Reach For The Stars, And If You Don’t Grab Them, At Least You’ll Fall On Top Of The World

We all have guilty pleasures. I’ve posed this question before, but I’ll ask it again. Why do they have to be “guilty”? Is it because they don’t feel “cool” enough? Maybe because there’s a stigma attached to them, a stigma that you did not agree to or even agree with? One of my guiltiest pleasures made me stop at the gorgeous Mystic Lake Amphitheater on Saturday night and, come hell or high water, I was going to be there.

Before I talk about “the guilty one,” let me talk about Lil’ Jon, who opened up this show (that’s right, the one and only Lil’ Jon was an opener for the act that I was super excited to see). Unless you were living under an insanely heavy rock in the early 2000s, you know Lil’ Jon. The king crunk, the hypeman of a generation, Lil’ Jon is considered a million different things, but after seeing him open the show on Saturday, I will also be referring to him as a true showman. I’ll be honest, I wasn’t expecting much from this set. Although I’m familiar with Lil’ Jon, I know him more as a hype man than anything else. I feel like I know all of the songs that he appeared on and none of the songs that he created on his own. That didn’t matter because, on Saturday night, we got a little bit of everything from him, wrapped up in a bow of infectious energy that set the stage perfectly.

Modern-day rap and hip-hop songs frustrate me because I feel like acts typically only play little snippets from their hits. This frustrates me because I love more than just the hook in a lot of these songs. That remains true with Lil’ Jon, but with as many hits as this man has and has been part of, there was no way he would be able to fit everything into one set without condensing the tracks into the hooks. I did feel a little frustrated, but the energy he brought to these little snippets was enough for me to get over it. I didn’t care if I heard twenty seconds of a song or the whole dang thing; I was captivated by Lil’ Jon and fell in love with his charisma and charm, highlighted by a merch throw just before he abruptly left the stage.

Lil’ Jon was great, but his name was not the one that I was excited to see in lights. After a few tracks spun by a DJ, it was time for the main attraction: Mr. Worldwide, Mr. 305 —that’s right —the one and only Pitbull.

Call it an acquired taste. Chalk it up to me loving music that many would consider “obnoxious.” Do whatever you need to do to deal with it, but I love Pitbull. I wish I could say I didn’t know what it is about this man that gets me all excited, but I know exactly what it is: high-energy tracks mixed with a live show that leaves you exhausted, and charisma that is as charming as it is sexy. This man is an act that I try to catch live every chance I get, and I was about to take that to a new level, as this would be my first time photographing him.

Before I tell you about the show, I want to shout out my friend and photographer extraordinaire, Laura Buhman (follow this woman right now!). Not only do I look up to her as a photographer and a person, but she is also the first to help you out. I was approved to do photos of Pitbull, but only from the soundboard, which is quite a few yards from the stage. Although I have great cameras, I don’t have a lens that would do that justice. Laura was quick to offer me her “big girl” lens for the night. I truly can not thank her enough, and I hope you all have a friend like her who will encourage you to go after your dreams, no matter how “guilty” they are.

I’ll be honest, I don’t remember the whole setlist from Pitbull. I remember a few songs, but as usual, when I see this man and his band live, I can’t remember the details. It’s always a haze of high-energy dancing and a smile that stretches from ear to ear and doesn’t leave for days. From fire to smoke, Pitbull brings it all to the stage and definitely has more production value than a lot of acts that I see. That being said, that’s not all that is here. If you can look past the cheesiness of songs like “Hotel Room Service” and “I Know You Want Me,” you can see the talent. It may not be “talent” in the sense of virtuoso jazz musicians or anything like that, but he has a talent that goes beyond the music. Watching Pitbull will make you forget everything else in your life, and sometimes that’s the cure for everything.

There’s always something to watch during a Pitbull set to a fault. Personally, I love watching the man himself. There’s just something so cool and, quite frankly, sexy about this man and the way he dances across the stage without missing a single step and without slowing down. That being said, it’s hard not to get distracted by the gorgeous dancers that joined Pitbull on stage and the fabulous band that backed it all. As I said, there was always something to see and, although overwhelming at times, it’s what makes a Pitbull show such a beautiful spectacle.

From originals to covers, Pitbull’s set was high energy. Even during the songs where he shows a more tender side of himself, there was an electricity that radiated from stage to audience. As energized as his music and performance were, it was topped by the heart that seeped out of him while talking to the crowd. He thanked Minneapolis and Minnesota for coming out;; he thanked Minneapolis and Minnesota for being, well, Minneapolis and Minnesota;; he made this feel like so much more than a carbon-copy show from a tour that is surely lasting weeks on weeks.