By Jessica Rish, Des Moines Register
Mr. 305 brought the heat to the 515.
Continuing his “Party After Dark Tour,” Pitbull delivered a nearly hour-and-a-half set, a relentless ride through his more than two-decade-long career, full of hedonistic electropop music that dominated airwaves in the 2000s, now commonly referred to as “Recession Pop.”
Performing to a sold-out crowd of 16,090 at the Grandstand Sunday, Aug. 10, the Grammy Award-winner turned the venue into the ultimate Miami club experience.
Cody Scanlan/The Register
Unexpected Neon Union keeps the crowd on their toes
Opening up the evening, Neon Union took the stage right as the clock struck 8 p.m. With a name like Neon Union, the audience might have expected a band similar to Mr. Worldwide, a burgeoning name that surely will turn out soon to be club hits. Instead, the audience got treated to a 45-minute set of tongue-in-cheek country music.
“Alright, y’all brought the party tonight,” said half of the Nashville-based duo, Andrew Millsaps. “We came all the way from New Mexico last night, and I got to tell you, Iowa, y’all know how to bring it.”
The duo, comprising singer-songwriter Millsaps and multi-instrumentalist Leo Brooks, along with a backing ensemble, formed in 2022 and released their debut album, “Good Years,” in January 2025. But Neon Union’s music is not standard country music.
Neon Union has a keen ability to blend traditional country music techniques from clear guitar tones and thumping drums with upbeat pop melodies, creating a familiar sound, but also fresh.
Cody Scanlan/The Register
The storytelling is where the band shines, an element that, of course, epitomizes the genre, but flips it on its head with songs like “Redneck Rich,” “How You Don’t,” and “Made in Mexico.” The band falls back on standard Americana references, proving that they are more country than someone else, but with lyrics taking a more sardonic turn, backed by impressive musicianship.
The duo leans into their country-ness in a lighthearted way, but know how to make a catchy tune with guitar riffs that make you want to air guitar to, drums that shake internal organs, and lyrics that keep listeners on their toes, especially with the live debut of “Bigger Than Mine,” a euphemism of some sort.
On stage, they had fun chugging tall boys of Miller Lite and tossing them into the crowd of the show and engaging with the audience in a way that most openers can be afraid to do. It was an unexpected choice for an opener but not unwelcome.
Cody Scanlan/The Register
DJ LAZ leads the Grandstand in nostalgic dance party
As soon as Neon Union left the stage, stagehands got busy setting up the stage for Pitbull but were treated to a near 20-minute DJ set from DJ LAZ, a former radio show host in the Miami-Dade County area, serving as the ultimate hype man for the crowd.
DJ LAZ turned out classic tunes that got the crowd on their feet and dancing, playing songs that were inescapable in the 2010s like “Party Rock Anthem,” by LMFAO and “We Found Love,” by Rihanna and David Guetta. Along with older recognizable hits like The Village People’s “YMCA” and ABBA’s “Dancing Queen.” Screaming the lyrics back, drowning out the screams of the midway.
“I don’t care if you’re black, white, Chinese, whatever,” DJ LAZ said. “You love great music; you love to have a great time and live your best f—ing lives.”
Cody Scanlan/The Register
Pitbull’s high-energy hit parade
As the lights dimmed, Pitbull already had the crowd on their feet, as a remixed version of the Beastie Boys’ “(You Gotta) Fight For Your Right (To Party),” and seemingly appeared on stage out of nowhere and immediately playing “Don’t Stop The Party,” as the official party started for the night.
“Thank you very much for the love, the support, and the opportunity to be here at the Iowa State Fair,” Pitbull said, then segueing into the 2011 track “Hey Baby (Drop It to the Floor),” a track that features another Grandstand headliner later in the week, T-Pain.
Dancing on stage with the dancers, Pitbull donned a tight black leather jacket zippered up to the top, with black dress pants and his signature aviator sunglasses, and danced on stage with the back-up dancers, theatrically flirting with them as if they were at the club.
The concert began and ended on a high note with songs like “Hotel Room Service,” “International Love,” “On the Floor,” and “I Like It.” The background visuals featured clips of the artists he collaborated with to create the songs on the big screen behind, making it feel like they were on the stage with Pitbull.
Pitbull’s discography is littered with collaborations that might commonly be attributed to the other artists on the track. Pitbull proved his own charisma and talent on the Grandstand stage. His voice is just as crisp and smooth as the recorded tracks that have risen on the charts for all these years, and he commanded a stage with a production suited for a Las Vegas residency, fixed with impressive strobe lights and fog displays.
Cody Scanlan/The Registe
“Once again, I want to say thank you very much for this opportunity tonight, we highly appreciate it and I want to thank you for making us feel like we are at home—hot, sweaty, sexy,” Pitbull said. “I want to take you all to Miami, to the 305, Dade County…because then it becomes hot, sweaty, sexy, spicy.”
The show itself, while impressive, became a bit repetitive, filled with dancing from Pitbull and the dancers, which the crowd always responded warmly to, though he had enough stage presence to go without the added showmanship. Each song ended with an eruption of applause, and even the crowd barking at him.
The tour of his best hits weren’t all back-to-back, and was broken up by his onstage DJ keeping the crowd going while Pitbull and the dancers made quick costume changes to usher in the next act of the concert.
Audience members kept the energy high during these moments or even used it as an excuse to run to the bar. While a concert, it was also part club experience.
Though Pitbull is best known for his musical career as a chart-topper, he is also an entrepreneur and activist and took moments to earnestly address the crowd and bestow words of wisdom, or what Pitbull would say “dale.”
Cody Scanlan/The Register
“There’s one race and one race only. That’s a human race, baby,” Pitbull said. “What I love about music is that it makes it easy for us to learn from each other. So tonight, you already speak the universal language. A lot of y’all speak English, second language at this moment, and a lot of y’all speak Spanish, third language.”
The hits continued throughout the night with songs like “I Know You Want Me (Calle Ocho),” “Timber,” “Fireball,” and “Give Me Everything,” and the multigenerational crowd was only passive pop music listeners; they might have known every single song on the setlist.
Next up at the Iowa State Fair Grandstand is southern rock band Lynyrd Skynyrd.
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