Shakira delivers a master class in stamina and showmanship at concert

BALTIMORE – Two months ago, Shakira performed for nearly 2 million people in Brazil.

On Monday, July 6, she played for a packed venue of 14,000 in Baltimore.

Brazil was likely a blast, but watching the global superstar in a comparatively intimate arena felt like winning a concert lottery.

Shakira's Las Mujeres Ya No Lloran World Tour, which shares its name with her 2024 album of heartbreak and resilience, began in February 2025. Since June, she's bopped around the U.S. on an arena leg that will wrap at the end of July in Atlantic City, New Jersey, before heading to Madrid for a dozen-show residency.

After that, let's hope those hips get a rest because the level of athleticism, gracefulness and pure joy that Shakira brings to the stage is a perfect storm of stamina and showmanship.

Her entrance at the CFG Bank Arena show epitomized her persona and personality. After strutting down the side of the venue floor, marching with her dance troupe toward the stage catwalk wearing dark shades and a model's pout, Shakira, in her sparkly gold ensemble, ripped off the glasses with a massive grin as if to say, "Just kidding! I would never take myself that seriously."

And, even though her soulful brown eyes rarely strayed from the onstage camera following her throughout the two-hour show, she doesn't.

Shakira revels in her happiness while performing. Whether strolling through "Girl Like Me," strapping on an outfit-matching guitar for the snarly "Can't Remember to Forget You," shimmying in a conga line with dancers dressed in adorable tiger costumes during "Zoo" or belly dancing through "Ojos Así" with liquidity that defies nature, there is always at least a hint of a smile on her face.

Also, if this is what the cusp of 50 looks like, please pass the bottle of potion.

Shakira's music has earned her international superstardom because she channels her Colombian roots into music that spans Latin pop, bachata, salsa, reggaeton and straight-up rock crunchers.

Anyone wondering why she was nominated for the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame this year, 35 years since her debut album, "Magia," need only listen to "Pies Descalzos, Sueños Blancos." Onstage, Shakira unleashed her inner rockstar during the song, working the stage and the mic stand in a purple corset and matching fringe pants and whipping her lengthy curls like a weapon.

But then she also exposed her she-wolf side, both as tenderhearted mom whose eyes dampened watching sons Sasha and Milan sing on video in "Acróstico," as well as philosophical big sister.

"Life has its way to reward us all. … We all have hardships and we can only wake up and say thank you for one more day," Shakira told the crowd, which she frequently addressed in English and Spanish. "I wonder if we're all a lot stronger than we think we are."

Fans admire Shakira's inner strength, but they also adore her effervescence as a performer. Billions of calories must have been burned from the nonstop movement in the crowd as Shakira swiveled and sashayed through "Whenever, Wherever" and her current sweet spot, "Dai Dai."

A FIFA World Cup ambassador since 2006, Shakira has a record-breaking smash with the playful song that serves as the official anthem of this year's games. Her live presentation simulated the vibrant video as Shakira and her dancers spun, clapped and displayed their admirable limberness in Skittles-colored skirts that flapped with every shift of a body part.

It really doesn't matter what Shakira is doing onstage – it's impossible to take your eyes off of her.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Shakira delivers a master class in stamina and showmanship at concert

Reporting by Melissa Ruggieri, USA TODAY / USA TODAY

USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect

Copyright Reuters or USA Today Network via Reuters Connect

This story was originally published July 7, 2026 at 5:55 AM.