Bad Bunny recreates his gas station performance and pays homage to Latin Artists at Coachella

Bad Bunny put on a high-energy show at Coachella 2023 on Friday, performing hit songs from throughout his career, with a number of musical guests joining him on stage.

As the first Latino to headline the festival, Bad Bunny made many nods to his home country of Puerto Rico, including a replica of his famed gas station performance in the country last year.

He also took the opportunity to pay homage to the Latin artists that came before him, with short clips of music familiar to the Latinos in the audience.

Recreating his gas station performance

Bad Bunny opened his Coachella set with ‘Titi Me Pregunto’, a fan favorite, wearing a colorful puffed hooded jacket with patchwork details, standing on a replica gas station platform at the Coachella stage, as his backup dancers danced beneath.

His entrance echoed his impromptu performance in Puerto Rico last December, when he took over a Gulf gas station, performing from the station’s roof to a huge audience that showed up after just a few hours’ notice.

Bad Bunny then joined his dancers on stage as ‘Pa Ti’ played, which has transformed into a popular TikTok audio. A hologram-projected image of a UFO, the flag of Puerto Rico and an astronaut could be seen above the stage.

Audio difficulties left Bad Bunny and Post Malone unable to perform an acoustic rendition of ‘La Cancion’ and ‘Yonaguni’, but the audience saw no problem in taking on the mantle, singing both songs enthusiastically.

An homage to mambo, salsa, rumba and reggaeton legends

In the middle of his two-hour show, Bad Bunny took a moment to explain to the audience – in English, despite speaking in Spanish for the rest of the show, at the behest of the audience after asking them what language they preferred he speaks – the influence different genres have had on urban Latin music.

A video that showcased the history of mambo, rumba, and salsa, pointed to the influence of African and Caribbean rhythms, complete with music by greats such as Hector Lavoe, Celia Cruz, La Lupe, and Johnny Pacheco.

The video also highlighted El Gran Combo De Puerto Rico’s song ‘Brujería’, which became a viral TikTok song last year.

The segment then broke into the song ‘I Like It Like That’ with Cardi B and J Balvin’s recorded vocals playing with Bad Bunny’s live rapping.

In a later segment of the show, Bad Bunny helped his audience explore the history of reggaeton, pointing to the influence of Panamanian reggae and hip-hop, leading to old-school reggaeton artists like El General, Tego Calderon, Plan B and Don Omar and their influence on artists like Bad Bunny.

This section then moved into the song ‘Safaera’, where Bad Bunny was joined by duo Jowell Y Randy and Ñengo Flow.