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Michel Hernández, Andrea Echeverri and Héctor Buitagro are about to take the stage. The musicians talk, check out some of the traditional instruments whose sound establishes alliances with rock, and go over the list of their songs.
It is the debut of Aterciopelados in Cuba, and outside the audience awaits the moment to see them live. Hector tells me that for years they have wanted to play in Cuba, he appreciates the cooperation of the Island in signing the peace accords in Colombia and considers Cuba a symbol in Latin America.
Aterciopelados takes the stage. He arrives to present the eleven songs of its last DVD. Shouts are heard. The fan is multinational. There are Cubans, Argentines, Mexicans, but above all Colombians.
Andrea looks at the audience and recognizes her compatriots. The audience cheers. She sings Florecita rockera, a classic of the band. The fans sing it as if it were one of those subjects that are usually put on the radio. But no. Aterciopelados, in spite of its two Grammy Awards, is not a group that fits in the formulas of the means of diffusion, and in Cuba has been hardly divulged its music.
It sounds Bolero Falaz and I remember the first time I heard this song in college. From there I recorded all the records of the band, initially in those old cassettes that some of us keep as a relic.
The band is forced to stop the concert. Fidel Castro has died and no one believes it. Andrea and Hector leave the stage in silence. The public also leaves in awe.
They could not finish the concert, but their passage through the Island cannot be overlooked. Bands like Aterciopelados can open that door so that the fans of the rock in the Island peek into the Latin American bands. Aterciopelados wishes to return. We hope that Patria Grande will spread over time and continue to give visibility to both Cuban rock and other countries in the region.