Thank you for making it occur," cooed the Colombian pop siren Shakira to her fans; "it" being her first tour date in Scotland. Presumably they did not have as much to do with it as the event employees, her highway crew and the car firm whose sponsored branding adorned the articulated lorry-come-billboard parked out front, but the few thousand who had turned up deserved credit score on such an awful night. Deepening snow exterior and the theme of this The Sun Comes Out tour sat uneasily alongside one another.

Such situations probably contributed to the venue being under capability, but Shakira ploughed on through the evening with breezy confidence. A set laced with teasing pop sexuality entertained and amused, nevertheless it additionally pulled off the neat trick - for a Grammy-winning, multi-million-promoting international artist - of genuinely shocking more than once. As an artist who maintains dual English and Spanish-language pop careers, many of her present's finest moments would have been unknown to a British audience.

The singer made her entrance alongside the stage's extended catwalk, singing the tender ballad "Pienso En Ti" and pressing flesh as she went in a head-to-toe pink lace dress like a form of new rave Eva Peron. As false starts go, it was masterful - on reaching the stage, the gown was ripped off in favour of a gold chain vest and tight black trousers, and the grinding Latin disco of "Why Wait" kicked in. This set the tone, with the blonde star pole-dancing her method via the delicate rocker "Te Dejo Madrid" and educating four feminine volunteers from the audience a pneumatic booty shake as a coda to "Each time, Wherever" (which incorporated an unexpected burst of EMF's "Unbelievable").

The "Everlasting Flame"-like balladry of "Beneath Your Clothes" and up to date hit "Waka Waka (This Time for Africa)" have been anticipated crowd-pleasers, but far more satisfying have been an acoustic mariachi band interlude that includes a Spanish model of Metallica's "Nothing Else Issues", the creditably weird "Gordita" - featuring vocals from the Puerto Rican hip-hop outfit Calle thirteen, appearing as a again projection on an enormous 3D face suspended above the stage - and the pounding electro disco of "Las de la Intuicion". Soullessness is an occupational hazard with such enviornment spectaculars, however this one fought tougher than most to carry a bit of sunshine and actual personality back to the experience.

 

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