Concert Review: Pitbull and Iggy Azalea Feeling Good in Syracuse

On Friday night, Latin pop superstar, Pitbull pulled into St. Joseph’s Health Amphitheater with his 2021 “I Feel Good” tour, bringing along Australian rap artist Iggy Azalea. A capacity crowd greeted him, with an estimate of between 17,000 and 20,000 in attendance. The exact attendance number is unknown as there were reports of large numbers of individuals entering without tickets.

There are no slow numbers at a Pitbull show. Beginning his set with a song called “Don’t Stop the Party”, it set the tone for the whole night. He was there to have fun and to make sure his fans did as well. Flanked by six amazing dancers known as “The Most Bad Ones”, Pitbull ran through a greatest hits package while mixing in some Guns N’ Roses and Lenny Kravitz to add a rock edge to the show. It would be easy for a singer to perform to backing tracks, but this one brought fantastic live band. There is just something about a great rhythm section than a pre-recorded track that makes it so much better.

The man never stopped smiling. For over ninety minutes he danced, jumped and ran across the amphitheater stage, never staying in one place too long. An enormous video wall and steel staircase took up the center of the stage, and as the dancers would emerge from atop this staircase and descend onto the stage, Pitbull would ascend the stairs to the platform on top where he could get a bird’s eye view of the sizable crowd. During several songs, he would sing duets with singers on the video wall. Christina Aguilera appeared for “Feel This Moment”, Ke$ha for “Timber”, and Jennifer Lopez for “On the Floor.” Cryo jets sent pillars of fog high into the air, adding an interesting effect when paired with the next level lighting production. During “Fireball” the pyro effects were set off toward the back of the stage, but could be felt in the front row. This reviewer has been to dozens of shows since live music started again and the production value of this particular tour has got to be the best so far.

“I Feel Good” is not just the name of the tour but also his next single. One thing that Pitbull is not lacking is positivity. He repeatedly spoke to the crowd about not giving up and not caring what people think. He bordered on motivational speaker at points, but not in a bad way at all. “I Believe That We Will Win” was another song that hammered this home.

He closed the night with one of his biggest hits, “Give Me Everything.” The lyrics are certainly appropriate now. “Give me everything tonight, for all we know we might not get tomorrow.” Over 17,000 people danced and sang like there would be no tomorrow. Pitbull, mission accomplished.

Azalea offered up a tight fifty minute set highlighted by her hits “Black Widow,” “Fancy” and “Work.” She played some of her newer songs including “I Am The Stripclub” and “Sex on the Beach.” Her most recent release, 2021’s End of an Era may be the last we hear from Azalea for a while. She has said that she plans to go on hiatus after the album release and tour.

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