la tortura

Last night I went to Verizon Center with my girl Emily to see Wyclef Jean and Shakira. What a great fucking concert!

First though, let's paint a little picture of the setting. I haven't seen a concert at Verizon in a while, but this time the stage was set-up on the 7th St. side of the arena. We walked to section 120 to find our seats. For some reason there was a big line at our entrance, yet no where else. Once we got in, I realized the line was because our entrance was for our neighboring sections, as well as the floor seats. Annoying, but no big deal. Especially not since we were right on the first level, stage left. We were so close to the stage and could see everything perfectly.

Walking into the concert, I joked to Emily that if the INS did a surprise raid on the place, the entire stadium would clear out and we'd have our pick of seats. All jokes aside, the crowd was 95% Hispanic. Apparently we didn't get the memo about bringing our national flags with us to the show. I saw just about every Central and South American flag at some point during the show. I should have expected as much from an artist who only recently released her second English language CD. I thought though that more teen-aged girls would be there, what with the popularity of "Hips Don't Lie".

Wyclef opened the show. This was my second time seeing him live, so I half knew what to expect. If you ever have the chance to see him in concert, do yourself a favor and go. He is amazingly talented. Much more so than you might assume. He was on stage for about 45 minutes, and even did two old Fugees songs.

Then after a brief change of stage equipment, Shakira took to the stage. Her set favored her Spanish CDs heavily. I knew most of the songs, since she was immensely popular in Spain while I was studying over there in '99. The crowd went absolutely bonkers when she came out. Remember how the crowds were during the World Cup games this summer? Yeah, it was the same atmosphere and energy in the air.

Here is a testament to what a great performer Shakira is. My friend Emily doesn't speak any Spanish, but she was absolutely riveted the entire time she was on stage. She has great stage presence and engages the audience throughout the entire concert. Plus, her dance moves are so exotic and hypnotic, you can't help but stare. I swore off the roast beef curtains ages ago, but I'll be damned if she didn't have me reconsidering that for a minute or two!

I'm definitely glad that Emily convinced me to go to the concert with her. After watching Shakira move like that on stage, I have even more motivation to head to the gym and get my ass in shape!