BOSTON -- It's overstating the case to say that Shakira defies categorization, but last night at the TD Banknorth Garden she expertly mixed several categories that aren't supposed to go together.

For one thing, you're supposed to push Spanish-language songs into the background once you start aiming for the American pop charts, but last night's show was primarily in Spanish, drawing heavily from the Colombian singer's early records, beginning with "Estoy Aqui," from her first record, 1996's Pies Descalzos, and ending (the regular set, anyway) with "Ciega, Sordomuda," from 1998's Donde Estan Los Ladrones? (Of course, the final encore was the current hit "Hips Don't Lie," performed with duet partner and opening act Wyclef Jean.)

Compared with her hits, a much larger proportion of last night's set was directly descended from big '80s rock. These included "Estoy Aqui," the hit "Don't Bother" from last year's Oral Fixation Vol. 2, "Te Dejo Madrid," from 2001's breakthrough Laundry Service, and the anthemic "Si Te Vas," from Ladrones. But rock chicks are supposed to be angry and/or po-faced; they're not supposed to come out with ballads such as "Antologia" or "Underneath Your Clothes," dress in spangly blouses or flashy gowns or seduce an arena.

On the other hand, dance-floor queens who can pull off songs such as "Hips Don't Lie," the exuberant Middle Eastern-Latin stomp "Whenever, Wherever" or the coltish, bouncy "Hey You" are supposed to have smooth, sweet, high voices; they aren't supposed to let out mannish low notes or Alanis Morissette-like howls. And they're supposed to have a few rigidly choreographed "goofy" moments; they're not supposed to head-butt their guitar players, do the robot dance, walk through the audience or stomp on the stage in their bare feet.

And no one is supposed to belly-dance.

But while she occasionally summons the power of the ridiculous, as on lyrics such as "For you, I'd give up all I own/ And move to a communist country" or "Baby I would climb Andes solely to count the freckles on your body," there was never a moment of "me no understand" cultural stereotype -- just a writer and singer of strong, memorable songs delivering them with earnest enthusiasm and a bit of showbiz on the side.

Jean opened the show with a brief set starting with an engagingly meandering batch of Bob Marley songs ("No Woman No Cry" and "Redemption Song") along with rock-guitar instrumentals and his sister singing Sam Cooke's "A Change is Gonna Come." He finished with parts of several songs from his work with The Fugees, but he scuttled most of the latter segment by injecting exhortations to the audience to stand up, dance and scream for Shakira.

rmassimo@projo.com / (401) 277-7206