Concert Review: Bruno Mars brings 24K Magic World Tour to Fresno

Bruno Mars performs as part of his 24K Magic World Tour with his band The Hooligans at Fresno’s Save Mart Center on Nov. 2, 2017. (Photo by Leticia Madrigal/Clovis Roundup)

American singer and songwriter Bruno Mars “#Blessed” Fresno with a performance after a concert cancellation scare.

After a show cancellation in Denver due to a sinus infection a couple nights prior, local fans feared the popstar sensation would bail on his Fresno show as well.

Silence on his end confirmed the opposite and with no apparent sign of sickness, Mars and his band The Hooligans “#blessed” Fresno with a Nov. 2 performance at Save Mart Center as part of his 24K Magic World Tour.

The lights dimmed, music started, stage curtains lifted and Mars appeared as he opened the show and left everyone in attendance “drippin’ in finesse” with his hit, “Finesse.”

Mars had the Save Mart Center crowd of 16,000 dancing and singing along to every love and heartbreak hit. From his latest, “24K Magic” to his original hit, “Locked out of Heaven” and biggest feature, “Uptown Funk” by Mark Ronson, Mars had the entire arena emotional and filled with excitement all at the same time.

Though Mars has many die-hard fans which label themselves as “hooligans,” you don’t have to know every detail of his life to enjoy each and every song performed that night.

Sure, singing along makes any concert-goer’s experience that much better but Mars does more than enough entertaining through his choreographed performance with his band and with his unmissable radio hits that could only be missed if you’ve lived under a rock for the last five to seven years.

Stephanie Luna, long-time fan, Fresno State student and temporary Los Angeles resident, took a day trip to her hometown of Fresno for the concert and explained her excitement to be able to have a third opportunity see Mars perform.

“I’ve been a fan of him [Bruno Mars] since 2009 after listening to him in “Billionaire” and I’ve been lucky to see him perform three as part of three different tours since,” Luna said. “He seems to be turning up to notch each time, the choreography just keeps getting better and better.”

Luna is currently completing a semester-long internship as part of her recreation administration degree at Fresno State and was questioning whether she would take the trip to the concert in vain.

“Even the day of I wasn’t sure if he was going to show up or not, I took the day trip anyway and I was happy to find out that it was not going to be cancelled,” Luna said. “The show was seriously amazing but it was also my favorite thus far because I got to bring my niece along this time and you also can’t help but appreciate A-list artists that make a stop in Fresno because not many do.”

Mars continued his tour after Fresno with no cancellations and even completed four sold-out nights at The Forum in Los Angeles on Saturday, Nov. 18.