Pop superstars Ke$ha and Pitbull are an odd duo to go on tour together, but somehow the fans mixed and mingled without a rumble.
Ke$ha brought the glitter and the gays, with many young teens thrown in for good measure. The parents must have been missing when some of these scantily clad kids left their houses June 9.
The Midwest Bank Amphitheatre in Tinley Park provided the perfect location for the early summer concert with only light sprinkles on the lawn attendees at the end of the night when Pitbull rapped on Marc Anthony's "Rain over Me."
Ke$ha began the summer evening with "Warrior" and she seemed ready to fight with glitter bombs. She sang current single "Crazy Kids," then launched into her hits "We R Who We R" and "Blow." She did a little costume-changing and swung on the monkey bars, posing all over the place. Her drag-queen back-up dancer couldn't get her jacket on correctly so she tossed it on the floor. There were many messy moments, like the one where she rolled on the stage or sprayed whipped cream into the audience. She had fun with new songs like "Gold Trans Am" and "Dirty Love," but sometimes looked bored. That may be just part of the act or it could be the result of staying up late the night before partying.
During a break between songs, Ke$ha described once visiting a "tranny bar" where everyone was naked by the end of the night; she then belted her tune "Take It Off." Big K should be careful about using the T-word with her huge LGBT demographic listening. She's already in trouble with the community in Newtown, Conn. (site of the mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School) because of songs like "Machine Gun Love" and "Die Young."
Although she is not the most cautious performer, being unpolished seems to be part of her charm.
Speaking of charm, before "C'mon" she stated, "It's a song about being fucked-up and falling in love." Isn't that sweet?
"Your Love is My Drug" and "Tik Tok" were favorites from the crowd, judging by reactions, and she breezed through them.
The title track of her reality show, "Crazy Beautiful Life," was nowhere to be heard—maybe she'll sing it in August when the Warrior Tour comes back to the Midwest.
In between sets, remixers Jump Smokers took over with a version of Adele's "Someone Like You" that kept the party going. Speaking of which, "Don't Stop the Party" with Pitbull has done well for them—and they were proud to say Chicago is the Smokers' hometown.
Pit finally arrived—a little later than scheduled but not on Rihanna's clock, luckily.
He may be the hottest man in show business with his classic black suit and gyrating hips making him the Cuban Elvis. He even made a comment about his suit-wearing style to all the haters.
Pitbull basically has created one long megamix with all of his tracks molded together at a nonstop pace for concertgoers.
Videos played of the multiple artists he has worked with over the years from Shakira and Jennifer Lopez to The Wanted.
Some songs were woven in that the Latin rapper hand-picked, such as Icona Pop's "I Love It" and Guns N' Roses "Sweet Child O' Mine."
"Mr. Worldwide" noticed all the flags being waved in the air by the fans and gave shout-outs to all the local Latinos. (Mexicans outnumbered the other countries with their cheers, as he mentioned different countries.) He kept to his Miami roots with "Echa pa'lla" and a tossed in Spanish phrases along the way.
He wasn't scared to name-drop and use those talented friends during the set, mentioning people like Ne-Yo, Christina Aguilera and Enrique Iglesias in a set that lasted a little more than an hour.
While this wasn't the livest concert in this venue (because of backing tracks), it was certainly lively and the teens dancing in the pavilion didn't seem to care about vocals, it was more about being entertained.
Maybe after this tour this dynamic duo will make a hit together, but until then this party won't stop!
