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Shakira @ Oracle Park (Photo: Sean Reiter) |
Shakira lit a chilly and windy Oracle Park on fire Monday night as she brought her Las Mujers Ya No Lloran World Tour to San Francisco and dazzled a packed crowd with a performance that was long on energy, likeability and bass.
Disclaimer at the outset – I do not speak nor understand Spanish very well, but for anyone wondering, the performance Shakira put on bridged any and all language gaps. She leaned very heavily into her deep repertoire of dance, as well as her ability to vocally change from dance track to rock to ballad and everywhere in between.
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Shakira @ Oracle Park (Photo: Sean Reiter) |
Shakira began the parade to the stage at 8:45 pm (Shakira was the only performer on the night) as she and a team made their way through the crowd and walked up the steps to the end of the catwalk in the middle of the huge crowd on Oracle’s floor level. She wore a spacesuit-like pants and jacket combination and sunglasses for the procession - quickly getting rid of the shades. After the platform rose and she had completed the first song “La Fuerte” she returned to stage level and then tossing her jacket into the crowd before proceeding up the catwalk to the main stage. There at center stage, two of her dancers then pulled the pants off revealing her full pink short dress as she and the matching dancers performed “Girl Like Me.”
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Shakira @ Oracle Park (Photo: Sean Reiter) |
A well-choreographed disco-feeling “Las de la intuición / Estoy aquÔ followed with her full female dancer team performing with light saber like colored glow sticks behind her. Shakira took turns at the top of the stage with them and proceeding back and forth down the catwalk. At the end of the song, she stood once again at the end of the stage and on the last night of Pride Month, the longtime LGBTQ supporter took time after her fourth song to deliver an address to the crowd specific to the night.
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Shakira @ Oracle Park (Photo: Sean Reiter) |
“How wonderful that it is the last day of this significant month to celebrate love and freedom and the bravery of so many who raised their voices every day! The world is much better when we live with respect, with the truth and with pride. My heart will always be with you.”
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Shakira @ Oracle Park (Photo: Sean Reiter) |
Following her message, a violin intro led into a dalliance into her powerful English-language hard rocking hit “Empire” as Shakira donned a guitar. A sweet singalong moment of “Inevitable” turned into one of the biggest rock and roll moments of the night as the full power of the band was unleashed and Shakira let loose on guitar.
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Shakira @ Oracle Park (Photo: Sean Reiter) |
“Acrostico” saw her singing the ballad accompanied only by piano with beautiful blue light streaming through the stadium thanks to both the stage lighting and the thousands of wristbands handed out to concertgoers that created a light show from every seat.
Not surprisingly, the once in a lifetime hit “Hips Don’t Lie” was a huge highlight of the night with Shakira dancing on the raised platform at the end of the catwalk and then accompanied by female dancers and reaching a huge crescendo to the roaring audience. However, the next song “Chantaje” was perhaps the most interesting as the camera followed her below the stage and to the backstage area for a costume change as she continued to sing and then made her way back to the stage to dance with her male dancers.
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Shakira @ Oracle Park (Photo: Sean Reiter) |
A medley of “Copa Vacia, “La Bicicleta” and “La Tortura” saw her wear a red dress reminiscent of being wrapped in seaweed (and barely wrapped at that). The song choreography emphasized her amazing body control and movement. It seemed that her ability to move every body part belied her 48 years. Based on camera angles chosen and her glances that accompanied her dancing, Shakira is more than comfortable in her own skin and Bicicleta featured a cute moment as her male dancers formed a human bicycle that she proceeded to mount and ride, and the crowd sang along full-throated with the chorus.
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Shakira @ Oracle Park (Photo: Sean Reiter) |
“Ultima” saw her emerge in a spectacular diamond mirrored gown to sing softly with only piano accompaniment before the ballad was offset by a gigantic bass and string into “The Sorceress” that had the floor of Oracle Park vibrating and would not have surprised to register on the Richter scale.
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Shakira @ Oracle Park (Photo: Sean Reiter) |
“Pies Descalzos, Suenos Blancos” was delivered as a straight-ahead rock ‘n’ roll song after a video intro that showed her history as a performer from the time the Columbian performer was just 14 years old. The rocker was once again followed by a ballad with an acoustic version of “Antologia” being sung by many in the crowd at the top of their lungs.
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Shakira @ Oracle Park (Photo: Sean Reiter) |
The final song of the main set “Waka Waka (This Time for Africa)” was a huge colorful production number involving all the dancers. The encore of “She Wolf” saw a gigantic wolf taking over the majority of the stage as the rest of the performance moved to the catwalk and then down into the audience throughout much of the finishing number “BZRP Music Sessions #53” as Shakira posed for selfies and slapped five while performing the song with her full complement of dancers.
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Shakira @ Oracle Park (Photo: Sean Reiter) |
Perhaps the most impressive element of the concert was Shakira’s stamina and the shows intense focus on her and her alone. Yes, there were backup dancers on occasion, a handful of video interludes to allow her to catch a break and very impressive lighting and the occasional pyro effects. But make no mistake, the concert rode more intensely on the talent and energy of the one performer for the entire two hours. Whether she was dancing, singing, talking or just shooting a look to the crowd, she oozed charisma and likeability that is universal across the globe. The more than sold-out crowd was as diverse as they come and while certainly many were singing along in Spanish with her hits, there were a substantial number of others swimming in the joy of the night without regard for translation - myself and several other reporters and photographers included.
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Shakira @ Oracle Park (Photo: Sean Reiter) |
Earlier in the day, Shakira had sent out a message to fans (translated from Spanish): “I just heard tonight is completely sold out again and the people of Live Nation tell me they are literally adding new chairs to accommodate more people. How exciting San Francisco! If you’re out there, we’re right by the water. Just bring your boat and listen to the show from your boat!”
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Shakira @ Oracle Park (Photo: Sean Reiter) |
Though the windy and chilly night may have dissuaded most boaters from making the rocky excursion, outside the right field knot hole many people were catching various glimpses (albeit without the video that accompanies games) and an even larger group had set up across McCovey Cove in lawn chairs and folding chairs across the entire waterway. People danced, sang and partied like they were inside as the music carried across the water and bracelets and lasers lit up the night. As I exited the park and walked by the Willie McCovey statue across the way, the Cove crowd was still buzzing and seemed in no hurry to end their night.
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