Last night I was lucky enough to witness Ricky Martin take to the stage at London’s Hammersmith Apollo for a one night only UK stopover on his exciting MAS (Música Alma Sexo) World Tour. I’ve been a long-time fan of Ricky Martin and I’ve actually seen him peform at Hammersmith Apollo before, but I was especially excited for this tour as it would present him as a new artist after his highly publicized coming out as a “fortunate homosexual man” last year.
From start to finish of the show, you got the feeling that “unity” ane “equality” was the prevalent theme of the evening set to the exciting kaleidescope of massive international hits and fan favorites from the vast Ricky Martin catalogue which saw Ricky perform tracks like “Vuelve” during the “Punk Goes Pop” section of the show. We also saw Ricky slung up in chains during the opening video segment, set to a Frankie Goes To Hollywood “Relax” soundtrack. During the end of the Punk Goes Pop section Ricky also dove backfirst into a “trust fall” caught by the reassuring arms of his backing dancers and singers. Incredible opening to the extravanza.
During the “Cabaret” section of the show, Ricky belted out his most famous international hits which included the massive “Livin La Vida Loca”, “She Bangs”, “Shake Your Bon Bon” and “Loaded”. Obviously this section of the show was the most familar to the audience as his mega English smash hits had the entire theatre dancing and singing along gleefully and furiously with Ricky.
During the “Mediteranean” portion of the show, Ricky turned up the heat and broke the nob right off the cooker with an incredible and overtly sexual cherographed routine set to whips, leather and masks which garnered quite a few gasps and cheshire cat style grins from many in the audience – including me.
Ricky even engaged in a gay kiss onstage and at one point on a sofa, there was almost an orgy of sorts going on with Ricky in the middle surrounded by his male and female dancers who didn’t seem to mind getting freaky with Mr. Martin in front of the audience. If ever you thought Ricky Martin was a sex god before, he most certainly lived up to that description last night.
During the closing “Afro Beat” section of the show, Ricky showed a massive amount of love and pride for his home of Puerto Rico during “La Bomba” and promised us that we would all have the time of our lives if we were to schedule our next holiday there. He closed out the night with the massive “Cup Of Life” which sent the crowd into a frenzy.
Overall, the MAS World Tour was a spectable to behold and if you are lucky enough to catch the tour in your town, make sure do what you have to in order to score a ticket. For me, it was a cathardic experience to see Ricky present himself in the most honest light as a performer since his coming out and publication of his moving and touching biography “Me” – in which I might add, if you haven’t read his book – you really need to. If you loved Ricky Martin before, you’ll love him even more after reading his memoirs.
Not only did the MAS World Tour reflect who Ricky now is as an artist and performer, it’s a show that really digs into your psyche and encourages you to let go of your inner demons and monkeys. And for any of those “fuck you Ricky Martin” haters that were so vocal about his late coming out in life, you can’t deny that upon witnessing the MAS World Tour, it’s a testament for many others who might be going through similar issues and I applaud Ricky Martin for being the legend, performer and role model that he is today.
The one massive highlight of the show you ask? During the “Cup Of Life” encore, one fan threw a rainbow flag onstage and Ricky proudly wrapped the flag around his neck and shoulders and he was beaming with inner and outer pride. I would do anything to relive that one key moment of the show again – I literally was crying.
Let the music set you free.