What began with poor marketing and a plea for a sell-out from Fresno State Athletics Director Garrett Klassy concluded with a packed house of approximately 30,000 guests and an entrancing performance by the Colombian superstar Shakira at the history-making first concert at Valley Children’s Stadium.

Shakira’s Las Mujeres Ya No Lloran World Tour began in February and will conclude in December. The Fresno concert was a last-minute addition to the tour and concluded her performances in the United States.

Originally, the concert was supposed to begin at 7:30 p.m., but unforeseen difficulties from Fresno State Athletics caused the show to be delayed by one hour.

In a statement posted on social media regarding the delay, Klassy took full responsibility and commended Shakira and her team for being ready to go on time.

The concert began at approximately 9:30 p.m. and was nothing short of an extravaganza. Despite the long lines, Shakira’s hips did not lie, and she seemed to captivate every single person at Valley Children’s Stadium.

Jaz’s thoughts

When I first saw the announcement for the Shakira concert, my excitement blew through the roof. Shakira is one of my top favorite artists and is someone I grew up listening to because of my mom.

To this date, she is still in my daily rotation of music. But once my journalistic gears kicked in and I realized the news value of this event, my perspective changed. I was no longer looking at this concert as a fun event to look forward to; I was looking at it from an analytical point of view, monitoring the marketing aspect, ticket sales and revenue opportunities.

And I’ll be honest, I had my doubts. After leading the editorial we published last month, I really thought I was going to be sitting in a stadium surrounded by empty seats. And well, I was wrong.

But just because the event hosted a packed house, it doesn’t mean it was all smooth sailing.

It was really surprising to see the amount of chaos that this event brought to Fresno State.

“But standing at the main entrance of Valley Children’s Stadium looking down to the field level Thursday night, it was clear Fresno has never seen a concert of this scope,” The Fresno Bee reported.

And while it was the first concert, we see events of this size, even larger, every year during football season. Just last season, Bulldog football averaged an attendance of more than 40,000 fans per game, according to G5 Football Daily. That’s about 10,000 more than this concert.

And still, people waited hours on end to get in, and at least one group of fans didn’t even make it through the gates.

Sarah Gonzalez, a concert attendee from the Reedley area, said after waiting in traffic for over 30 minutes, she found distant street parking and had to walk an additional 15 minutes to the venue.

She said that once she got to what she thought was the line to enter, she encountered complete chaos and quickly became overwhelmed due to a lack of security control.

“People were shouting, women near me [were] crying [and] having panic attacks and some people were discussing and pushing their way through,” Gonzalez said.

After nearly two hours of waiting with no progress, Gonzalez said she decided to leave, saying she grew concerned for her safety.

“I’ve been to concerts and festivals, small and large, and it was just disappointing to be met with no one to help us,” Gonzalez said.

The frustrations were visible and felt throughout the event as security struggled to control the massive crowds. But Shakira performed without a hiccup, verbally acknowledging that this was the first concert at the stadium.

Overall, as a fan, I had an amazing time. She played all her hit songs, put on some incredible costumes and did not come to play about her hip movement.

As a journalist, I still believe the marketing could’ve been better. The concert had the potential to sell out within days of the announcement, but didn’t. Since ticket sales tremendously increased just days before the concert, we can assume that the drop in prices and ticket giveaways played a big role in that.

Isaac’s thoughts

I am not a mega-fan of Shakira. I know all of her big hits and not much else, but I attended the concert as a reporter for The Collegian to see how Valley Children’s Stadium held up.

Getting in

I purchased the $60 White Lot parking pass that was supposed to become available at 5 p.m. I got there shortly after 5 p.m. and waited outside the White Lot in my car for 25 minutes just to park, since it didn’t actually open until around 5:30 p.m. Although that was a tad frustrating, I kept my spirits high and did everything I could to beat the heat for the next half-hour. Or so I thought.

The concert was delayed for an hour, which meant I was even earlier than I expected. This led to me baking in the Fresno sun even longer, since there was a severe lack of shade near the entrances.

After waiting in line for only 20 minutes, I got in with no difficulty.

Thalia Arenas attended the concert and said it was her first time coming to Valley Children’s Stadium. She got inside the stadium early as well, but still had some critiques.

“I felt that they definitely need to work on the process of checking in,” Arenas said. “Save Mart Center kind of has that down, and I think they just need to work out the kinks here.”

I had unknowingly avoided the nightmare that many people experienced trying to get into the stadium. I didn’t know how bad the situation was until I began interviewing people after the show.

Many people were stuck outside the stadium, packed close together in the 101 degree weather. The wait times were long, and people were upset.

Ricardo Rodriguez is a Fresno State alum and a season ticket holder for Fresno State Football. He said he went through the grueling experience of getting in, but still ended up enjoying his time.

“Coming in, I was super pissed as I was waiting outside,” Rodriguez said. “Once I got in here and was in my seat, all my frustration went away, and it was an awesome experience.”

The venue

Valley Children’s Stadium was quite steep, and I witnessed many people lose balance walking up the hills and the stadium steps a few times, especially those wearing heels. I felt bad for those who had never been to the stadium beforehand and were unaware of the not-so-pleasant terrain.

After hiking up the stadium, I was greeted with food vendors. The prices of the food weren’t as crazy as I expected. I got a hot dog for $8, which was around the same price as other foods. This was a steal compared to the prices of beverages, though. A bottle of water cost $6 in every foodstand I saw, and the prices only went up from there. There were $12 lemonades and nearly $20 beers. Bringing your own water bottle is definitely a must, going forward.

Another gripe I had with the venue was the seating. I am aware that it is a football stadium and the bleacher-style seating is unavoidable, but not having any back support did me no favors the next morning. I am too young to have back issues.

The weather

I am actually thankful for the one-hour delay. By 8 p.m., the sun had set past the stadium, and the night was blessed with a cool breeze that carried the smell of food throughout the stadium, which is the reason I bought food to begin with.

I brought a digital thermometer with me to check the temperature every hour or so. Around 9:30 p.m., it read 91 degrees Fahrenheit, at 10:30 p.m., it read 89 degrees Fahrenheit and at 11:30 p.m., it read 87 degrees Fahrenheit.

It felt nice and cool the entire time, though. Being born and raised in Fresno might’ve helped my heat tolerance, but my section was also pretty spacious, so I had room to breathe and enjoy the beautiful, breezy night.

It was a drastic difference from the heat I experienced on my journey into the stadium, where I felt the 100-degree sun.

The concert

Shakira began the show by walking past the crowd and onto the stage. Although I’m not a huge fan, I had goosebumps watching her make her way to the stage. The interactive bracelets lit up with every boom from the bass, which also made my internal organs feel like they were being scrambled.

As I looked at the crowd, the bracelets shone, giving the night sky a competition for the prettiest sight to see. As the songs kept coming, the crowd kept moving. She performed some of her biggest songs like “She Wolf,” “Loca” and, of course, “Hips don’t lie,” along with her newest album song “Las Mujeres Ya No Lloran.”

The audio from the speakers was a bit drowned out at times, but the vocal performance by Shakira herself was stellar. A sense of nostalgia washed over me as I heard her iconic songs, and I was moving my hips along with her. I was not alone.

Leslie Mora, a sophomore at Fresno State, said Shakira’s performance was electric.

“I was dancing like crazy,” Mora said. “I really like all the Latin flags and representation. It was really fun, I had a good time.”

Shakira’s dancing was mesmerizing, and her moves mixed with the presentation on the huge screen served as a great visual to pair with the sound.

Toward the end of the concert, she traveled to the floor and interacted with the fans, singing along and being embraced by her fans. The crowd even chanted for one more song after many thought the concert was over, when it was just a transition to her final part of the concert.

The show ended with a minute-long firework display that capped off the memorable night.

Our final thoughts

If Fresno State Athletics manages to fix the issue that many had getting in and touches up their marketing strategies, then this venue can hold up with any other event. The energy was there, the view of the stage was great, the food wasn’t bankrupting and the vibes were immaculate.

It’s safe to say that we hope for more concerts at this stadium in the future.