Pitbull brings the party to Mansfield

The rapper, known for his songs about drinking, partying, and generally having a good time, stopped at the Xfinity Center in Mansfield on Sunday night.

Pitbull performs at the Latin Grammy Awards in 2020. AP Photo/Taimy Alvarez

Pitbull can officially say he’s “been there, done that,” to Mansfield. The Miami-born rapper brought his Party After Dark tour to the Xfinity Center in Mansfield on Sunday night.

As promised, the party did not stop.

Before Pitbull even stepped on stage, two DJs warmed up the crowd with a flurry of hits that can only be described as the clubbiest of pop and rap. As the sun went down and people filed into their seats (or on the lawn), opener T-Pain hit the stage and delivered a predictable yet lively performance. In between numbers, he would jokingly insist to his onstage DJ/hype man that he needed to keep it “classy” to fully prepare the audience for Pitbull, then launch into a song like “Blame it on the Alcohol.” The crowd was having fun on their feet, for sure.

Soon enough, the lasers and the strobe lights dimmed in Xfinity Center and it was time for Pitbull, Mr. 305 himself, to take the stage. The band performed the introduction to “Thunderstruck” by AC/DC, which bled into “Fight For Your Right” by the Beastie Boys, two universal hype songs. Then there he was, wearing all black, a leather jacket, and his trademark sunglasses (which did not come off the whole night).

“Are y’all having a good time tonight?” Pitbull asked the crowd, not waiting for an answer. He immediately jumped into the catchy and bouncing “Don’t Stop the Party.” On stage, he was joined by several female back-up dancers, all moving in sync. The first song ended and his dancers left the stage to presumably rest after what could only be described as an athletic routine of hair-ography, fist pumping, and hip thrusting. Then came the first (and one of the only) times Pitbull spoke to the crowd on stage. Over and over, he asked “Who came to party?”, while the audience vigorously shouted back, “We came to party!”

Party Xfinity Center did. There wasn’t much substance to the show. But seriously, who needs substance when it feels like Pitbull is throwing you and around 10,000 of your closest friends a party? Every song was incredibly high-energy, from a spirited cover of “Whoomp There It Is,” to the hit “Feel This Moment.” The crowd stayed on their feet throughout the entire show, even when the rapper left the stage every few songs to change blazers and the DJ took over, playing a wide array of songs that seamlessly blended into the next act of the show.

Very rarely did Pitbull stray from the formula of entering the stage, sing a bit, dance a bit, rap a bit, walk down the stage, smoke machines go off, new song, rinse and repeat. As the saying goes, if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. Nevertheless, it made for a predictable show. It would have been interesting if the rapper varied his song choice, or performed an acoustic number. Even so, Pitbull, along with his band and dancers, enthralled the audience every moment of the show. One high point was when T-Pain took the stage again to perform “Hey Baby (Drop It To The Floor)” with Pitbull. Actually having the featured artist there to perform the song alongside Pitbull filled the venue with a renewed energy near the end of an exhausting set.

Pitbull ended the night with a rousing “Give Me Everything,” complete with confetti and the entire crowd jumping up and down. But before he began his last song of the night, he left the audience with some words of wisdom only Mr. Worldwide himself could bestow.

“Life is not a waste of time, and time is not a waste of life. So let’s not waste any time, get wasted tonight, and have the time of our lives.”