Good music fills Santo Domingo with Sting, Guerra, Juanes, and Residente...

Sting, Juan Luis Guerra, Juanes, and Residente filled Santo Domingo tonight with the best music, in a concert that featured everything from bachata and merengue to rock, rap, and pop.

The tens of thousands of people who filled Santo Domingo's Olympic Stadium during the five-hour concert sang, danced, and enjoyed this first edition of the Capitalia Festival until well into the early hours of the morning.

And the occasion was no less: the charismatic and multi-award-winning British musician was on stage, along with the male singers with the most Latin Grammys—Dominican Juan Luis Guerra, Puerto Rican Residente, and Colombian Juanes—who together have nearly 90 of these awards.

You might be interested in reading: Unmissable! Juan Luis, Sting, Juanes, and Residente together at the Capitalia Festival

The first to take the stage was Juanes, who, amid applause and a standing ovation from the audience, kicked off with "Gris," the first of the fifteen songs he performed, which included great hits such as "Mala Gente," "Nada Valgo Sin Tu Amor," "Es Por Ti," "La Paga," and of course "La Camisa Negra," before ending in style with "A Dios Le Ipido."

Juanes was accompanied throughout by his guitar and performed two solos on "Gotas de Agua Dulce" and "Me enamora," a song in which he introduced a version of the classic "Bésame Mucho."

After him, the stage was all Sting's, amid an enthusiastic audience because, as some attendees told EFE, "it's a real luxury to have him here."

Sting opened with his famous "Message in a Bottle" by The Police, followed by the equally well-known "Englishman in New York," "Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic," and "Can't Stand Losing You," along with "Shape of My Heart," "Desert Rose," and "Roxanne," and closed with one of his most popular songs, "Every Breath You Take."

And if the audience was already enchanted up to that point, they completely surrendered with the third artist to perform, local idol Juan Luis Guerra, who performed a good part of his "Entre mar y palmeras" tour, accompanied by his group and also by Roger Zayas, one of the pioneers of 4.40.

The audience sang and danced to each of their songs, starting with "Rosalía" and continuing with "La travesía," "El Niágara en bicicleta," "Mambo 23," and a mix of bachatas like "Bachata en Fukuoka" and "Burbujas de amor," continuing with "El farolito," "Las avispas," and their now-classic "Ojalá que llueva café," ending with "La bilirrubina."

Highlights of their performance included the percussion and wind instruments, and a special moment was when Juanes returned to the stage to sing "Bachata rosa" with Guerra.

The grand finale featured Residente, who started off strong with "Bajo y batería" and "BZRP Music Sessions #49" (released with Bizarrap and amid a controversy with J Balvin). He also performed "Atrevete-te-te," "Cumbia de los ahogados," "Baile de los pobres," "El aguante," "La vuelta al mundo," and "Muerte en Hawai."

In his performance, a committed Residente championed the importance of education, of youth, "for our children," and gave a nod to the region with his song "Latinoamérica," before concluding the concert with "No hay nadie como tu."

Throughout, the artists were accompanied by excellent sound and a meticulous staging with striking special effects and a stage where warm colors (red, orange, yellow, etc.) took center stage.

(c) El Nacional by EFE