Marc Anthony performs in Miami for his Birthday
September 16, 2011
American Airlines Arena, Miami, FL
Written by Patty Canedo
The crowd chanted, “Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday to you,” trying to lure their salsero out on stage. After dispensing with the obligatory Goya Foods schpeal, whose 75th anniversary was the supposed purpose of the celebration, Marc Anthony descended to a sold-out American Airlines Arena. The crowd jumped to its feet where it remained the rest of the evening.
Anthony immediately grasped his hold on the audience by opening the evening with his biggest U.S. hit, “I Need To Know”. With the crowd swooning and ignited, Anthony’s charismatic energy led the crowd into a powerful performance of “Aquanile”. His haunting, soft opening flowed seamlessly into a high-energy salsa beat. His renowned, elegant passions were personified in a classic debonair black suit with a simple stage set with a few monitors and his (large) backup band.
Known for his ability to slide from powerhouse, high energy to big band salsa to enchanting ballad, Anthony moved the gyrating audience with “Hasta Ayer”. He portrayed the enchanting characteristics of a classic Latino entertainer — emotional, moving, forceful, and yelling at his keyboard player during a tantalizing exhibition.
The dazzled audience erupted with the enchanting title track from Anthony’s Grammy-winning albumValio La Pena. Infected by his own salsa rhythm of commanding percussion and exultant horn loops, Anthony was not only haunting with the mic but a compelling dancer.
Anthony delivered an emotional and softer moment of one of his favorites, the gripping ballad “Y Como Es El”. “Contra La Corriente” picked up the pace again with an outlandish percussion exhibition, which of course, was savored in the Miami arena.
Enticing the audience to dance, Anthony promised the crowd that he was going to “rock you”. So engaged in the performance, Anthony noticeably hurt himself when jumping off a speaker during “Nadie Como Ella”. Hobbling over to his percussion section to stretch and gauge the pain for the remainder of the dynamic performance, it turned into a perfect moment for a breather and birthday moment with his daughter as the entire band and arena wished him many more.
Comedian Joey Vega opened the show at the AAA last night. His bilingual mundane comments about relationships, sex and Latin culture were stale and monotonous. However, while Vega attempted to stall, the masses had merely trickled in, which included Anthony who took the stage at almost 9:30.
Anthony has risen to the top level of Latino music as one of the biggest-selling salsa artists of all time. He delivered an amazing performance for a sold-out audience with his sultry Latin flair and high energy salsa rhythm which is the very flavor of Miami.
Photos by Christina Mendenhall
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