Concert Review #2 - Enrique Iglesias & Pitbull @ The Forum on 10/27/17

My experience at the Enrique Iglesias & Pitbull concert!

"DALÉ!"... I'm very disappointed Pitbull didn't yell that 100 times in to the microphone as he danced and sweated in his $1000 suit (I'm just estimating, I'm sure Pitbull's suits son muy caros)


LET'S START FROM THE BEGINNING...

I'm probably the last person on earth that ever thought they would go see Pitbull, much less Enrique Iglesias AND Pitbull live in concert at the Inglewood Forum.

But after a few drinks after a funeral, decisions were made, and lo and behold (I notice I like saying that) my father and I ended up with four free tickets to an Enrique Iglesias and Pitbull concert...




My father ended up bringing his lady friend, and we ended up with one ticket that wasn't for anybody, but that ticket ended up providing extra room and a storage space, that also doubled as a chair between my father and I, so that was good.

Anyway, we were on Belizean time a.k.a. "Colored People" time a.k.a. Black people time. We left the house at 7:30 p.m. The show started at 7:30 p.m., so as you may have guessed we missed the opener (CNCO) who, according to one of my Journalism 11 classmates, was the best part of the whole show and "the only reason she went". Also yes, one of my classmates from college was in attendance there too, and was apparently mad close to our section cause she said she saw me. I didn't find this out until days later, which was weird cause she didn't say hi or anything, but anyway, I'm getting off topic.

So we pull up and see this,

This photo was taken after the show, but basically picture this sign with a bunch of cars and people in front of it.

There was an absurd amount of traffic in the forum parking lot because a LOT of people didn't adhere to the 7:30 p.m. show start time (being unpunctual seems to be a stereotype in a lot of minority communities, not just black people).

After enduring the human loading process known as "parking". We finally made it into the venue (which I've been inside many times before, The forum in Inglewood is the best arena venue in or near Los Angeles) and finally we sat down.

Actual footage of us trying to find parking in the Forum venue.

Like I said before, black and brown people are notorious for "taking their time" when they have an arrangement at a certain time. We were basically an hour late, but we didn't miss anything aside from the opener (I didn't know there was going to be an opener anyway, so, it didn't really affect us at all).

Anyway, the opener was off stage and it was 9:00 p.m. My father and his lady friend decided to go get snacks while I hold down the seats.

Then it started, the lights went dark, then a piercing, midnight blue light illuminated the arena. A steady drum break seemingly sprung out of nowhere as the drummer of the live band that was backing Enrique Iglesias broke out this groovy, yet steady beat in the middle of this dimly lit venue. 

Then Enrique came out and the crowd started rocking, it wasn't all out crazy energy just yet, but you could tell people were more than ready to see one of the headliners finally perform after an hour plus of waiting around.

For someone who does not actively listen to Enrique Iglesias, I was surprised I knew a couple of his songs. I mostly knew the major crossover hits "Bailando" and "Hero" (which, by the way, I just found out that "Hero" came out in 2001, meaning this dude Enrique was on the air waves HEAVY, even back then, and on top of that, he's been doing this music thing for a minute)

Video footage of I took of Enrique performing "Hero", very touching footage, you can tell the crowd is really engaged with him.

Eventually, my company came back with lots of snacks. A couple had tried to sit in my Dad and company's seats but, luckily they weren't knuckleheads and peacefully left to go see about their real seats when I informed them that these were our seats, and not theirs. I did it respectfully and politely and you should too, if you ever find yourself in that situation.

If they don't want to move, well, isn't that what the ushers are there for? Get security and all that good stuff, right? 

Anyway, over the course of time, Enrique moved across the arena to perform more ballads. Sooner or later, he did that thing that all sensual type artists do, yes, he brought a woman up on to the stage from the crowd. 

I remember the woman's name started with a 'V', it was either Veronica or Vanessa, I don't remember the exact name though. Anyway, 'V' was there with her husband, but she was obviously excited to be on stage with Enrique. Enrique performed a few songs with her clearly swooning over him, while he was performing his slow songs she held onto him like this:

It wasn't as awkward as this, but she definitely held on to him like her life depended on it.

Enrique would go on to ask 'V' if her husband was a jealous man. It was THEN that I knew, what he was about to do, he was about to violate. Of course 'V' brazenly said "Oh, he's not a jealous man" but I'd imagine watching your wife kiss a way more famous, way more rich (unless her husband is like loaded, but the tickets weren't that expensive for that seating section of the concert, he picked her out from the nosebleed seats) man in front of you and thousands of people in a packed arena would be somewhat disheartening, but I digress.

Before he ended the bring-a-fan-up-on-stage segment. They were on the final note of a slow ballad song, I think it was the song (that was ironically titled) "Tonight (I'm F#%kin' You)"  and 'V' and Enrique locked eyes as they finished up singing the song. Enrique subtly leaned in, and 'V', with no hesitation, puckered up instantly, and they shared a kiss. Crowd went crazy, it was a cute moment. All was good.

Now, I'm not trying to insinuate anything, but I didn't see 'V' go back to her seat after Enrique sent her off stage...

Nah, I'm kidding, I didn't see what happened to her haha

Enrique eventually finished up his set and we had to wait another hour for Pitbull, who didn't show up until like a quarter to 11 (minorities and time, boy, we definitely don't live by that mess lol and to be fair Enrique did apologize for running a little late)

The last vid I took of Enrique's set.

Now Pitbull has had major success in the United States radio airwaves. Either through a collab or a song of his own, Pitbull always seems to keep a hit or two under his luxurious, designer, suit jacket sleeve.

I didn't record much of Pitbull's set but I can tell you right now it was definitely more memorable and way more energetic than Enrique's set. Pitbull came out in a all black suit (Later in the show, he changed the suit jacket to a white blazer). And Pitbull wasn't alone on stage either, along with a full, live band backing him, Pitbull had some very easy-on-the-eyes dancers that really made the show pop in an awesome way.

I didn't record this but I had to put it on here to illustrate my descriptions.

Pitbull pretty much ran through all of his major hits including, "Hotel Room Service", "Shake/Culo", "I Know You Want Me (Calle Ocho) {My #1 favorite Pitbull song ever, of all time}", "Timber" and "Give Me Everything". I'm sure there are other hits I left out, but those are all the songs I immediately recognize from Pitbull, which are quite a few. Not bad for a rapper from Miami.

And that's another thing, even though Pitbull primarily plays to a Latino audience, he is actually rapping in English, very often. Like, I was actually impressed at the amount of rapping that Pitbull was doing on stage, like "this 'DALÉ' a$$ MF got bars son! haha nice!" and it was a great revelation, I even turned toward my Dad and told him that like twice during the show, I was so fascinated with that observation.

Pitbull performing the hook to "Hotel Room Service". Watch THIS video, if you don't watch any other video, it was lit.

Along with having a good time, in between songs, Pitbull got unexpectedly real, like Pitbull was really speaking candidly on real life subjects that effect everyday people, and it was pretty cool. First, Pitbull introduced himself, the dancers and basically who he is, what he represents, as well as where he comes from.

Then, in between another song, he talked about current world events such as the hurricane that devastated Puerto Rico, the current orange cheeto in the highest office in the United States and more. 

The commitment that Pitbull had in his words were really moving. Anybody could tell that he really meant what he said, he even got people in the audience to sit down, like they were listening to a church preacher preach. It was awe-inspiring. Really didn't expect that from Pitbull cause I just thought of him as all about partying and having a good time, but I think everyone has that serious side, and it was good of Pitbull to showcase that.

Anyway, Pitbull's crowd interaction was great, he would make the entire arena sing hooks to famous songs and it was great, look at this video footage I took, for an example:

Pitbull going from serious, and reality-based, to fun-loving and party-based in like 10 seconds.

Pitbull finished up his hit-laden set and at the end he was sweating, but still made sure to thank everybody, including his dancers, band and everyone else that makes the show possible for the audience. Pitbull is a real a$$ dude man. 

Final vid I took of the Pitbull set.

BOTTOM LINE: 

It was a good concert through and through. Enrique Iglesias's set was decent, but it wasn't as memorable when compared to Pitbull's set (Well, I'm sure to 'V' and her husband, Enrique's set was EXTREMELY memorable lol) and overall I was grateful that I accidentally stumbled into going to this show with my Dad and his lady friend. 

It showed me a new experience with music that I would've never ever appreciated had it not been for this concert. I am now going to try to be more cognitively aware of Pitbull AND Enrique. It was like going into a foreign exchange program for one night, and experiencing a different culture and setting, if only for a few hours.

And there were so many beautiful latina queens out that night, jesus, it was ridiculous. I was like "I need to go to more shows with Spanish speaking artists lol"

At any rate, as is tradition, I bought a T-Shirt to commemorate the event.

Me, bearface (left) and My father's lady friend (right), both of us are showcasing the Pitbull & Enrique Iglesias concert shirts we bought. Me (left) showcasing the front of the shirt, and her (right) showcasing the back of the shirt.

Overall concert score: 3-and-a-half kissing other men's wives out of 5. If you want a relatively affordable night out, check to see if Enrique Iglesias & Pitbull are coming to YOUR city. Even if you're not really a fan of the music, and have a cursory knowledge of both artists, you'll get your money's worth and have a good time. 

go see "DALÉ" and "I can be your hero baby (and also steal your wife)"  

Yup, that's that my concert experience, these are fun,  gonna try to post more and more consistently but these posts take so much time. Urgh, so little time, so much to do.

Keep your eyes peeled for the next post,

~ Joe

Written by Joseph Sanker II on 11/19/17

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Until next time! Peace out! One.

Written by Joseph Sanker II