How Tampa partied with Pitbull, Enrique Iglesias and Ricky Martin: Review

TAMPA — The Pitbulls roamed Amalie Arena long before the music started, snapping photos in aviator shades and rubbing each other’s bald heads. They cackled at each other in line for T-shirts and shimmied together in the stands, waving glow sticks down below at the other Pitbulls seated on the floor.

OK, none of these impersonators were the real Pitbull. Mr. 305, aka Mr. Worldwide, aka Armando Christian Pérez, wouldn’t appear onstage until later that evening. But it was hard to miss the groups of mostly female fans who arrived on the final night of the Trilogy Tour in latex caps and blazers, looking just like you-know-who.

Pitbull has long reigned as the musical equivalent of Guy Fieri, a legit star in his field who also happens to be a living, walking, group costume-inspiring meme. But if Sunday night’s electrifying performance in Tampa proved anything, it’s that he has the talent to back it up, too. So did his other co-headliners of the evening: Ricky Martin and Enrique Iglesias.

Three of the bestselling Latin artists of all time teamed up for one sensational show. Drawing from over 90 collective years of experience in the music industry, each singer had their own moment to shine. Here’s a breakdown of each performance in order of appearance.

Ricky Martin showed Tampa how to “Shake Your Bon-Bon”

Ricky Martin kicked off the show as exuberant as ever, with the gusto of the Energizer Bunny and a pair of baggy pants that could make MC Hammer jealous.

The Puerto Rican singer, 52, bounced between Spanish and English hits, from “Maria” to “She Bangs” and “Livin’ La Vida Loca.” He only slowed down for a ballad once during “Vuelve,” swaying in an open white trench coat with his six-pack on display.

Those muscles weren’t just for show. Not only did Martin spend the better part of an hour flinging himself up flights of stairs and dancing across a long catwalk — he did it with his microphone on. His voice sounded richer than it did on his albums, never once out of breath.

When Martin wasn’t shaking his hips, he was cheering on the seven backup dancers who sashayed and backflipped around him. He spent his set blowing fistfuls of kisses to fans all the way up in the 300 level. They returned the love, waving Puerto Rican flags and chanting along to 1998 FIFA World Cup anthem “The Cup of Life.”

Un, dos, tres! Olé, olé, olé!

Pitbull brought the party

“I remember my freaky, wild, crazy nights in Tampa,” Pitbull told the crowd. “The clubs in Ybor City. But it was always a good time. Especially because there was no social media.”

During his hourlong set, the 43-year-old rapper gave Tampa an idea of those times, turning the arena into a pulsing club — or perhaps a rager at a “hotel, motel, Holiday Inn.”

He repped his Miami area code — “305 til I die!” — and shouted or rapped his catchphrase, “Dale,” at least 24 times. He led a mini Spanish lesson before covering “Gasolina” by Daddy Yankee. There was fist-pumping and pelvic thrusting and booty-smacking. Meanwhile, Pitbull’s six sexy backup dancers, The Most Bad Ones, gyrated in checkered bodysuits resembling flags from this weekend’s Grand Prix.

Pitbull stuffed his hour with 15 hits and covers, dancing in a cowboy hat during “Timber” and commanding the crowd to drop it to the floor with his T-Pain joint “Hey Baby.” In between his raunchiness, Pitbull repeated his most profound lyrics with the gravitas of an evangelical preacher.

“Believe me: Been there, done that,” he said before “Time of Our Lives.” “But every day above ground is a great day. Remember that.”

Indeed, there was a purpose behind the partying. Pitbull reminded the audience of his own unexpected path: a high school dropout who went on to open over a dozen K-12 schools across the country. Some Tampa students and teachers from his program were even there on Sunday, he shared.

“I come from a city full of dope dealers,” Pitbull said. “And I became a hope dealer.”

Enrique Iglesias closed with a steamy show

Enrique Iglesias wandered on stage looking stiff as he started with “Tonight (I’m Lovin’ You).” He stared out from under his baseball cap with wide eyes, lips out of sync with the backing track. Then he stumbled forward, almost face-planting as he sprinted to the end of the stage.

Was something wrong with his in-ear monitor? Or was he getting emotional as he closed out the final evening of the Trilogy Tour?

Regardless, the crowd didn’t seem to care, swaying and singing along with glee.

Iglesias, 48, did warm up after his first few songs. Unlike his predecessors, he had no flashy dance moves, backup dancers or outfit changes. Instead, he mingled with fans in the front row during “Duele el Corazón,” sidling up to try on their hats or share his microphone with people who screamed back every word.

He zoomed through fans on the floor to a smaller stage at the other end of the arena. From there, he could properly serenade his spectators in the back. It was magical.

“This is Debbi [James], my wife on stage,” he said, introducing a backup singer to the audience before “Loco.” “Only on stage.”

Iglesias crouched in between James’ knees as she sat to sing with him. The pair drew closer together as the song continued, near enough to kiss on the mouth. At one point, they actually did.

When Iglesias launched into “I Like It,” his 2010 hit featuring Pitbull, Mr. Worldwide was nowhere to be found. But Iglesias still kept the energy high, beckoning ferociously to his audience to make sure they were waving along.

As fans batted giant balloons during the final song, “Bailando,” Iglesias sunk to his hands and knees in a pile of confetti.

“Tampa, I f—king love you,” he said. “Thank you.”