4 days ago
- Entertainment
- Toronto Star
Shakira brings her she-wolf fierceness to the Toronto stop on her world tour
Shakira
3.5 stars (out of 4)
Scotiabank Arena, Toronto, Mon., May 26, 2025
Her career has spanned 30-plus years, and she has the accolades to show for it, though it's been seven years since Shakira embarked on a major tour. But recent events in the Colombian singer's personal life compelled her to release her 12th studio album and return to the stage with her 'Las Mujeres Ya No Lloran' ('Women No Longer Cry') tour, which stopped at Scotiabank Arena on Monday.
Involved in a very public breakup with longtime partner Gerard Piqué, in 2023 the singer dropped 'Bzrp Music Sessions, Vol. 53,' a viral rap anthem whose lyric 'las mujeres no lloran las mujeres factura' ('women don't cry anymore, they cash in') struck a chord with female fans as a post-heartbreak manifesto. Now, the 'she wolf' is back on stage to reclaim her power and reunite with her pack.
For her Toronto show, Shakira performed her most beloved numbers, from '90s deep cuts to recent chart-toppers. It took a bit of warming up to get there, though. After an hour's delay, a CGI Shakira avatar flashed on the video screens as the crowd, dressed in an explosion of leather, leopard skin and belly dance wraps, shrieked. Throughout the night, the avatar would serve to connect the narrative of her healing journey.
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The singer entered the arena fight-night style. Making her way to the stage, she ascended from below on a platform with two deejays, suggesting that we'd just entered Club Shakira.
For the first half of the show, she served up the essence of her recent foray into electronic dance music. She came across as a polished pop persona dressed in a shimmering pink outfit, performing perfectly synchronized choreography to such hits as 'TQG' and 'Te Felicito.' Interspersed among them, alt-rock-leaning singles like 'Inevitable' and 'Don't Bother' couldn't help but seem misplaced.
The second half picked up momentum as Shakira ventured into her early-aughts material, such as her billion-streaming 'Hips Don't Lie.' Placing her best-known song mid-set felt tactical as it reinvigorated the crowd. Familiar favourites were reimagined with new arrangements: 'Chantaje,' her 2017 duet with Maluma, now had a salsa beat. The remixes allowed the performer to showcase her considerable dance skills; all eyes were on her hypnotic belly dance solos. And no, those hips did not stop moving the entire show.
Fake Shakira currency rained down at the Toronto concert's end.
Laura Palombi
She finished the concert with the breakup anthem that kicked off this new chapter in her career, as a gigantic inflatable wolf was rolled out and loomed over the stage as her protector. As she sang, 'Women don't cry anymore, they cash in,' fake currency with Shakira's face printed on it rained from above. The show closed with a wolf's head superimposed over Shakira's face on the screens, as her healing journey was complete.
Let the mighty she wolf howl.
