Latin icon Shakira brought ‘Las Mujeres Ya No Lloran’ World Tour to Houston’s
Toyota Center for two consecutive nights full of her best hits.
Shakira, the Colombian singer/songwriter, serves as one of Latin Pop’s most successful icons.
Her ever-growing catalog shows how adaptable she is for global audiences alike. The singer
started with two Spanish albums titled Descalzos and Dónde Están los Ladrones?, which rocked
Latin America with poetic lyricism. She furthered herself with her entry into English music, with
the memorable Laundry Service, continuously challenging global musical ascription. With hits
like “Whenever, Wherever” and “Hips Don’t Lie,” Shakira lived up to the pop-star identity while
blending in Latin rhythms. Although Shakira began to transition more to pop music with her later
works – Sale el Sol and Las Mujeres Ya No Lloran – she still demonstrated progressions in
musical exploration through her international gems.
Shakira’s latest album Las Mujeres Ya No Lloran (Women No Longer Cry), dropped in 2024, her
return after seven years since El Dorado in 2017. The album served as the singer’s personal
project that has themes of vulnerability, power, heartbreak and her healing journey after her very
public divorce with former FC Barcelona player Gerard Piqué. The album features “Te Felicito”
(featuring Rauw Alejandro), “Puntería” (featuring Cardi B) and “Cómo Dónde y Cuándo.” With
hits like her Bzrp Music Sessions, her album translated well with audiences and became another
important landmark in her career.
The tour overall felt UNREAL – from the minute she stepped foot on the stage to the very end
when confetti fell all over the stadium. Shakira started with “La Fuerte” with explosive energy as
she walked through the crowd and onto the stage, followed by “GIRL LIKE ME” as the crowd
chanted the iconic line – “SHA-SHA-SHAKIRA.” She took us down memory lane with the
melody of “Las de la intuición” and “Estoy aquí,” followed with a quick pause. “I’ve been
counting down the days to return to Texas” states Shakira to the sold-out Houston crowd – “It
feels good when a she-wolf is reunited with her pack.”
Shakira kept it up with another amazing medley with “Empire” and “Inevitable,” where she
revealed her mediocre rock roots, and vocal chops.The night was full of creative medleys that blended together different songs, and the crowd went crazy with “Te Felicito” and “TQG” (no
appearances by Rauw Alejandro or Karol G, boo!). She screams: “Si queremos llorar, vamos a
llorar. Si no, ¡vamos a FACTURAR!” During the song “Acróstico,” Shakira had an animated
video about a wolf with her two cubs, resembling her as the she-wolf and her two sons, Sasha
and Milan. The song was an emotional moment, which featured video recordings of her sons
singing the heartfelt chorus.
Something to note from the entire show is the mesmerizing on-stage visuals – from super bright
lights, enticing choreography, and the visual representation of each track. At just 48 years old,
the singer moved and danced like there was no tomorrow. SThe night continued with multiple
curated medleys, such as “Copa Vacía,” “La Bicicleta,” and “La Tortura,” each powered with
high-energy.
Towards the end, she took Houston on another nostalgic trip down through her discography,
which was kicked off with a video interlude of childhood videos and clips of the very beginning
stages of her career. The interlude include snippets of “¿Dónde Estás Corazón?”, “Vuelve”, “Un
Poco de Amor” and “Estoy Aquí,” before it fully jumped into rock-rendition of “Pies Descalzos,
Sueños Blancos.” Her backing band set up shop at the end of the catwalk for an acoustic session with Shakira, as she encouraged the crowd to sing “Antología” to the top of their lungs. A few tracks later, she surprised Houston with a live mariachi band called el Mariachi Garcia to sing fast-paced + Regional Mexican versions of “Ciega, sordomuda” and the Fuerza Regida feature “El Jefe.” No one in the venue sat still and danced to all the new versions of said songs, notably a fan-fave moment from the show.
Shakira ended the set with a colorful performance of the world cup track “Waka Waka (This
Time for Africa)” as the stage lights dimmed. In preparation for her encore, a big blow-up wolf
popped up on stage while the notable 10 she-wolf commandments popped up on the screen,
leading into one of Shakira’s most-known (and best hits), “She-Wolf.” She performed the english
version, although the spanish version made more of a mark in the latin community. She ended
with an extended version of “BZRP Music Sessions #53,” as she pranced through the crowd and
sang along with fans.
The first night of “Las Mujeres Ya No Lloran” tour in Houston absolutely did not disappoint. It
was a super colorful and LOUD experience, and it might be the best tour of hers to date. Despite
a few production hiccups along the way, Shakira’s seasoned professionalism allowed her to
rebound each time and keep the energy electric. Her engagement with the crowd was unreal, and she connected with excited fans, making the immense arena feel intimate. Shakira had a royal presence on stage and demonstrated her mastery of the Latin genre with every hip-shake and vocal exertion. She proved again that she knows how to put on an immersive show and experience.
Shakira (Photos By Krystiee Lee)
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