Is there a singer in the last 25 years as sensuous and mysterious as Sade? On her first U.S. tour in 10 years, she returned to San Jose to an adoring capacity crowd at HP Pavilion.

For more than two hours, she ran through her catalog, peppering the audience with hits from the 80s (“Smooth Operator,” “The Sweetest Taboo”) alongside cuts from her latest album, 2010’s Soldier of Love.

She started the set—dressed in black with her trademark hoop earrings and red lipstick—with the distorted guitars and drum-roll percussion of “Soldier of Love” competing with her vocals, but she and the band settled quickly into a groove with your “Your Love is King.”

The high point of the night came during the second half of the set, after a confusing noir set change, with a blazing take on her biggest hit, “Smooth Operator.” For most of the remaining songs, the band held back and her vocals shined. Her voice has held up over the years and her natural beauty is just as captivating as it was back in the 80s.

In a world where Facebook, micro-blogging and tweeting rule, Sade has kept her fans hungry by sharing very little information over the last several years. She’s just as mysterious and composed—a little cleavage and some playful reggae rump-shaking is all you’re every going to get out of her—as she was when she made her debut at 1984. Onstage, barefoot in a silver dress, she had the audience in her hand.

Just before midnight, as Sade took her time introducing the band, the crowd was unmoved and the aisles remained clear. She made one more wardrobe change while the audience screamed for more and returned with 1993’s “Cherish the Day.” That we will.

Sade performs in Oakland at the Oracle Arena tonight and tomorrow. John Legend opens.