2017-18 \u2014 and he\u2019s spent recent years doing the residency thing in Las Vegas.<\/p>\n

And, no doubt, fans missed him. When Romantic Tour ducats first went on sale earlier this year, the reaction set a new record for the largest single-day ticket sales in Live Nation North American tour history. Yes, even larger than Tay-Tay.<\/p>\n

\"BrunoBruno Mars performs Oct. 10, 2026 at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara (Jim Harrington, Bay Area News Group).\u00a0<\/p>\n

His previous Bay Area outing was over Memorial Day weekend in 2018, as a headliner at the annual BottleRock Napa Valley festival \u2014 or what Mars dubbed as \u201cthe fancy Coachella.\u201d<\/a> And the last time he played this particular venue was during the Super Bowl 50 Halftime Show, as he grooved alongside Coldplay, Beyonce and others in 2016.<\/p>\n

Ten years later, he made his return and the result was once again far more Denver Broncos than Carolina Panthers. (Final score for Super Bowl 50, in cast you don\u2019t recall, was 24-10 Denver.)<\/p>\n

All this time away from the road certainly didn\u2019t hurt Mars\u2019 ability to delight a crowd. If anything, his years in Vegas have only made him an even more highly polished entertainer.<\/p>\n

Of course, polish was something that Mars apparently never lacked. I\u2019ve been watching Mars ever since he was out promoting his first album, \u201cDoo-Wops & Hooligans,\u201d starting with a bill he shared with Drake and others during the old Wild Jam concert series at SAP Center in San Jose in 2010. And even then it just seemed like he had arrived fully formed on the pop culture scene.<\/p>\n

At this point in his career, however, it\u2019s hard to imagine anyone \u2014 from the die-hard fan to the full-blown hater \u2014 going to a Bruno Mars show and not finding it entertaining.<\/p>\n

\"BrunoBruno Mars performs Oct. 10, 2026 at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara (Jim Harrington, Bay Area News Group).\u00a0<\/p>\n

Over the course of his diversely appealing set that touched upon more than 30 songs, Mars was able to demonstrate all the reasons why he\u2019s so successful on the stage. He showed his versatility right from the start as he opened with three straight songs off the new album and tour namesake \u2014 \u201cThe Romantic\u201d \u2014 beginning with the love ballad \u201cRisk It All,\u201d moving into the Latin dance number \u201cCha Cha Cha\u201d and then the sparkling, horn-driven \u201cOn My Soul.\u201d<\/p>\n

His vocals were strong and his dance moves even better as he worked in front of his topnotch Hooligans band and mesmerized the crowd with both longtime hits like \u201c24K Magic\u201d and \u201cTreasure\u201d and such newer offerings as \u201cGod Was Showing Off\u201d and \u201cI Just Might.\u201d Indeed,\u00a0 the new album\u2019s \u201cSomething Serious\u201d \u2014 with its fiery Latin grooves and big electric guitar solo from the man of the hour himself \u2014 may well have the finest musical moment of the entire set.<\/p>\n

The crowd was with him ever step of the way, singing along and grooving together under the chilly night sky.<\/p>\n

There were fireworks, laser light displays, massive confetti showers and other such effects to further keep fans entertained. And, really, none of that was necessary since the concert already had all the firepower needed in Mars himself.<\/p>\n

Mars is just so darn likable and that trait somehow transfers over to his songs, making even his most cringe tunes \u2014 such as \u201cWhy You Wanna Fight?\u201d \u2014 enjoyable in the concert arena. He\u2019s got stage presence for days, and even more charisma, reminding one of some of the greatest names in music history \u2014 Prince, Michael Jackson and James Brown, for starters.<\/p>\n

The show hit a little bit of a lull \u2014 in terms of crowd excitement, but certainly not musicality \u2014 when Anderson .Paak joined the fray and the two vocalist revisited their super-duo Silk Sonic material, including the singles \u201cLeave the Door Open\u201d and \u201cSmokin out the Window.\u201d<\/p>\n

Yet, Mars was quickly able to get the fans right back on his side as he returned to his solo catalog for the big wedding-proposal-favorite \u201cMarry You\u201d and followed up with the entirely different-kind-of-romantic number \u201cDie With a Smile.\u201d He\u2019d then sit down at the piano and showcase yet another musical side as he waltzed through a medley of \u201cIt Will Rain,\u201d \u201cTalking to the Moon,\u201d \u201cGrenade\u201d and \u201cWhen I Was Your Man.\u201d<\/p>\n

It was all aces down the stretch, as Mars went from the funky Sting\/Police-reminiscent \u201cLocked Out of Heaven\u201d to the massive singalong ballad \u201cJust the Way You Are\u201d and then the new album closer \u201cDance With Me.\u201d<\/p>\n

And what could possibly be left to further send these 55,000 fans home with smiles on their faces? Yeah, the choice was obvious \u2014 \u201cUptown Funk\u201d \u2014 and it definitely did the trick.<\/p>\n

\"BrunoBruno Mars performs Oct. 10, 2026 at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara (Jim Harrington, Bay Area News Group).\u00a0<\/p>\n

Setlist:<\/p>\n

1. \u201cRisk It All\u201d
2. \u201cCha Cha Cha\u201d
3. \u201cOn My Soul\u201d
4. \u201c24K Magic\u201d
5. \u201cTreasure\u201d
6. \u201cGod Was Showing Off\u201d
7. \u201cI Just Might\u201d
8. \u201cPerm\u201d
9. \u201cWhy You Wanna Fight?\u201d
10. \u201cOh Girl\u201d\/\u201dLet\u2019s Get It On\u201d\/\u201dPlease Me\u201d
11. \u201cThat\u2019s What I Like\u201d
12. \u201cSomething Serious\u201d
13. \u201cBlast Off\u201d
14. \u201cSilk Sonic Intro\u201d
15. \u201c777\u201d
16. \u201cFly as Me\u201d
17. \u201cSmokin Out the Window\u201d
18. \u201cLeave the Door Open\u201d
19. \u201cMarry You\u201d
20. \u201cDie With a Smile\u201d
21. Piano medley: \u201cIt Will Rain\u201d\/\u201dTalking to the Moon\u201d\/\u201dGrenade\u201d\/\u201dWhen I Was Your Man\u201d
22. \u201cVersace on the Floor\u201d
23. \u201cLocked Out of Heaven\u201d
24. \u201cJust the Way You Are\u201d
25. \u201cDance With Me\u201d
26. \u201cUptown Funk\u201d<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Bruno Mars began the night by kneeling down to pray. \u201cGod, thank you, for giving me another day…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":492836,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[184,7,2644,1533,181,25438,330,3743,8257,88,90,89,197,198,94685,200,420],"class_list":["post-492835","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-san-jose","tag-bay-area","tag-california","tag-concerts","tag-keywee","tag-latest-headlines","tag-levis-stadium","tag-music","tag-nightlife","tag-pop-music","tag-san-jose","tag-san-jose-headlines","tag-san-jose-news","tag-santa-clara","tag-santa-clara-county","tag-social-alert","tag-south-bay","tag-things-to-do"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/492835","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=492835"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/492835\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/492836"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=492835"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=492835"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=492835"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}