Karol G Wraps Historic Mañana Será Bonito Tour With Emotional Last Show: ‘This Tour Changed My Life’
Colombian superstar Karol G officially wrapped her Mañana Será Bonito World Tour – a yearlong tour de force stint that touched base in the U.S., Latin America and Europe, with her last show in Madrid’s Santiago Bernabéu Stadium, where she became the first artist to sell out four shows at that venue.
“Hey familia, after almost seventy nights, I’m going to say for real that tonight is going to be the coolest night of my life,” said Karol, who, for this special occasion, ditched her pink-hued locks and appeared in her iconic, teal-dyed hair at the beginning of the show. The blue hair stayed for the first 30 minutes of the show, a nod to her KG0516 era, and with it she performed hits like the fiery “TQG,” the cheeky reggaeton anthem “Mi Cama” and her breakthrough song “Tusa.”
Billed as Mañana Será Bonito Forever, the show also streamed on Karol’s official YouTube page, kicking off at 6pm ET (after the show ended in Madrid) and at one point the stream surpassed 1 million people tuning in, with hearts flooding the comments section. Meanwhile, at the Bernabéu, thousands of fans danced and sang decked out in flowery Mañana Será Bonito merch with pink cowboy hats or fluffy earmuffs as an extra nod to Karol’s Bichota Season aesthetic.
The last show was a culmination of her extraordinary tour – and yes, extraordinary because no other women in Latin music had headlined a global stadium tour. The trek – in support of Karol’s Grammy-winning, Billboard 200-topping album by the same name – also became a top grossing event — she was the was the highest grossing Latin touring artist of 2023 — and the moment wasn’t lost on Karol who was visibly emotional during the show as she stared out at the sea of fans who chanted “Karol, Karol.”
Not much changed for her last show from previous performances (except for the hair color changes throughout the over two-hour set, going blue to red and then pink). Karol stuck to the show fans have raved about all year long singing all her old and new hits – including her latest, the merengue-powered “Si Antes Te Hubieras Conocido,” which currently sits atop the Hot Latin Songs chart.
“I always think I have the words for everything but I would like to find the words to describe how I feel as a person, as a woman, how I feel here in front of all of you, how I feel knowing that, at home, there are thousands of people watching me right now,” a tearful Karol, dressed in a gorgeous angelic white dress, told her fans. “If there is something beautiful that this journey taught me, it was to learn to love myself, I am sure that God made me unique as well as he made us all unique for a reason. This tour allowed me to find my purpose in life and that is to help people feel like I feel now after so many years of not feeling this way. I’m closing a chapter of my life that meant everything, the closeness with my fans, with my family and after all, tomorrow was very beautiful. From my heart, I wish this for each one of you, so learn to put yourselves above many things, love yourselves very much, I love you with my life, my relationship for life is with you. Thank you!”
Making the connection even deeper with a few lucky fans fans, Karol stepped down from the stage mid-show greeting those in the front section, including little kids, and personally picking up gifts along the way; a bouquet of flowers, a stuffed unicorn, a rainbow flag and a cowboy hat.
The tears continued to flow when she performed “Mientras Me Curo del Cora,” and Iker, the little boy who was a key figure in her Mañana Será Bonito concept, appeared on stage wearing green, white and red (representing Mexico) holding a traditional Mexican rag doll as a gift for Karol. “He was my inner child in this process,” Karol said as she introduced him to her fans. The two embraced and Karol reminded everyone, “nothing matters because mañana será bonito.”
Toward the end of the show, she sang an encore of “Amargura,” this time accompanied by a salsa band, which included Emily Estefan on percussion. But right before, she expressed, “This tour changed my life, it changed the lives of many people. I feel proud to represent my home country and I feel much more proud to represent all my Latin countries. I would love to stop time and stay here crying, singing, thank you for making me so happy. I don’t want to leave, if it was up to me, I’d start the show all over again.”
But alas, all good things come to an end. And Karol officially closed with “Provenza,” the song that “started everything,” she said. “Here and those at home, let’s enjoy this moment like if it was our last and best night of our lives.”
Griselda Flores
Billboard