La Bichota: Rewriting reggaeton’s rules – Part 2

Here, IQ‘s proudly presents the second and final part of our behind the scenes feature on Latina sensation Karol G’s record-breaking Mañana Será Bonito Tour. Read part one here.

Unstoppable
And so to Europe, where Karol G has genuinely broken new ground – not only was it her first EU tour, but it was an arena tour, too – with some stadiums thrown in to bring the curtain down. Many artists and their teams would perhaps have approached their first steps in a new continent with trepidation, but not her. “We had a sense of the global opportunity at hand for Karol as soon as the USA tour launched in the summer of 2023,” says her worldwide agent, Jbeau Lewis of UTA.

“We started planning Latin America and Europe concurrently at that point, for spring and summer 2024, respectively.”
Lewis attributes the delay in hitting Europe to the desire of wanting to do things “‘right,’ as opposed to ‘right now.’” Besides, he adds, “Karol’s incredible success touring in North America and South America provided all the confidence we needed to step into arenas and stadiums in Europe. As a bona fide global star, we had no reason to think she could not be successful.”

Planning for the EU leg of the tour started in June 2023, when her team started reaching out directly to all of the arenas in markets of interest to ensure they could have complete control over the routing and to secure the best avails whilst European promoter conversations were ongoing. “Given the success of the previous US and Latin American tours, there was certainly an expectation from fans that they should get the same experience on the European shows,” says Jules de Lattre, her UTA EU agent. “European success was all about timing and pent-up demand – it made sense for Europe to take place at the high point of the Maňana Será Bonito campaign off the back of significant momentum built up in the US and Latin America.”

But the European leg was built on more than just vibes and a sense of destiny – cold, hard “significant” data was key, too, and her team were confident about the routing, the host cities, and which countries to visit. “We naturally focused on major Latin markets such as Spain, Portugal, and Italy, as well as the major European capitals with significant Spanish-speaking communities – so London, Paris, Zurich, and Amsterdam, says De Lattre. “In addition, we decided to add traditionally smaller markets in Antwerp, Cologne, and Berlin, where we expected the fans would travel to. All three cities sold out within a week, which is by far the best result of any Latin artist in these venues.”

Early planning allowed the team to hold second nights in London, Lisbon, Amsterdam, Paris, and multiple nights at the Bernabéu Stadium in Madrid. Furthermore, the plan was to announce single shows in all markets before comfortably rolling into second nights where they could see the demand was evident. As an example, in Madrid, it quickly became apparent that a second, then a third date, was more than feasible. Then a fourth. And, says De Lattre, “all indicators pointed to there being a demand for at least two more Madrid shows.”

“The incredible live content European fans were seeing from shows in North and South America really created a sense of FOMO that all marketeers seek to achieve”

But within each market, some of the city choices were, he adds, dictated by the venues they wanted to present the show in. “There was the Sportpaleis in Antwerp, the impressive Lanxess Arena in Cologne, the Forum in Milan, and the Uber Arena
demographic, particularly Spanish speakers, and driving this level of devotion and fandom. Karol and her team are extremely creative, so as De Lattre says, they have to do very little in order to amplify that content to a wider audience and convert those eyeballs into ticket sales. “The incredible live content European fans were seeing from shows in North and South America over the last year really created a sense of FOMO that all marketeers seek to achieve,” he adds.

A creatively crafted tour announcement video featuring images of every city on the tour was a big part of that. But Lewis also credits a “musicality that fans can feel regardless of language barriers and a positive and magnetic personality and message,” that “all combine to move both culture and tickets.”

The European run, however, did require a few tweaks and changes to overcome certain challenges. “For the European leg, the ImageSFX team was tasked with taking the stadium tour and paring it down to fit in Europe’s arena environment,” says Heath. “Many of the special effects cues included in the stadium run were centred on the top of the stage’s rooftop, which doesn’t exist in the arena environment. Ahead of touching down, our team needed to find creative solutions to repurpose the cues from the roof onto the stage. Pyro product was decreased in size and different flame equipment was used in order to meet both safety standards and trim heights onstage.”

Screens were also changed slightly. “The stadium legs and the European arena leg have required different looks and methods to achieve the designers’ unified vision across all legs of the tour,” says Screenworks’ Brad Reiman. “It was key to achieving the same vibe at different scales, from velodromes in Europe to massive football stadiums in the US and South America, and the shows at Madrid’s Santiago Bernabéu.”

Artist manager Giraldo comments, “For Karol, the most important thing is the experience the fans get to live during her shows, since that is what creates a real connection between her fans, her music, and herself. All of the elements (lights, music, wardrobe, video, choreography, pyro, cameras) that fans get to experience are a true representation of Karol’s essence and authenticity, since she is involved in every single detail.”

Adding to that connection, the production also hands out PixMob’s LED wristbands to fans – effectively making them part of the show’s lighting design. “As an album, Mañana Será Bonito has such eye-catching visuals that it took on a life of its own once it was released,” says PixMob’s Hila Aviran, director of tours and entertainment. “We wanted to make sure fans felt like they were experiencing the album come to life and living every song as the show progressed. This shared vision was the inspiration for the super bright, vibrant colours and big moving effects in the audience.

“After we put up the second Bernabéu show, we checked online, and at that point, there were 493,000 people ahead of us in the queue”

“For the last shows in Madrid, the artist and her team wanted to go all out. So together, we designed a 6-LED PixMob wristband with 360° light diffusion. This wristband is made of sustainable materials (no silicone, no single-use plastic) and six mega LEDs powered by powerful alkaline batteries with the signature Mañana Será Bonito artwork across the wrist strap.”

Those four shows were certain to bring the tour to a fittingly grandiose conclusion – literally going out with a bang. “The goal was to create something truly special for the Spanish audience,” says Live Nation’s Spanish promoter Nacho Córdoba. “Karol G is the first artist to sell out four shows at the Bernabéu, breaking a record that no other artist had previously achieved.”

Just how crazy was demand for this particular show? “After we put up the second Bernabéu show, we checked online, and at that point, there were 493,000 people ahead of us in the queue!” recalls De Lattre.

Tomorrow Will Be Beautiful
For her team and those who work alongside her, the accolades, the acclaim, and the sheer passion she inspires in her fans is truly something special – and utterly deserved. “Simply put, no artist has bigger ambition or works harder – Karol has a sense of the moment like no other,” says Lewis. “She understands both the opportunity at hand now and the fact that she has built something sustainable for the long-term and will stop at nothing to achieve the goals she has set for herself.”

Then again, what else would you expect from a true bichota at the top of her game? “As with any successful organisation, the business takes the tone of its leadership – Karol is unequivocally the boss, and the way she treats her team and everyone she meets with respect and positivity is infectious,” continues Lewis. “Whether she crosses paths with the teamster in the morning or the janitor as she exits the venue, Karol always connects with them. The radiant power of her quick smile or ‘hello’ is undeniable.” For Karol G, it’s not just tomorrow that looks good – it’s the foreseeable and beyond.

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