Pitbull alongside his dance crew, The Most Bad Ones. Photo courtesy of Donald Kravitz/Billboard.
LEAH OLLIE | CULTURE CO-EDITOR | lollie@butler.edu
Pitbull brings the heat. At Ruoff Music Center in Noblesville, IN on Sept. 2, fans filed in to experience the “Can’t Stop Us Now Tour” — headlined by Pitbull, with Iggy Azalea, Sirius XM Globalization DJs and Filmore. With a seating capacity of 24,000 and a packed house, massive crowds joined for a raucous night of dancing to some of the top hits of their generation.
In June of 2021, Pitbull announced the “I Feel Good Tour” with Azalea, taking the stage across North America for a post-pandemic live return. After a successful run in over 50 cities, the duo returned for round two with the “Can’t Stop Us Now Tour.” Joined by rotating rosters of guest DJs and collaborators, Pitbull performed a setlist of his top hits and new tracks.
Avery Collien, a sophomore exploratory studies major, had been looking forward to the show for months.
“I bought [tickets] pretty early on, in April of last semester,” Collien said. “I always kind of wanted to go to a Pitbull concert, and some friends and I bought tickets and said, ‘Let’s do it!’”
As Butler students planned to attend the concert in droves, some organizations on campus such as sorority Alpha Chi Omega coordinated attendance as a “Sisterhood event.”
“A lot of [members of my sorority] had already bought tickets previously, and then a lot of people were talking to our [executive board member who represents Sisterhood],” Collien said. “She said, ‘Okay, let’s make it a Sisterhood event because so many people in our sorority love Pitbull,’ so she planned that, and then obviously more people bought tickets, and it was really fun. I liked being able to see all the Alpha Chis [at the concert] and also some of my unaffiliated friends and [members of different sororities], so it was just a big blend of people.”
The concert itself was crowded with fans of all ages, a telling display of affection for an international hitmaker who has remained prominent in the entertainment industry for over two decades. The standing lawn section of Ruoff Music Center was particularly packed with many young people who sought out $30 tickets to a big show; this general admission area hosted many Butler students who attended the concert.
Miranda Emerick, a sophomore creative writing major, bought general admission tickets to attend the concert with friends.
“It was my first time [at Ruoff Music Center], and I really enjoyed it,” Emerick said. “I thought it was a good space. The amount of people around [my friends and I] made [the environment] a little bit dicey, but other than that, it was fun.”
Over the course of the night, both Azalea and Pitbull brought their biggest hits to the stage. Both were supported by live dancers, and Pitbull’s set was carried by a complete live band and DJ, both of which accompanied the backing tracks for his setlist. Pyrotechnics, complex digital displays and fog machines rounded out a dynamic stage fit for the entertainers gracing it. Azalea supplemented her set with talkbacks with the crowd to excite them for the show to come, and Pitbull accented his with inspirational sentiments regarding hard work, loyalty and patriotism — the latter of which introduced his recent collaboration with Filmore which he performed live.
Lillie Michael, a junior middle and secondary education major, felt the energy from Pitbull over the course of the evening.
“I have never been so exhausted after a concert,” Michael said. “He sounds the exact same as he does on the record, which I found very impressive. When he was off-stage the crowd kept dancing to an awesome DJ, which was a fun way for the crowd to get a break as well. Overall, [the concert] was a fun, eventful and entertaining summer night in Indy.”
After decades of experience delivering live shows, Pitbull assured audiences that he wouldn’t be stopping anytime soon. Dancing, jumping and rapping through over an hour of his career highlights, he ensured that every person in the crowd had the time of their lives.
