Calum Macdonald's verdict: 4.5 stars
It's all about the numbers. To date: 58 million singles,10 million albums, two MTV awards, one Grammy, and one Brit. Oh, and he's all of 27.
So when Peter Gene Hernandez brings his 88-date worldwide Moonshine Jungle Tour into Scotland, he does so with an indisputable reputation.
What counts, of course, is how he delivers on the night. And for that matter, how the new venue's acoustics handle his particular blend of soul, hip-hop, and R'n'B (last week's previous big names, Rod Stewart and Fleetwood Mac, had the crowds won over before they stepped on stage).
So did the man from Hawaii rock the Hydro? That takes us back to numbers. Because the one thing Bruno Mars can definitely do is write songs...for himself, and for others (like Cee Lo Green and Travie McCoy) to record.
All the best numbers are on show: great renditions of Billionaire, Marry you, Grenade and, of course, Just the way you are.
What Mars layers on top is a superb sense of theatre - dance, effects, and sheer sex appeal which plays well to the predominantly female audience.
But he's no simple smoochy crooner or rocker. Instead, think comparisons with Michael Jackson, fused with a touch of Springsteen's primal driving force.
In short, Bruno Mars is seriously good live. And they knew it all the way up to the back row of the Hydro.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article