The Colombian singer Juanes said this Thursday that he felt a little upset by the cancellation of his concert on Wednesday night in Central Park in New York, decided for security reasons when an unmanageable number of thousands of people gathered nearby.
“What happened last night was frustrating,” said the artist, assuring that they were very excited about the presentation in Central Park as part of the Latin Alternative Music Conference (LAMC), a concert in which he would present the songs from his new album, Daily life.
But he could only sing one song and in the second the Police ordered him to interrupt the show. “You have to go now,” she told him, arguing that the situation was out of control.
Juanes concert suspended in New York
Juanes said he was super excited with the reaction of the people after starting the concert in front of 5,000 people, according to data from the authorities.
“I had no idea what was happening outside,” he said, referring to the fact that 12,000 people who had not been able to enter the SummerStage area, where summer concerts take place, were still trying to enter the area.
Juanes, who participated in an LAMC forum Thursday at a Manhattan hotel where he answered questions about his career but first recounted the details of his abortive New York concert.
“I did not understand anything but they explained to me that it was for security,” said the singer-songwriter.
After the incident, the artist uploaded a video on his Twitter account explaining what happened.
“Very sad because we couldn’t finish our show, but I want you to know that security will always come first for us, above anything else,” he said at the Tweet in which he also expresses his wish to be able to see them soon.
It marked the first time in three decades that SummerStage had to cancel a concert due to issues unrelated to the weather, said executive director of the City Parks Foundation SummerStage, which organizes the summer concerts.
Many of those attending the forum had been present yesterday in Central Park, and to compensate them, Juanes agreed to interpret a song, with a guitar that was provided to him by the public.
“What do you want to hear?” He asked in the crowded room to get an answer “I ask God” that the public -mostly emerging artists and producers- sang with the Colombian, who finally interpreted another song to everyone’s liking.
Juanes spoke about various issues, including mental health, his daily routine, compositions and the stage in which his career temporarily stopped, and also announced that his guitar “Luna White” will be released next August.
«It gives me a lot of emotion and pleasure. My official guitar will come out with Fender. For me it’s a very big dream, I can’t believe it. When I came to this country in ’96, I barely had money to get on a bus and to go to the Guitar Center (musical instrument chain) I wanted to die,” he recalled.
He also indicated that two years ago Fender invited him to do the guitar project, which is called Luna White (one of his two daughters is called Luna) and it is to record, to play any type of music and everything that is collected with the sale will go to Fundación Mi sangre, which Juanes founded, and to Fundación Fender Play.
The “Juanes touch” on that guitar is that the microphones were calibrated to his style, to his liking.
“It’s the way I like to play the guitar, very smooth, very sweet,” he said. And to make it a reality, I work with two Colombian experts on the subject.
Sad that we couldn’t finish the show in New York but your safety will always come first 🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻 Hoping to see you again soon. https://t.co/MU7QyJf5sK pic.twitter.com/eARhveH1Ji
— JUANS (@JUANES) July 13, 2023
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