Kevin Mazur | Getty Images

By Bobby Olivier | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com

It may seem as though Shakira, the vivacious Latin-pop songstress whose lower torso is famous for its candor, has been away awhile.

On U.S. hit radio, where she broke through with "Whenever, Wherever" and her English-language debut LP, "Laundry Service," in 2001, the Colombian songwriter hasn't scored any real smashes since "Hips Don't Lie," way back in 2006.

And Shakira hasn't toured the tri-state area since she recorded "Waka Waka (This Time For Africa)," the official song of the 2010 FIFA World Cup.

Don't Edit

So what has the singer, guitarist, drummer and belly dancer born Shakira Isabel Mebarak Ripoll been doing all this time? Oh, plenty.

She judged two seasons of "The Voice" reality show on NBC, she played a superstar giraffe and provided the theme to the animated film "Zootopia" in 2016, she had two sons (Milan, 2013; Sasha, 2015), and she's continued to release mixed-language albums that have sold very well in Latin America and Europe: "Sale el Sol," 2010, "Shakira," 2014 and her latest, 2017's well-reviewed "El Dorado," which birthed the Latin radio mega-hit "Chantaje" ("Blackmail) — one of the most-viewed YouTube music videos ever at 2.2 billion streams.

Don't Edit

Kevin Mazur | Getty Images

Shakira commandeered a sold-out Madison Square Garden Friday night not only in support of the new album but in celebration of good health; a vocal cord hemorrhage diagnosed late last year sidelined the singer and pushed her New York date, originally set for January 2018, deep in summer (the tour's rescheduled U.S. leg began last week in Chicago). Shakira mentioned Friday how during her last visit to The Garden, a Dec. 26 Knicks basketball game with her family, her son, Milan, asked if she'd ever be performing at the venue again. She said yes, but her voice first needed to recover.

And it did, “because miracles exist,” Shakira said with conviction before the cheering crowd of 15,000, some of whom waved Colombian flags or wore the country’s yellow, red and blue.

Don't Edit

The petite 41-year-old singer spent her 105 minutes on stage galloping across T-shaped setup, with a single catwalk that jutted halfway out into the arena bowl and rounded off at the end to create an auxiliary stage. For what was ostensibly a top-flight pop concert, there wasn’t an overwhelming amount of flash to the performance; casual fans may forget that before she came to America, Shakira was something of a Latina Alanis Morissette in the late ‘90s, singing guitar-heavy pop-rock with Andean and Arabian flourishes before she was ever introduced to a drum machine.

Don't Edit

Kevin Mazur | Getty Images

Even with the relentless hip-swirling and rear-gyrating that over time become a sizable chunk of her aesthetic, Shakira was a musician first this night. When she sang “Si Te Vas” or “Underneath Your Clothes,” it was live with minimal or no backing track as skipped around, her back-length blond curls trailing behind. When she picked up a guitar to strum “Inevitable” or “Amarillo”, she sincerely played it, not simply holding it as a prop like some pop stars do. For a more measured reggae rendition of her minor-hit Rihanna collaboration “Can’t Remember To Forget You,” she hopped on the drum kit for a quick solo. Even the digital sample-melody for “Chantaje,” which could have just as easily been piped in over the PA, she played live on a synth pad.

Don't Edit

Don't Edit

While some were occasionally broadcast on the large high-def screen behind the stage, there were no live dancers to provide addition choreography — just a tight five-piece band and Shakira’s relentless shimmying, which she accentuated with a jangly skirt for “Whenever, Wherever,” where she really showed off her moves. For how effortless her dancing seems to be, I like to imagine Shakira doing something mundane, maybe grocery shopping, when she unconsciously begins to pop her hips the way we absentmindedly hum.

Don't Edit

Kevin Mazur | Getty Images

Vocally, she was rarely off-base, shifting between breathy phrases and her patently full-throated yodel-belts. More simply, she sounded like herself; there were no signs of trauma. She was exuberant in both moments of pulsating electro-pop and buoyant rock n’ roll, she kept the crowd out of their seats and moving alongside her, and she expressed again and again how grateful she was to be back in America’s most famous arena.

Coincidentally, Shakira means “grateful” or “thankful” in Arabic (her father is Lebanese), and pop and rock fans alike should appreciate Shakira for the dexterous talent she continues to be.

Then perhaps she won’t wait the better part of a decade to return next time.

Don't Edit

Kevin Mazur | Getty Images

Shakira's set list

Aug. 10, 2018 — Madison Square Garden, New York

"Estoy Aquí" / "¿Dónde estás corazón?" (remix medley)

"She Wolf"

"Si te vas"

"Nada"

"Perro Fiel"

"Underneath Your Clothes"

"Me enamoré"

"Inevitable"

"Chantaje"

Act II

"Gods" (Video interlude)

"Whenever, Wherever" (Contains "Ojos así" dance break)

Act III

"Underwater" (Video interlude)

"Tú" (Shortened)

"Amarillo"

"La Tortura"

"Antología"

"Can't Remember to Forget You"

"Loca" / "Rabiosa" (remix medley)

Act IV

"Bicicleta" (Interlude)

"La La La (Brazil 2014)" (Shortened - Feat. Carlinhos Brown)

"Waka Waka (This Time for Africa)"

Encore:

"Education" (Video interlude)

"Je l'aime à mourir" (Francis Cabrel cover)

"Hips Don't Lie"

"La Bicicleta" (Carlos Vives cover)

Don't Edit

More photos from Shakira's El Dorado Tour

Note: All photos appearing in this post were taken at her identical Chicago performance Aug. 3.

Don't Edit

Kevin Mazur | Getty Images

Don't Edit

Don't Edit

Kevin Mazur | Getty Images

Don't Edit

Kevin Mazur | Getty Images

Don't Edit

Kevin Mazur | Getty Images

Don't Edit

Kevin Mazur | Getty Images

Don't Edit

Kevin Mazur | Getty Images

Don't Edit

Don't Edit

Bobby Olivier may be reached at bolivier@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @BobbyOlivier and Facebook. Find NJ.com on Facebook.