J Balvin Is The First Latin Artist To Headline The NFL’s Opening Night Concert

Football fans gathered on Thursday (Sept. 8) at Alamitos Beach in Long Beach, Calif., for the NFL Kickoff Experience to celebrate the start of the 2022 NFL season and to see Latin star J Balvin perform.

The Latin superstar led the celebrations ahead of the Buffalo Bills’ first game of the season, which pitted them against the reigning Super Bowl champions, the Los Angeles Rams.

Attendees defied the L.A. heatwave and made their way to the beach (where it, surprisingly, wasn’t any cooler) for a free day event that featured all sorts of activities and activations, including a beach football field in case you were feeling particularly sporty, given the event’s location.

Tokimonsta, a West Coast-based DJ and producer, opened for the Colombian star, bringing concertgoers out of the shade and closer to the main stage, where they danced to her eclectic set.

Then, onstage, an inflatable giant hand appeared, holding up an equally large smiling face balloon — Balvin’s signature smiley face, to be precise — which could only mean that the chart-topping artist was about to make his grand entrance. While his set was supposed to start at 4 p.m., Balvin, the first Latin artist to headline an NFL concert, took the stage 10 minutes earlier to perform a nearly one-hour set.

He wore a two-piece army outfit with a matching balaclava that only exposed his eyes. “Cómo está la vibra esta tarde?” he inquired of the audience. Balvin began with the fan-favorite “Mi Gente” and continued with hits like “Reggaeton,” “Nivel de Perreo,” “Con Altura,” “Loco Contigo,” “Blanco,” “Ritmo,” “Amarillo,” “Ginza,” “I Like It,” and “In Da Getto.” He also invited Trueno, an emerging rapper from Argentina, to perform their collaboration “Un Paso.”

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