Show Review: Shakira at Oracle Arena, 10/22/10

Shakira first became known to most of the world in the late 90’s as Columbia’s answer to Alanis Morissette. She was young, very pretty, yet very angsty. She even had the same hairdo as Alanis. As time went on, she has managed to move far beyond this, both visually & sonically. She is now one of those rare celebrities is recognizable in nearly every country in the world, and has pulled off what very few people can do: She has managed to become a pop music superstar. And she did it in the last decade, at a time when nobody was breaking out into this kind of territory. Even more impressive is that she’s done it as a musician, not some sort of business person that has musician as one of several hyphenates. It’s been a long time since we’ve gotten a stage show from her, in fact it’s been about 4 years since her last tour, and 7 years since she last graced Oakland with her presence.

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TV On The Radio w/The Dirty Projectors at The Fox Oakland, 5/22/09

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Not everyone finds the same thing funny...

The old story is that whenever The Velvet Underground came to town, everyone at the show started a band.  On the contrary, whenever TV On The Radio come to town, everyone gives up.  Few bands seem to set the bar as high as these gentlemen from New York.

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