Two of Latin music’s biggest stars joined forces on Saturday Sept. 27, as Enrique Iglesias and Pitbull came to Boston and had the entire TD Garden “Bailando.”
Arriving around 7:30 p.m. to find my seat, in the first row, I realized I had never been so close to the stage. When I got there, Reggaeton singer J. Balvin had already started the show, opening with a street style. He called out all the Latinos in the place and spoke in Spanish the entire time. Backed by his strong trio of dancers, with matching red sneakers, Balvin was the perfect person to begin the show, offering more than enough reason to get up and dance before the headliners took the stage.
Pitbull popped up from the center of the stage opening with “Don’t Stop the Party,” which was the best way to continue the party that Balvin started. Pitbull didn’t move much around the stage, he just danced in the center.
Pitbull’s career is about his collaborations with other artists, and everybody knew the lyrics to all of his songs; it was a huge sing-and-dance along.
Even though his dancers had very revealing clothes, all eyes were on him and his dancing. His energy was infectious, and there was not a single opportunity to stop dancing. The highlights were on his song “Timber,” and he closed with “Give Me Everything,” which was his first number one hit.
There was a 20 minute break between Pitbull and Enrique’s sets, and it was a nice breather after Pitbull’s dance party.
Enrique Iglesias opened with “I’m a Freak,” the perfect post-Pitbull way for him to begin. Unlike Pitbull, he didn’t have any dancers, but he really didn’t need any; most of the fans go there to see his angelical face and rocking body–or maybe that was just me.
His two guitar players were constantly moving and dancing along with him, and one of them was surprisingly cute; he was the opposite of Enrique. He had a hipster vibe and was smirking the whole concert. His name is Alex Feder, if you want to look him up.
Enrique was very energetic, running from one corner of the stage to the other, and he also walked a lot in the catwalk located in the middle, something that Pitbull didn’t do.
When Enrique sang his Spanish-language singles, which were definitely the crowd’s favorites, fans held up their flags from: Mexico, Spain, Colombia, and Venezuela. He sang “Bailamos,” “No Me Digas Que No,” “El Perdedor,” and the Romeo Santos duet “Loco.”
He then moved to the back of the crowd, where he performed on a smaller stage. He pulled up a man from Chicago and poured a bottle of liquor down both their throats as they performed “Stand By Me.”
After that Enrique returned to the main stage and sang his most famous song “Hero,” filling the darkness of the TD Garden with the light from fan’s cellphone screens.
Enrique closed the concert by having fans dancing to his latest hit “Balinado.” It was perfect, and full of joy. Pitbull joined Enrique for the final song of the evening, “I like it,” and at the end they hugged and ran backstage.
The concert was great because it had a balance between party songs and romantic ballads. Enrique Iglesias is very close to his fans, and he is constantly interacting with the audience. He didn’t care if he missed parts of a song for grabbing phones to take group selfies, or sharing hugs, with fans.

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Pitbull at Enrique Inglesias' Concert