Pitbull at RBC Bluesfest, by Ana Sofia de la Parra
RBC Bluesfest, the festival of the summer in Ottawa, came to an end this Sun, Jul. 16. The festival started with Canadian icon Shania Twain and closed with English rock band The Smile. However, Saturday night closed off spectacularly with the one and only Pitbull, or as we all know him, Mr. Worldwide.
The much awaited set began 15 minutes before planned, which wasn’t a surprise due to the weather forecast’s threat of lightning. However, the lightning came from Mr. Worldwide himself with his upbeat, high-energy performance, leaving approximately over 30,000 audience members in awe.
With a 90 minute set, the Miami-born rapper showcased his fantastic stage presence and ability to easily captivate a whole festival’s attention. He was accompanied by a team of dancers and a wildly entertaining show that made everyone feel good and yell out their all-time favourite lyrics. Pitbull performed fan-favourite hits such as “Timber,” “Give Me Everything,” “Fireball,” “Hotel Room Service,” and “International Love.” He also showed some love to his Latin fans by going old school and covering “Gasolina.”
Along with the fantastic performance, Mr. Worldwide gave the crowd some words of wisdom. He spoke about social media and how easily you can fall into the rabbit hole of a performative lifestyle. He finished off by encouraging the audience to be leaders, not followers.
When talking to audience members at the end, I asked if they were satisfied with the performance or if they were blown away by Pitbull’s ability to carry a crowd throughout the long hours and crazy heat. Many said that it’s clear why he is the icon we all know and enjoy. However, numerous other attendees felt like by being a headliner, his set should’ve been longer and said fans were hoping to yell with Mr. Pitbull himself some of his most famous lyrics, such as the ones in “Time Of Our Lives,”; yet that time never came.
By the end of the night, Pitbull closed with “Give Me Everything” and sent everyone off with a goodnight. Now the still, very lit-up audience filled the O-train with laughter, and the top of their lungs, singing, which made the very tight train ride easy to handle and if anyone needed reassurance, as Pitbull very famously said, “been there, done that.” Most of the crowd continued the night with parties while others enjoyed the rest of the night with the memory of a great concert and an incredible experience.