When I decided to attend UM, the first thing I thought about was seeing Pitbull perform in Miami. So when I found out that he would be closing his “Can’t Stop Us Now” tour in Miami, my heart exploded. I got my tickets and highly anticipated the night I would get to see Mr. Worldwide perform in the 305.
On Oct. 20, my friends and I Ubered to Hard Rock Live in Hollywood with our expectations set high for the night. Spoiler alert — they were exceeded.
Upon getting dropped off at Hard Rock, we made our way through excited crowds all lining up to see Mr. 305. Making it into the venue was no problem and we easily found our way to our 300-level seats.
Now, these were the cheapest seats in the house. While I love Mr. Worldwide, I didn’t want to break my bank account. We ended up paying around $133 per person with tax and for me, it was worth every penny.
By far, the worst part of the whole experience was waiting for Pitbull to come out. Doors opened at 8 p.m. and there was a DJ that kept the audience entertained for about an hour and a half. While Pitbull had openers in other cities on his tour, he did not have one on this night, which made waiting less fun. Nonetheless, my friends and I danced to the DJ’s tunes and enjoyed watching the older crowd dance to music from their generation.
At 9:30 p.m., it was go-time. The lights turned off and the jumbotrons started a countdown timer with clips of Mr. Worldwide and his backup crew getting ready backstage. When the countdown was finally over, the curtain dropped and there he stood on a platform in all his glory.
Opening with his iconic “Don’t Stop the Party,” Pitbull brought all of the energy. I was screaming so loud, it wasn’t even funny. With excitement in the air, I was feeling emotions that I had never felt before. I couldn’t believe I was seeing him in Miami — it was so surreal.
After his first song ended, Pitbull gave a warm welcome to the fans of Hard Rock and explained how that night was a special one. He noted that this was the last show of his tour and he would be performing in his home city, which made everyone that much more excited. For these reasons, I believe Mr. Worldwide gave the performance of a lifetime.
Everything was on-point for the night. His energy was unmatched, his dancing was electric and his rapping was clear. He ended each song in the same way by running up the stairs to a platform on the stage and striking a power pose while smoke cannons went off in the front of the stage. Every time he did this, it got better.
Pitbull also had a few outfit changes throughout, but everything he wore was black in line with his signature style. First he wore a suit, then short sleeves, a fedora and of course his iconic shades the whole time. He took a couple breaks throughout and had a DJ entertain the audience. However, like before the show, the energy decreased during these interludes.
I will say that the dancing in this production was extremely risqué. He had a lot of female backup dancers and let’s just say, some things were uncomfortable.
Regardless, there were also many heartfelt moments throughout the night. Pitbull is known for his motivational speaking and he included a lot of that into his show. He incorporated messages that everyone can relate to, like living in the moment and turning a negative in the positive.
One thing that really struck me was when he talked about being a highschool dropout who came back later and built schools in Little Havana where he grew up. He also talked a lot about social media and how it can be toxic for people. He reiterated to his fans that haters can make you stronger and to always believe that you can do it because if he can, you can.
Since most of his music features a singer while he does the rapping, I was curious to see what he would do when it wasn’t his part in the song. The production had a big screen displaying clips from the music video of the other artist on the track. For example, during “Timber,” Kesha was on the screen. During “Feel This Moment,” Christina Aguilera was shown. He also didn’t play the full tracks of those songs, danced when the other artist was singing and played a lot more of his parts. I was never bored.
The end of the show was very heartfelt. When he took off his shades and showed his face, I could see him getting emotional. You could feel how proud he was to end the tour in his home city and he left everyone with a big thank you for the support. Overall, I was impressed, energized and inspired after his show. I could not have asked for a better Thursday night in Miami.
Rating: 5/5 stars