Bruno Mars review – half club, half church service as underrated singer answers fans’ prayers | Bruno Mars

WEmbley Stadium is awash in crimson as Bruno Mars’ surgery takes place in town for the first time in six games. This tour is called wa diminutive singer’s 2026 album The Romantic. Mars is feeling romantic and the crowd on Saturday night is happy to be dating, dressed in red and with hand-made charms that read “Hot for Bruno”.

He begins with a prayer, a kitschy video in which he asks for a hand to give the audience a show we will never forget, before emerging from the dry water. Stained glass behind him and twinkling lights all around him, and a tumbling club, half a church prayer as he breaks into Risk It All. Should this show be a spaghetti western or a 50s high school prom? The Romantic Tour boldly asks: why not all?

It’s been a summer of stadiums designed to bring the crowd into action (Metallica’s 360-degree stage, BTS’s massive X-shape setup, Harry Styles’ themed quadrants), so it’s amazing to see a band that keeps their audience at arm’s length. Mars doesn’t have a B-stage, there’s no runway and there’s no question of anyone flying anywhere – just a look at the show’s past which leans more towards the Mars stage than pyro and foliage.

Mars sings every line as if it’s a great solo, head thrown back, jugular vein bulging. He has a big, strong and steady voice, but when every word is delivered as a knock, he snaps. Her stage presence seems timeless: she dedicates a croony ode to the beauty of God Was a Mother’s Show and Why Do You Want to Fight? for boys. Women, eh? Nice to look at but they come with disturbing thoughts and feelings, amiright guys?

The women at Wembley don’t seem to care: and Mars is such a show that even throwing the microphone from one hand to the other feels like a moment. Anderson .Paak joins him for a session dedicated to their Silk Sonic project, bringing a welcome change of pace and a pint he downs in honor of British culture. The highlight of the show is Locked Out of Heaven, Mars’ 2012 hit and a hugely popular song that he delivers as enthusiastically as if it were new. Is it a fun but memorable show? That prayer was not answered.