A sold-out State Farm Arena in Atlanta, Georgia, played host to Grammy Award-winning Shakira’s latest stop on her Las Mujeres Ya No Lloran World Tour. With an official capacity of just over 17,000, the State Farm Arena also serves as the home venue for the Atlanta Hawks NBA franchise, became the world’s first venue to earn TRUE (Total Resource Use and Efficiency) Platinum certification for zero waste (in 2022), and was uniquely architected with large angled steel columns along the building’s exterior that spell out the word “ATLANTA.” With the late afternoon temperatures in the pleasant mid-70s, the capacity crowd arrived to the venue early as there was no opening act scheduled.
With the clock approaching 8:45pm, the now settled in audience had built up its excitement for the start of the show as they sang along with Shakira videos being played on two huge stage screens. Finally, with the tour-titled announcement displayed on the video screen, the house lights dropped and the 48-year-old Colombian music superstar was then securely escorted through a roped off path within the screaming floor crowd as she made her way to the stage.
Upon ascending stairs and arriving at the end of the long stage thrust anchored in the middle of the arena floor, multi-Grammy Award winner Shakira launched into her danceable evening with “La fuerte,” a track off her 2024 album release, Las Mujeres Ya No Lloran (which translates to “Women Cry No Longer”). There can be no debate that Shakira is one of the most significantly decorated and influential female Latin artists of our generation, and she put that on full display Monday night in front of an adoring crowd.
Alternating between English and Spanish when engaging with the audience, Shakira delivered a dynamic and elaborate musical production (where she also sporadically played guitar) that included multiple wardrobe changes, alternating video experiences, tight dance choreography, supported all along with fan bracelets that synced and changed colors with the music.
Shakira’s musical catalog is decades deep and culturally diverse, which was highlighted throughout her 22-song set. While she performed a handful of newer songs off her twelfth studio album Las Mujeres Ya No Lloran, such as “Te felicito,” the tour also featured a sizeable collection of number-one singles and popular, multi-cultural hits in “Hips Don’t Lie,” “Objection (Tango),” and “Underneath Your Clothes.”
However, it was the back-to-back-to-back spirited performances of well-known songs including “Whenever, Wherever,” the official song of the 2010 FIFA World Cup in “Waka Waka (This Time for Africa),” and 2009’s “She Wolf” that brought Shakira’s dedicated fan base (especially those in “she-wolf” ears) into seemingly shaking the foundation of the State Farm Arena. The effervescent Shakira then punctuated her evening’s setlist by bookending her enjoyable performance with another tune pulled from Las Mujeres Ya No Lloran in “BZRP Music Sessions, Vol. 53.”
Shakira will wrap up her current North America tour dates on Monday, June 30th, at Oracle Park in San Francisco, California.
Setlist:
1.) La fuerte
2.) GIRL LIKE ME (Black Eyed Peas cover)
3.) Las de la intuición / Estoy aquí
4.) Empire / Inevitable
5.) Te felicito / TQG
6.) Don’t Bother
7.) Acróstico
8.) Copa vacía / La bicicleta / La tortura
9.) Hips Don’t Lie
10.) Chantaje (Shakira & Maluma song)
11.) Addicted to You / Loca
12.) Soltera
13.) Última
14.) Ojos así
15.) Pies descalzos, sueños blancos – Baby Shak Poem
16.) Antología
17.) Objection (Tango)
18.) Underneath Your Clothes
19.) Whenever, Wherever
20.) Waka Waka (This Time for Africa)
21.) She Wolf
22.) BZRP Music Sessions #53 (Bizarrap & Shakira song)
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Elliott is a music photographer covering shows in Atlanta, Georgia, and the surrounding area. The highlight of his photography career was back in the early ’90s, when he sold Neil Diamond the rights to his negatives from a show and then purchased a set of tires for his 1979 280ZX during college with the money.
