Latin pop star Marc Anthony will kick off the 2014 leg of his “Vivir Mi Vida” World Tour this weekend in Atlantic City. Anthony, who performs 8 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 8, at Boardwalk Hall, is touring behind “3.0” (Sony), his first salsa album in nearly a decade. The New York City-native will come to A.C. fresh from an appearance at a $2,500 per ticket pre-Super Bowl event at Manhattan’s upscale Cipriani that was co-sponsored by Shape and Men’s Fitness magazine and also featured Mary J. Blige and John Legend. Anthony’s latest album, which yielded the No. 1 Latin charts single “Vivir Mi Vida” (“Live My Life”), reunited Anthony with producer Sergio George, who shaped many of Anthony’s earlier hits. The record has been praised by AllMusic as “a solid, passionate — and long overdue — return by the great salsero to the roots music that established his career.” For Anthony, the new album has capped off a strong year in which he won a Latin Grammy for best album and also received an American Music Award for favorite Latin Artist. (The singer’s trophy case boasts three other Latin Grammys, a pair of Grammys and another American Music Award.) “Incredible, incredible,” Anthony says at the Latin Grammys in November in Las Vegas. “This means so much because I am living through a special time. The lyrics of the song express that.” Given the new album’s salsa focus, it’s fitting that the Puerto Rico native is mining all but one of the tracks on his setlist from his catalog of Spanish-language hits. Among the likely tracks, based on the first leg of his tour, are “Y Hubo Alguien” (“And There Was Somebody”), “Hasta Ayer” (“Until Yesterday”), “Te Conozco Bien” (“I Know You Well”) and Mi Gente (“My People.”) The exception to the all-Spanish-language theme is his 1999 English-language hit “I Need to Know.” Known for his powerful live performances, Anthony didn’t disappoint his audience during the first leg of the U.S. section of this tour, according to Billboard critic Leila Cobo. “Backed by a sizzling, 14-piece salsa band and little else save for LED screens, Anthony let his voice do the talking and the singing, keeping the crowd on its feet as he crooned and improvised,” Cobo writes of his sold-out shows in late August in Miami.“It was a riveting, relentless tour de force that cemented Anthony’s stature as one of the preeminent performers of his generation. Few acts today that can match his vocal prowess and showmanship. Anthony likes to prowl the stage, arms flung wide, head thrown back. It’s a grand gesture for so slight a man, and yet, it envelops entire arenas.” pressofatlanticcity/life/marc-anthony-bringing-vivir-mi-vida-to-boardwalk-hall/article_87d90fca-8eba-11e3-b40c-0019bb2963f4.html
Posted on: Thu, 06 Feb 2014 12:56:22 +0000