luxury guests and return to roots

They have tried to classify him many times: rocker, popper and even reggaeton. But, really, Juanes is synonymous with Colombianness. Everything in his being gives it away: the tattoos, the slurred ‘paisa’ accent, his slang and his look; Every small detail has an equivalent in the joy, violence, enjoyment and beauty of the Colombian feeling. As expected, their second ‘sold out’ concert in the city of Bogotá was no exception.

An intimate night, in which, from the beginning, the Antioquian singer showed his humanity with the song ‘Gris’, which portrays the emptiness and confusion that almost led him to separate from his wife. Electronic sounds, but with a rock backbone and reflective lyrics, this is how the concert began.

The singer’s most recognized songs came quickly. The first part of the show took place to the rhythm of songs like ‘Mala gente’, ‘Amores prohibidos’, ‘Nothing is worth without your love’, ‘Volverte a ver’ and a medley of ‘Lo que me gusta a mi’ with ‘Fuego ‘.

Youth does not wait, it leaves, and the next generation with new ideas is already on its way. Juanes knows it and praises it: “In the country there are young people who have incredible talent and who are doing very good things,” he said. Precisely, one of those young people is Antonia Jones, Colombian singer-songwriter, who, in addition to being the opening act for the concert, performed ‘Fotografía’ with Juanes.

The concert continued and the audience sang absolutely all the songs. Given this, the emotion that the Antioquian felt was such that he immediately stopped the concert to thank Bogotá not only for that night, but for everything that has contributed to his life: “This city gave me my wife Cecilia and my children, that’s why I want to sing closer to you, Bogotá.”

And in an unusual act, the singer went down to the middle of the audience with a guitar and a microphone to perform ‘Para tu amor’ surrounded by the audience that had given him so much love. It was a simple format, just voice and guitar, with white spotlights pointing directly at Juanes. There was really no need for more: the audience’s accompaniment filled the spaces left by the other instruments. When he returned to the stage, he seemed excited: the contact with people had had an effect on him.

Colombianism got the better of him and he dedicated an entire section to vallenato, with two songs of his own (La plata and Bonita) and ‘Without measuring distances’, by Diomedes Diaz, a song that belongs to his album ‘Origen’.

While he was adjusting his guitar to resume the songs, he stopped the concert because he saw a sign of a girl who had a birthday. Immediately afterwards, Juanes asked to be brought on stage and, along with the entire band, they serenely performed ‘Las mañanitas’.

He continued with a section of Ekhymosis, one of his rockiest facets: the songs ‘Sin rencores’, ‘De dawn’ and ‘Solo’ reminded more than one of the audience of their childhood.

After this, and in the best style of Octavio Mesa, An acoustic guitar began to play, giving the first notes of ‘La Paga’, a song that would later be combined with ‘La noche’ by Joe Arroyo and ‘Yerbatero’.

This was just the prelude to one of the main pieces of the night: ‘My blood’, from Ekhymosis. On the third floor, the audience had yellow stickers to put on their cell phone flashlight; those on the second floor had blue stickers; and those in the stalls red stickers. In this way, in an act that exalted the country, the Movistar Arena was dressed for a few moments in the Colombian flag while in the background “love the land where you were born…” played in the background.

“I want to sing a couple of songs that will fill Bogotá with pride.” And so, with those words, Andrés Cepeda and Fonseca came out to perform, along with Juanes, ‘My generation’, from Poligamia. Immediately, the audience went crazy. The applause and shouts overshadowed the singers’ voices. It was followed by ‘My dream’ by Fonseca, which was also chanted and danced by all attendees.

After singing the renowned songs, Juanes made a proposal to his stage companions: “Come on, brother, what if we play a song in ‘E minor’?”

And with the new tonality, the singers began to sing, in three voices, the traditional bolero ‘Bésame Mucho’ by Consuelito Velázquez. Fonseca, playing along, said that he also knew a song within that scale: it was the bolero ‘Inolvidable’, by Julio Gutiérrez.

Cepeda, who did not want to be left behind, asked that they change to ‘A minor’ to sing the cumbia ‘Navidad Negra’. And so, in a back-and-forth of minor keys, the three artists sang classics such as Cali Pachanguero, La Piragua, El Preso, El Jornalero, El Hijo de Tuta, La Gota Fría, El Cantante and even The Wall.

Mistakes were made: there were forgotten lyrics, chords out of tempo and, in some songs, tessituras that were too high for the artists’ voices. It was evident that the choice of songs was improvised, but this gave authenticity to the scene: they were three friends playing with music.

In a risky change, Fonseca asked to go to the parallel major: “let’s play one in ‘E major’,” he said, and, accompanied by the accordion player ‘Tati’, he sang the Zuleta Brothers’ vallenato ‘ Así fue mi qué’.

To finish, they performed the iconic song by Fito Páez, ‘El amor siempre del amor’, which they connected again with ‘I fall in love’. At this point, in what could have easily been the end of the show, the three companions stood in the center of the stage holding a Colombian flag that read ‘Juanes’.

After this scene, Juanes closed the show with ‘La luz’, an energetic song that left the mark on a high note. The Juanes concert in Bogotá was not only a musical event, but a cultural phenomenon that encapsulated the vibrant essence and passion of Colombia. From the chords of his songs to the palpable energy in the air, it was clear that Juanes’ music transcends borders, as the capital’s audience left feeling more Colombian than ever. Why? Because Juanes had just introduced himself.
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JUAN ANDRÉS BELTRAN
SCHOOL OF MULTIMEDIA JOURNALISM EL TIEMPO