It is difficult to contain your emotion when you are far away from "home." For local Puerto Ricans, the concert was more than music; it was about healing nostalgia, reconnecting with their roots, celebrating the fact that Puerto Rico is in the global spotlight and getting closer to an island where, paradoxically, some of them have never lived.
This Saturday, thousands of Puerto Ricans in Connecticut – where 8% of the population is Puerto Rican – came together to enjoy “Una más”, the last concert of Bad Bunny’s “No me quiero ir de aquí” residency.
The album “DeBÍ TiRAR MáS FOToS” has been a reaffirming space for Puerto Rican identity and a bridge of connection to the island.
“It’s something that, honestly, I can’t explain,” Xiomara Colón Rivera told El Nuevo Día.
Colón Rivera, daughter of a family from Caguas, has the map of Puerto Rico and the Taino coquí tattooed on her skin. Although she was born in Hartford, she was proud of her heritage and dressed as a jíbara this Saturday at Matty D’s Bar & Grill, where the concert stream was being broadcast live.
“It’s an honor to be part of how Puerto Ricans come together to celebrate moments like this,” said Matthew J. Dacosta, owner of the venue, in a written statement.
About 100 more Puerto Ricans arrived at the restaurant, which was already decorated with homages to Puerto Rican culture and the artist himself: the güiro, the flag, the white plastic chairs from the album cover, and even coquito for a toast.
“Doing this was my boyfriend’s idea, he was born here and his family is from Toa Alta. I, on the other hand, lived in Gurabo until I was four years old and then I moved to Connecticut,” explained Jovany Rivera, organizer of the event.
Although not a native of the island, his partner, Clide Paton, carried a kettle on her head throughout the night and chanted the songs from start to finish, with particular fervor when Marc Anthony appeared on stage to perform “Preciosa”.
“Growing up in public housing was different, and ‘DeBÍ TiRAR MáS FOToS’ has helped me understand many historical things that in the diaspora we don’t know, because we are a bit distant," continued the coordinator, who is also a friend of the owner of the business.
The party was not only defined by the sound, but also by the visuals, such as Bad Bunny shirts, many of them brought from concerts on the island.
“We went to Puerto Rico to one of the shows and there’s nothing like seeing him at home. What he did was a play, my heart was happy,” said an emotional Ángel Gómez.
His wife, Grisel Merced, has roots in Salinas, but was born in Connecticut. At age eight, he moved to Puerto Rico, then returned to the United States. He agreed that the watch party was “an experience” and said that “the important thing is to keep the culture alive.”
The memory of Hurricane Maria, whose eighth anniversary was commemorated the same day as the concert livestream, also crept in, with some viewers reliving the helplessness of those days.
“It was horrible not being able to contact my family and see the images. My aunt lost her little house ... and I have no words,” Colon Rivera recalled with emotion after reggaetonero Ñengo Flow took the stage wearing a shirt and stamped “4,645,” a reference to the deaths from the natural disaster.
Similar watch parties were held at Humacao Restaurant Bar & Lounge in Hartford and The Diamond Club in Danbury.
At the University of Connecticut, the Puerto Rican Student Association (PURSA) organized a meeting with more than 70 young people on the Mansfield campus.
“Here at UConn, there is a large community of Latinos who are fans of Bad Bunny and Puerto Rican culture, so we wanted to create a space to see him,” said Allondra Méndez Laroy, co-president of PURSA.
The spirits of Puerto Ricans are already high not only because of the concert. This Sunday, they will celebrate the Puerto Rican Parade and Coqui Festival in Hartford, the last of the seven Puerto Rican festivals held each year in the state.
With “Una más”, Bad Bunny culminated his series of 30 performances at the Coliseo José Miguel Agrelot in Puerto Rico. “Debí Tirar Más Fotos” starts its world tour on November 21 in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, and ends on July 22, 2026 in Brussels, Belgium, in what will be the first time the artist returns to sing in Europe after several years.
