[Review] Pitbull and Iggy Azalea brought the party to New Orleans

Mr. 305 returned the 504 with his Can’t Stop Us Now Tour at the Smoothie King Center. From his unmatched energy to his talented backup dancers to his incredible six-piece band, the crowd surely had the time of their lives on Thursday night!

Thanks to the power of TikTok, Pitbull is having a revival, or renaissance if you will. The show was packed with people of all ages and ethnicities. And there were even a number of fans dressed like the Latin rap superstar with the white dress shirt, black pants, sunshades, and a bald cap.

Australian rapper Iggy Azaela got the party started as she opened the show. Azalea took command of the stage with her powerful stage presence and choreographed numbers. Her 45-minute set included a mix of her chart-topping hits including “Work,” “Fancy,” “Problem,” and “Black Widow.”

As the lights went down, a backstage cam appeared on the screen with a countdown. As it neared zero, screams could be heard throughout the arena before the curtain dropped and Mr. Worldwide took to the stage! For over 90 minutes, Pitbull danced and performed his catalog of hit songs from the past two decades. He was accompanied on stage by six backup dancers, who go by “The Most Bad Ones” (who had five outfit changes!), and a six-piece band along with smoke, fireworks, and lots of confetti.

I’ve seen Pitbull perform in The Big Easy twice before: when he headlined Congo Square Stage at the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival back in April 2015 (which he gave a shoutout to Quint Davis for making that happen) and when he performed at Champions Square during NBA All-Star Weekend in February 2017 (he also shouted out former NBA star Karl Malone whose wife, Kay, was in the crowd)! Both shows were equally as hype and fun so I had high expectations for the Can’t Stop Us Now Tour. Pitbull met and exceeded! With over 15,000 people in attendance, Pitbull had the crowd on their feet the entire night, even when they didn’t know the lyrics to some of his most recent releases.

He opened the show with “Don’t Stop the Party” and throughout his set, he took fans from a block party to the islands then all the way to Carnival in Rio. Pitbull performed everything from “Hotel Room Service” to “Fireball” and even included popular songs he’s featured on like “DJ Got Us Falling In Love” with Usher and “Hot” with Daddy Yankee!

The tour itself gets its name from a chance collab Pitbull has with Zac Brown. “Music is a universal language. It unites, it doesn’t divide…who would have ever thought that we’d have a record with Zac Brown and Zac Brown with us? The song is special to us because we’re all underdogs one way or another,” Pitbull shared with the crowd before performing the song followed by a performance of “Get Ready” with features Blake Shelton!

“I’m here to give you advice as much as I’m here to perform for you,” the Miami native told the crowd. He dropped some gems for the crowd to leave with including, “You don’t make mistakes, mistakes make you.” He explained that you’re supposed to make mistakes because that is a part of learning and living. And wanted the younger generation in attendance to know that no filter or editing can change that before leading into a performance of his 2013 hit, “Feel This Moment” which features Christina Aguilera!

Lastly, my favorite moments were seeing Pitbull and his team interact with the crowd. During “I Know You Want Me,” he threw a towel in the crowd to a superfan in the front row. Later on during “Give Me Everything,” he ran across the stage to point to a fan waving the Cuban flag during the line ‘My family is from Cuba, but I’m an American Idol.’ It’s the little things like those instances that make concerts more memorable for attendees!

Missed Pitbull or just want to relive the night? Check out my Instagram Highlight from the show!