Romeo makes it rain at Oracle Arena

A storm hit the Bay Area last Friday night.

His name is Romeo Santos.

And while outside Oracle Arena in Oakland, Mother Nature blasted (but didn’t detour) what was a sold out crowd with April rainfall, inside the King of Bachata did his best Splash Brothers impersonation and made it rain hits.

Speaking from the perspective of someone with almost a handful of Romeo concerts to his credit, the evolution of Santos’ shows, this time as part of “The Golden Tour,” is quite the experience. Back in the no-so-distant past, while Santos had his strongholds on an east coast that never failed to attend the bachatero’s performances, the west coast always lent itself to a bit of unpredictability. And Friday presented its unique set of challenges for Santos.

For one, he was up against Mother Nature and the three or four inches of rain that she dropped on everyone before stepping into Oracle Arena. And two, some 40 miles away at the SAP Center in San Jose, the Colombian sensation (and a heartthrob in his own right), Maluma, scheduled a show in direct competition with Santos.

But Santos shrugged those would-be dilemmas with his patented smile, selling out every single seat in the house -- not just in an “announced” type of way that make press releases sound good to reporters, but there was actually not an empty seat in the arena through his entire almost-three-hour set.

And it’s in the length of his shows during the Golden Tour, which actually culminated its United States leg in Oaktown, that Santos has shown the most growth as a performer. There are but a handful of male Latino artists who can not only sell out an arena, but also possess a catalog deep enough to stay entertaining throughout 120 minutes — 180? Almost no one.

Yes, of course, there are the Romeo Santos concert mainstays -- the constant filtration with the overwhelming female crowd (I counted at least six blown kisses flung onto the women’s collective), the collaboration onstage with random males in the audience (this time to “Bella and Sensual”), his stageside comedic timing and yes, the serenading of a lucky female attendee.

But, unlike the majority of male Latino acts, no two Santos shows feel the same. Oakland fans were privy to big example of this when Romeo brought out another huge bachatero, Prince Royce. The two sang their way through “Sensualidad” and “Por Un Beso” with Royce, to his credit, getting a huge pop from the crowd. Romeo strapping on a guitar for a rendition of “Necio” was also a subtle hint of change.

It’s easy to take for granted just how many hits Santos has to his name, and he rolled through each and every one of them backed up by, for this reviewer’s money, one of the best live bands on any tour anywhere. And also backed up with just his vocal ability -- as shown through his first encore that was an A cappella run through his early-life as a song writer.

For years now, Santos has toured the globe as the self-proclaimed King of Bachata. And while that title is still up for debate, there is one thing that is abundantly clear after yet another terrific show by Romeo: that crown he gave himself almost a decade ago actually fits. And in true Romeo fashion, I get the sense that’s something he’s known all along.