Santo Domingo. DR
Artists don’t always have their best night on stage. Sometimes they leave the public dissatisfied. Marc Anthony is the most recent example, in Santo Domingo. Or sometimes it’s the other way around: attendees do not meet the expectations of the owners of the show.
Be it one or the other, this misunderstanding between artists and audience usually occurs, generally, when least expected. Neither the artist offers what was promised nor the spectators respond with the enthusiasm or due attention.
In the last 15 years, in the world of local entertainment there have been several cases of disagreement by the protagonist of the stage or the public.
Many will remember the wake-up call (or “boche”) of Romeo Santos to the public in one of his concerts, in August 2016, when he performed at the Hard Rock Hotel Punta Cana.
Romeo Santos was fuming. When he began his concert he thought he was going to find a euphoric crowd capable of giving him all the cheers of a king like him. However, the unexpected happened: he ran head-on into a human ice floe, nothing like the blistering heat he had previously received in the Olympic Stadium.
The most recent
The most recent case was the last performance of Marc Anthony, at the Félix Sánchez Olympic Stadium, where the Puerto Rican salsero did not leave the audience completely satisfied.
To begin with, he only performed 12 songs, which led many to calculate how much each song cost, especially for those who paid up to 31,000 pesos. To this were added the potholes of lights and prolonged execution of instruments by the musicians of his orchestra.
The stadium was accommodated to receive 15,000 people, although most enjoyed Marc Anthony’s performance, many others were disappointed, so criticism of him was published on social networks.
Mac Anthony had assumed that same attitude, in September 2019, when at the Hard Rock Hotel golf course, Punta Cana, he decided to sing only 11 songs and leave people with the desire to continue enjoying it.
That day, the public was very sensitive, since in the morning the Mexican artist José José had died, and a few words were expected from Marc Anthony for the deceased star, and this did not happen either. The sorrow of the people was unanimous.
figures
In addition to Marc Anthony, uncomfortable situations in the country have confronted the Spaniards Joaquín Sabina, Diego El Cigala, Miguel Bosé and Pedro Guerra, as well as the Argentine Fito Páez and the New Yorker of Dominican origin Romeo Santos.
Some 22 years ago, Miguel Bosé, during his “Girados” tour, performed at Fortaleza Ozama.
In front there was a small group that applauded with little enthusiasm, while the general public was further back and with more enthusiasm.
The same Spanish artist ordered the crowd to jump over the fences and cross further on. “Those who are back there, come here forward,” he said and not even security could prevent it.
“Now this does look like a concert,” said Bosé minutes later.
The bewilderment that at a certain moment the public of an artist or his followers is almost always recorded by the press and more so in these times of great incidence of social networks. A memorable incident was the one carried out by the Argentine musician Fito Páez, when in June 2011 he confronted the audience at the Hard Rock Café in Santo Domingo.
The chronicle of this newspaper recalls that the interpreter of “A dress and love” did not leave the audience pleased and he did not leave satisfied with the response of the public (especially because of the “noise” in the place).
“His anger was so obvious that at one point during the concert Fito turned his back on the piano and mimicked that he was talking to another person to draw the attention of those present regarding the party on the site, which, apparently, he expected. it was like a theater without food or drinks and everyone sat, calm, surrendered to their music”, Listín Diario published in 2011.
It was also noted that he asked that the air conditioning be turned off so as not to affect his throat. The heat irritated the attendees more.
A similar situation had happened with Pedro Guerra, in December 2010, when he sang in the same venue. The Spanish singer-songwriter wrote on his personal blog: “What to say. Dominican Republic means my beginnings in America. 11 years ago I went for the first time and I never forget it. How many people. What a surprise. Since then, we have not missed the appointment. This time, I performed at the Hard Rock Café in Santo Domingo and Punta Cana. There was no silence. There was no calm. There was no connection. It was impossible to speak and difficult to sing. Something went wrong. I didn’t have a good time. I was sorry. We will be back. Sure. And I hope then, that we can meet and sing together but calmly, like other times”.
Before acquiring Dominican nationality, the Spanish singer Diego “El Cigala” abruptly left the stage of the Jaragua Hotel’s Teatro la Fiesta, when he noticed that the public was distracted while eating and drinking alcohol during his presentation, in June 2010.
El Cigala had only performed 12 songs, when annoyed, he decided to put an end to his performance. Already on stage he expressed that people did not pay attention to his singing, while he ate and drank absentmindedly.
“After barely a dozen songs, the Spanish artist disappeared from the stage never to return, leaving an audience that had paid tickets of up to five thousand pesos… As it was learned minutes later, Diego Ramón Jiménez Salazar, real name of the singer, was not satisfied with the response of the public to his musical offer, since he understood that they were drinking and eating instead of enjoying his songs.
The press reported that disgust and bewilderment could be seen on the faces of those present.
The Spanish singer-songwriter Joaquín Sabina also had his thing with the Dominican public, and it happened in 2009 at the Palacio de los Deportes, Virgilio Travieso Soto, where the acoustics are not always in optimal conditions. Sabina was visibly upset and there was even a moment when he complained to a lady because she was taking pictures of her.
In other countries several artists have faced disappointments with their public. Among them are the Mexican Luis Miguel or the Spanish Enrique Iglesias.
Another of the most recent cases was experienced by Christian Nodal. In June of this year, the Mexican was booed for his long speeches during a concert in Colombia. The Colombian public asked the musician to stop his constant interventions between songs and start singing.
Amy Winehouse. The last presentation of the English artist Amy Winehouse, will be remembered forever when she performed in Belgrade, Serbia, (2011). According to different media reports, the artist had problems singing and was “unable to speak properly”. In addition, she did not remember which city, she forgot the lyrics of the songs and could not stand on her feet. A few days later she was found in her apartment, dead from an alcohol overdose.