Review and setlist: Bruno Mars shows Gillette Stadium why he’s the ultimate showman

In the current pop music landscape, Bruno Mars is in a class of one. 

Mars can sing, of course. And his dance pedigree is peerless. But, the man born Peter Gene Hernandez can also do just about everything else needed to elevate a song, including a scintillating conga drum breakdown on “Cha Cha Cha,” the second song of his two-hour set at Gillette Stadium Saturday night. 

The magic of Mars is that, when the situation calls for it, he can hold the spotlight like no one else. He opened the show in a dramatic silhouette, before melting the woman-heavy crowd with the love ballad “Risk It All.” And as he progressed through his set at Foxborough, Mars called to mind some of the greatest musicians of all time.

The native Hawaiian grew up impersonating Elvis, and both his dance moves and wardrobe on the Romantics Tour – a red jumpsuit followed by a mid-show change into a black one – evoked memories of Michael Jackson. His call-and-response bravado on tracks like “Perm” were pure James Brown, his bedroom slow jams had shades of Marvin Gaye, and his entire oeuvre (not to mention his 5 ‘5 stature) screamed Prince.

But, Mars is also happy to play second (or third, or fourth) fiddle. On “Something Serious,” a highlight of the set, Mars played the role of Carlos Santana, blending into the musical milieu and giving his large backing band The Hooligans a chance to run through some highly technical solos, before jumping in with one of his own on the electric guitar. And, on tracks like “Treasure,” Mars was just another one of the fellas, singing and strutting around the stage in unison.

As a songwriter, Mars has never been shy about showing off his varied inspirations, filling his albums with homages to ‘70s funk, neo-soul, new jack swing, and other sub-genres. To pick one example, “Cha Cha Cha,” from his new album “The Romantic,” owes a debt to the Cuban dance style that gives the song its name, but the chorus pulls its lyrics from Juvenile’s early-aughts club banger “Slow Motion.” The genre-hopping approach can occasionally give Mars’ lesser albums a jukebox quality, but for a career-spanning concert, the effect was perfect. 

The show’s approach was foreshadowed by an opening set from DJ Pee .Wee, the alter ego of Mars’s multihyphenate collaborator Anderson .Paak. Sporting a bowl cut wig and oversized sunglasses, .Paak ripped through a playlist that wouldn’t be out of place at a North Shore wedding reception, from the Backstreet Boys and Soulja Boy to the Dropkick Murphys.

When Mars brought .Paak back about a third of the way through the evening to do six songs from their side project Silk Sonic, the show settled into a soulful groove. The Funkadelic-inspired “Blast Off” was perhaps the lone moment some in the crowd took their seats. And, even when they rose again for tracks like “Smokin’ Out the Window” and “Leave the Door Open,” the BPMs were blissfully midtempo.

Mars closed the show with another example of his alternating approaches. His penultimate song, “Uptown Funk,” is actually by British producer Mark Ronson, not Mars. And, while Mars’ vocals are an indelible part of the smash hit, the Hooligans are right there with him, in both vocal and musical accompaniment. Before the crowd dispersed for the evening, Mars returned for an encore of “Dance With Me.” The final track off “The Romantic” is classic Mars, a lovesick ballad that could’ve topped the Billboard charts in 1966 or 2026. 

There is no other stadium artist who is so vigorously keeping 60+ years of great American music alive like Bruno Mars. Add in a three-octave range and three decades of dance training, and you get nothing less than the best concert I’ve seen in 2026.

Bruno Mars Gillette Stadium setlist (September 5, 2026)

• “Risk It All”
• “Cha Cha Cha”
• “On My Soul”
• “24K Magic”
• “Treasure”
• “God Was Showing Off”
• “I Just Might”
• “Perm”
• “Why You Wanna Fight?”
• (Medley) “Oh Girl” / “Let’s Get It On” / “Please Me”
• “That’s What I Like”
• “Something Serious”
• “Blast Off” (Silk Sonic song with Anderson .Paak)
• “Silk Sonic Intro” (Silk Sonic song with Anderson .Paak)
• “Fly as Me” (Silk Sonic song with Anderson .Paak)
• “Smokin Out the Window” (Silk Sonic song with Anderson .Paak)
• “Leave the Door Open” (Silk Sonic song with Anderson .Paak)
• “Marry You”
• “Die With a Smile”
• (Medley) “It Will Rain” / “Talking to the Moon” / “Grenade” / “When I Was Your Man”
• “Versace on the Floor”
• “Locked Out of Heaven”
• “Just the Way You Are”
• “Uptown Funk”
• (Encore) “Dance with Me”