Friday, March 7th 2008, 4:00 AM
He may have sung every song in Spanish, for an audience overwhelmingly composed of Latinos, but the scope and feel of the music performed by the Colombian star Juanes at Madison Square Garden Thursday night would be familiar to any fan of arena rock, in any language.
As always, Juanes delivered many of his songs with the grandeur and ambition of a U2 or a Bruce Springsteen - that is, with a sweep meant to rouse thousands.
These days, that’s exactly what his tunes do. Juanes has become one of the planet’s most celebrated Latin stars. He can sell out in non-Spanish speaking countries in Europe, despite the fact that he hasn’t sung a single song in another tongue on any of his four CDs.
In that way he counters the other top name to come from Colombia - Shakira - although he’s just as sexy and, like her, mixes traditional Colombian sounds with mainstream pop and rock.
At the Garden, Juanes’ songs drew heavily from the feisty rhythms of cumbia, combined with dollops of pop and steady helpings of slick ’80s rock.
The result is far from the most daring sound to burst from the world of rock-en-espanol. It’s not even the most challenging to come from Colombia. (That would be from the band Aterciopelados). But Juanes has a knack for bravura melodies, a billowing vocal talent, and a clear command of rock guitar.
In the song “Me Enamora,” he batted out a taut and tidy blues rock solo. In “Clase De Amor,” his runs rang clear and clean.
Juanes has further endeared himself to his audience by mixing songs of social consciousness with more personal revelations. That’s taken on a more urgent tone given the current tensions involving Colombia, Ecuador and Venezuela. He addressed that last night in a prayer for unity speech before his anti-war song “Suenos Para Tu Amor.” He showed video footage of Colombians who’ve lost their limbs to land mines in “Minas Piedras.”
None of this undermined the other key aspect to the show - Juanes’ sexual allure, which may well turn out to have just as universal appeal.
0 Responses to “Juanes shows global appeal at MSG”
Leave a Reply
You must login to post a comment.