Everlasting Gloria

Fiery Cuban engages at Bryce Jordan Center

There are musical performers who sing love songs, and then there are others who simply sing love.

And she also partied.

"She was just so energetic, such a fireball," said Tracy Daniels, 31, who went to the concert with her husband, Mark Daniels, 28. Mark compared the wholesome appeal of Estefan's music with that of angrier, more aggressive artists enjoyed by the younger generation, such as The Smashing Pumpkins, who performed at the center last week.

"I think the younger crowd is more impressed by that shock effect," Mark Daniels said. "The older crowd, they go for the cleaner stuff."

Earl Sunderland, who graduated from the University in 1970, said he thinks the endurance of Estefan's career, more than 15 years, represents the fact that there is still a demand for respectable music.

"To have something like this last just shows that there are some people that appreciate good, good music," he said.

Sunderland said Estefan has proven that an artist can utilize a full force of energy without channeling it into negative aggression.

"The overall energy of the thing . . . I can't believe all the dancing she does," he said. "She's gotta be exhausted when it's all over."

Estefan's band, Miami Sound Machine, consisted of an impressive array of musicians, including a seven- or eight-piece percussion section and a five- or six- piece brass section. Some of the band members were versatile enough to switch instruments between songs frequently, and some went from horns to guitars to rhythm and back.

After performing the hit "Everlasting Love," Estefan sat on the stage and sang a love ballad about her family while slides and videos of them were shown on large screens on either side of the stage. Estefan then tried to introduce her husband, who was too shy to come out onstage.

Although the crowd was occasionally half-baked in reciprocating Estefan's energy, patches of people often rose from their seats to dance to their favorite tunes, such as the hit "Rhythm is Gonna Get You."

Before playing one of her more upbeat songs, Estefan explained that the song would be about a heartbreak, but that it wasn't a sad song.

"We Cubans, we dance at the drop of a hat, so we'll dance even to a (breakup song)," she said.

During some songs, several professional Latino dancers came out, decked in festive attire, turning the event into a highly theatrical production. Two of the dancers were part of a trick Estefan was playing on the audience. The two wearing the most sultry dresses and doing the wildest dances turned out, in fact, to be men. Estefan explained that she found some of her male dancers could do exotic feminine gestures better than her female ones could, including Estefan herself.

By the end, the band went into full effect and, as Estefan repeated the words "it's party time," the ceiling collapsed in a storm of confetti and streamers, slowly showering the audience.

Shawnee Brown of Pleasant Gap, who brought her nine-year-old daughter Whitney to the concert, was thoroughly entertained.

"It's just been really good, all of it," she said. "Especially her voice."