Review: High-energy Pitbull delivers a great, dance-happy party at Minnesota State Fair

There ain't no party like a Pitbull party. Cuz a Pitbull party never stops. Unless heavy rains are headed for an outdoor concert.

That was the case Sunday night at the sold-out Minnesota State Fair grandstand, which had suffered a rainout of Saturday night's show.

A foreboding forecast didn't stop Pitbull, the international party machine, on his Can't Stop Us Now Summer Tour. He simply started an hour earlier Sunday and delivered the promised 95 minutes of relentless fun for 13,187 fans in what was one of the Greatest Minnesota Get-Togethers at the grandstand.

Pitbull — the Miami rapper also known as Mr. Worldwide, Mr. 305 and Armando Perez — was all gas, no brakes, with unrelenting zeal, volume and beats.

Part rapper, part cheerleader, part inspirational speaker and all party, the 41-year-old man in black with dark glasses served up a steady mix of hip-hop jams, pop hits and dancefloor delights. The amped crowd danced all night, responding with enough energy to power the entire Fairgrounds — from the Midway to every deep fryer — for an entire day.

Since 2004, Pitbull's music has been a steady presence on the dancefloors and the rap charts, with an occasional crossover to mainstream success. He's reigned as a king of collaboration, teaming up with Christina Aguilera, Chris Brown, Kesha, Ne-Yo, Jennifer Lopez, Enrique Iglesias, Daddy Yankee, J Balvin and Zac Brown, to name several.

Some of them showed up Sunday on video screens or audio samples, but Pitbull's main support came from his six terrific female dancers, who shook it all night in flashy and increasingly skimpier outfits. Plus, there was a top-notch band and DJ IAmChino as well as the usual big-blast party accoutrements like flame throwers, fog blasters and strobe lights. Pitbull's performance was so explosive that the post-concert grandstand fireworks almost felt anti-climactic as he was finishing "Give Me Everything" and giving his thank yous.

While Pitbull could party forever, he wasn't exactly a distinguished dancer, more of an enthusiastic wiggler, jumper, shaker and grinder. Of course, when you're onstage with some of the most accomplished dancers on the arena circuit, you'll pale by comparison.

Because he had to squeeze in so many hits, Pitbull truncated versions of several big songs including "I Know You Want Me (Calle Ocho)." It might have been more prudent — and more satisfying — to skip the mini-DJ sets in which IAmChino spun snippets of hits by Bon Jovi, Tag Team and James Brown.

Pitbull gave several inspirational pep talks, including about the downside of social media, the importance of leading and not following, and freedom not being free but priceless. That latter line was the refrain of a new song, "U.S.A." for which the rapper brought out country singer Filmore for their twangy banger.

Pitbull is open to all kinds of fun as he demonstrated later by donning a cowboy hat — black, of course — for "Timber," his Kesha collab, while his dancers wore chaps and halter tops. Indeed, there ain't no big-venue party quite like a Pitbull party.

Opening the concert was Iggy Azalea, the Australian rapper who scored the big hits "Fancy" and "Black Widow" in 2014 while creating a controversy about cultural appropriation. The only controversy about her 45-minute set was how much of her voice was live and how much recorded. Other than those two hits, the only way she could get a rise out of the crowd was by shaking her booty.