Review: Enrique Iglesias at The O2

I guess it’s easier going to gigs where I know the entire back catalogue and have been a fan of the artist for years but from time to time I like to step out of my comfort zone and give something else a chance. For me closing your mind to types of music is too easy, there is a world of musical type out there and no doubt I will garner slagging for attend a concert of one Enrique Iglesias.

However I was there last night with an open mind having already been blow away by the showcase which Usher had put on. The night kicked off with a white curtain pushed right to the front of the stage leaving little room for support act Lemar to do his thing. Joined by two backing singers and a guitarist who had a wesley snipes look going on they were an absolutely perfect warm up act for Enrique. They got the crowd screaming back to them, put on a very slick polished performance and for a rapidly filling venue he no doubt picked up a lot of new fans especially with his marquee tracks like ‘50:50‘ and ‘If Theres Any Justice In The World‘ in a chilled pop display that built the crowd up into a bit of dancing fun towards the end.

After what seemed like an eternity of a wait between acts, it actually may have been a full hour as Enrique didn’t grace us with his appearance till 9.30 when the lights went out and a pulsing sound built up with the word “party” flashing on a screen behind this white curtain which drops with the screen flashing “party”, “karamba”, “fiesta”, “forever” as the sample for I Like It breaks into ‘Tonight‘ where halfway through the song he asks the crowd ‘do you wanna get dirty?’. A question which the female nation of The O2 let him know in no uncertain terms they most certainly did and he switched the lyrics from ‘tonight I’m loving you’ to ‘tonight I’m fucking you’

Standing at the edge of the stage as the song finished the crowd screaming fanatically at him as he just stands there lapping up the moment as around 13,000 ladies gave him the warmest of welcomes to Ireland. The show continues with ‘I Can Feel Your Heartbeat‘ his latest track which he did with Nicole Scherzinger, then it happened, he started a back catalogue of hits that took me right through my youth of songs I heard on the radio and had completely forgotten were his songs. From 1999 when I was only 13 right through to 2010/11 it became clear my pre show thought that I hadn’t heard a massive hit from him in years was massively wide of the mark.

Tracks like ‘Not In Love‘ and ‘Rhythm Divine‘ were complete throwbacks as my fears of not knowing much material eased massively. He then goes to the end of his catwalk stage that split the standing area and proceeded to pose for snaps for the seating area and even let two or three lucky girls throw their camera’s to him and he angled a snap where he tried to get himself and them into the picture from the stage. He then went into ‘Bailamos‘ and with everyone else around me dancing it was hard not to let those hips sway and immerse in the spectacle.

Things were taken down a notch after that party piece and the band all sat on blocks at the front of the stage as he wishes everyone a belated St. Patricks day and tells us when touring he looks forward to two places to play, Mexico City and Dublin.  This obviously garners a huge reaction from the crowd. As he starts to sing a song he describes as very close to his heart ‘Coming Home‘ he decides it doesn’t feel right and looks for a guy (yes a man, task and a half to find) to bring up on stage. He pulls up a 13 year old boy on stage and sings Coming Home and then sings a few lyrics of one of his songs trying to involve the young lad who was petrified but eventually sings some of the lyrics with him. The crowd showing him some love for the effort. He asks the young lad who he came to the show with, to which he says his sister and Enrique then insists on bringing the sister up too. After a bit of quizzing he finds out she is 18 and realising 18 is the legal drinking age provides a shot for herself and the band as they toast the night. He breaks off into ‘I Like It’ with them on stage and then asks for permission to sing in spanish for a bit.

He sings ‘Loro Por Ti‘ to his adoring crowd and in the middle of the song jumps the 4/5 foot gap between stage and seating area clinging to the barrier and climbing into the seated area giving the fans in that area a once in a lifetime moment where they got to be right up close with him as he continued to sing away in spanish. This obviously caused a rush from the seats left and right of this as girls upped seats and tried to get as close to their hero as possible. After escaping the clutches of the Dublin ladies dropping a good 8 foot to the ground and climbing back up onto his stage, a round of ole’s are burst out by the crowd as Enrique tells them that no matter what kind of night he’s having Dublin always comes through.

Hitting up more of his recent tracks he flowed through ‘Taking Back My Love‘, ‘Be With You‘, ‘Tired of Being Sorry‘ and ‘Do You Know‘ which took up right up to the “end” of show. After what seemed like a rather long encore which actually led to some people hitting the stairs to leave thinking he might not come back a massive roar went up. Looking around I could see nothing on stage but the screaming was coming from the epicentre of the seating. Enrique has appeared on a stage in the middle of the seating engulfed by his insatiable fans. The chords of ‘Hero‘ ring out sending the crowd into raptures and they go absolutely nuts as he says “I think I need someone to join me”. He looks around and he picks out a girl who he tells to come join him. He dubbed her ‘Crazy Stephanie’ as you can tell by the pitch of her voice when he puts the mic to her she is rather excited about what is happening. He sings Hero to her, kissed her as he sang ‘touch your lips’ driving all the ladies wild with envy, she copped a good feel of his ass during one long embrace and Enrique even pulled his shirt over her so she was effectively wearing the same shirt. I’m pretty sure every dream she ever had preshow was suddenly coming true.

Finishing off ‘Hero’ he finds his way back to the stage to his other massive turn of the millenium hit ‘Escape‘ giving the crowd literally everything they could have asked for. He decides that he wants to do one more before leaving and bursts out ‘I Like It’ again and for the Pitbull (I think that’s who duets on this one) part done by a guy who came out dressed in green and white priest robes. Absolutely bizarre. Confetti bombs goes off to finish as he says his goodbyes and as he’s walking off stage a round of ole ole ole ole bursts out from the thoroughly pleased crowd. Enrique stops in his tracks, looks to the side of stage for what looked like approval before turning around and saying ‘OK DUBLIN ONE MORE!!!’. An Irish flag is thrown up on stage and he puts it on wearing it like a scarf he finishes his Dublin adventure with ‘Tonight‘ for the second time. The night finishing as it started I can help but say I was thoroughly entertained.

I’ve never seen one artist give more for his fans. Jumping into the crowd, singing to one lucky lady for hero, posing for pictures, taking camera’s thrown to him from the crowd and posing with members of the band or trying to snap himself on stage with the camera owner in the background. So few artist care that much for their fans that they will literally leap gaps to give their fans a special moment. From the siblings on stage to wearing the flag to the “we look forward to Dublin” every tour. He gave his fans not only what felt like a greatest hits super show, he gave them the loving care and attention of an artist who knows that his fans are the most important thing and in a time of recession and thrifty spending filling a venue like The O2 can be harder than it sounds.

Was this the greatest show I’ve ever seen, not personally, but Enrique won me over with a back catalogue documenting my youth and a personality which has endeared me to him as a man who doesn’t act like a superstar even though after that show it’s clear in the last decade he truly has been.

(If you were there and got snaps of him doing his fan thing and would like to share them with the GP readers email admin@goldenplec.com and we’ll add your snaps and give you a mention)

Lemar Setlist
Dance
50:50
If she knew
If theres any justice in the world
Weight of the world
The ways love goes

Enrique Setlist
————————–
Tonight
I Can Feel You Heartbeat
Not In Love
Rhythm Divine
Bailamos
Coming Home
I Like It
Loro Por Ti
Taking Back My Love
Just Wanna Be With You
Tired Of Being Sorry
Do You Know
Encore
Hero
Escape
I Like It (again)
Tonight (again)