What's Bold, Bald and Coming to a Stadium Near You?
The actual Pitbull — Armando Christian Pérez, a Miami native who steered a boisterous strain of club-rap to the top of the charts in the early 2010s — was backstage, preparing for the first of two performances at the 20,000-capacity arena. Waves of young fans have gotten in the habit of impersonating the artist at each date of his 'Party After Dark' tour, paying special attention to his most famous, most hairless, feature.
'I'm pretty sure every party shop in London is sold out of bald caps,' said Jay McGillan, 19.
Mr. McGillan said he had visited seven stores and struck out, so he improvised by drawing a portrait of Pitbull's sparkling pate directly onto the fabric of his white button-up shirt. He joined a line of fans streaming into the arena, one of them wearing a T-shirt that read: 'Good girls go to church … Bad girls go to Pitbull.'
It's boom times for the concert uniform, a relatively recent phenomenon in which fans coordinate on social media to wear sequins to see Taylor Swift and cowboy boots for Beyoncé. (Jimmy Buffett's Parrotheads were way ahead of the curve.)
But Pitbull mania is an outlier in terms of its outrageousness, its lack of obvious sex appeal and its uniformity. To wander among the Pitbulls feels like Halloween night, if Halloween had only one costume option and it was Pitbull..
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OPINION - We need to do more to make the rich feel at home in London (yes, really)
Leafing through the programme at the theatre on Saturday night, the eyes were drawn as they usually are, to the section at the back where they list the benefactors. As ever, it was a question of seeing how many of them were familiar. But on this occasion, there was an added twist: how will the same rollcall appear in a few years' hence, will there still be the usual suspects or will there be new ones or indeed, will it be anything like as voluminous? Because rich folks matter. We need them, London needs them. Without their presence and support, their love and affection, swathes of our society will suffer. It is easy to mock, to take them for granted, to say they don't count, that they don't contribute anything. In which case, look around you. Yes, restaurants may be emptier, limousine services will suffer along with concierge services and private schools. Bless. Likewise, the posh estate agencies, florists and so forth. But they are real businesses providing real jobs. Still, widen your gaze further, to those buildings that dominate the skyline, to the companies that occupy the grand offices, to the deals that make the business sections, to the stock market. Now range a bit wider, to take in the charities, arts and the community projects. Who do you think pays for them, where do you think the money comes from? Not from the government, some does but nowhere near enough, not from us because we don't have the cash. It's from the billionaires and multi-millionaires, that's who. That's right, from the very people this government and those on the left are driving away; people that London must persuade to return and if they've not been, to come here to live, to employ, to spend, to invest, to donate. We're killing the golden goose that made London what it is – a great world city, the greatest. It's utter folly what is occurring and all in the name of ideological dogma. Of course, many of us are right to resent the non-doms, the foreigners who settle in the UK, usually in London, and pay a flat fee in return for paying next to nothing in tax. We wish we could be like them and have all their wealth and not have HMRC grab its hefty wedge. Of course we do, we're human. They should pay their fair share like everyone else, then we will be happy and there will more for public services, the Exchequer will be fatter. Except it won't be. Because those people are not like us, like everyone else; they have no roots here, no loyalty and today, thanks to tech and better transport, they can choose to reside and to work wherever they wish. And they can, they will, they are. There is no shortage of takers – other countries are lining up to compete for their favour and for their money. This is the point that those who argue for the imposition of a wealth tax on top of the other charges heaped on the richer end of the spectrum fail to address. Why, just when Britain is so intent on penalising them, are others so keen to have them? These are not only places that have a fixation about luxury and elitism but democratic nations and their cities, politicians and officials, who know what they bring and understand what is being lost. London's loss is their gain. Figures abound for how many have gone. Picking them apart is not difficult. Unfortunately, that is the extent of the argument – pooh-poohing and sneering. It may be a few thousand, it could be several thousand. That is not where we should be focused. If we accept, we desire rich people to relocate to the UK, to London, then we must address how to incentivise them to do so. It is not sufficient to dither as Sir Keir Starmer and Rachel Reeves are doing, to send conflicting signals of slapping on levies one moment and rowing back the next. Like any relationship, this depends on the underlying strength and emotion. Promising to review, to reform steps you have already made will not wash. The damage is done. The UK and London have to prove and convince the feeling is deep and true. We must show we mean it and stick to it. Not easily achievable when you're a Starmer or Reeves or Sir Sadiq Khan. Going out on a limb for a cohort that goes against much of what you stand for, who your core supporters loathe, is not in your nature, you're unlikely to convince. Somehow you have to find a way. A firm, unalloyed declaration would help – of the sort that Peter Mandelson, now our ambassador to Washington, gave for a previous Labour administration when he said it was 'intensely relaxed about people getting filthy rich'. Ally that with concrete measures, including the full restoration of non-dom status and the abolition of the changes to inheritance tax relief for business owners. They would definitely improve the mood and provide concrete evidence it is more than empty words. 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Chris Blackhurst is a writer, author, columnist and former editor of The Independent
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an hour ago
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Advantage Richarlison in contest to be Tottenham's first-choice striker
Richarlison is one of the Premier League's most exciting enigmas. How could a player who has led the line for Brazil at a World Cup and scored 13 goals in his past 16 Premier League starts continue to split opinion within the Tottenham Hotspur fanbase? How can he be the social media joker with possibly the most goofy celebration in England, as well as an often reserved character? At the end of a game in which he had scored a spectacular double in Tottenham's 3-0 win against Burnley on Saturday, the 28-year-old hung back from his team-mates, almost reluctant to accept the embrace he was due from supporters Advertisement The Richarlison experience is one that Everton fans continue to eulogise three years after 'o pombo' (which translates to the pigeon in English) left Goodison Park for £60 million. Spurs fans are yet to truly experience the same but across last Wednesday's penalty shoot-out Super Cup defeat by Paris Saint-Germain and Spurs' Premier League opener, he went as close to demonstrating the breadth of his talent since that outstanding run of nine goals in eight games in the winter of 2023-24. '(It's) fantastic he is scoring,' Frank said in his post-match press conference on Saturday. 'The first one is definitely easier to score without being easy, but I have a striker that takes those two chances and helps us win the game. He deserves a lot of praise. He was very good against PSG, and today he was exceptional, with his work-rate, driving the team, link-up play, hold-up play, just dominating and then the two finishes. 'It is only the second game of the season, there is a long way to go, but very positive with him. Second goal (there were) 17 passes in the team I have been told, every player touched the ball and finished with two top actions. 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Man honoured with British Empire Medal at Buckingham Palace for environmental work
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